The old computer broke...

So I haven't been able to put the rest of the new pictures up... The moniter went out on the computer, and I'm not about to crop those photos again! In the meantime, I wanted to post some images of the interesting food here. I cook a lot at home, because it's easier then figuring out if things are vegetarian or not. There are also a lot of Buddhist restaurants which only serve vegetarian food. Vegetarians are common here. The food here is a lot more "foreign" to me then the food in Egypt was. There are many fruits and vegetables I have never seen before.


These look like little green apples, but they're actually dates, and they are delicious! They are very different from the variety of dates I ate in Egypt!


These are wax apples. They are a light, apple-like fruit that is grown here in Taiwan, and extremely popular.


I discovered these at a donut stand in our old neighborhood in Taiwan. They are made with potatoes (I think!) and often cooked in an egg. I found the dough at the grocery store, and make them at home now.


These radish roots are also very popular here. They are less potent then the red radishes we eat in the states.


We would often get something very similar to this at a stand in our old neighborhood. This image is of cold noodles and sesame sauce. It's served at other places, though I think the original stand we had it at put peanut in the sauce...

Thailand

We were in Thailand for a brief three days. We needed to get our visas to come to Taiwan there, because there wasn't a Taiwanese consulate in Egypt. So we enjoyed the warm weather (Egypt had cooled off by the time we left it!), and lots of delicious Thai food! We had a lot of fun in Bangkok. The second night we were there was a holiday. People were celebrating a deity (I don't remember which.) As was the tradition, we saw people floating offerings of food, candles, and flowers down the river. They also flocked to the temples to pray, make offerings and burn incense. We decided to go to one of the temples. It was a very interesting experience. It was very, very crowded! And started to rain on our way out! Religion permeated everything in Thailand. There were shrines outside of businesses as well as houses. There were also Buddhist monks all around. There are many cultural behaviors that are important to adhere to in Thailand (I think I completely insulted the man sitting next to me on our flight there by putting my feet up on the seat between us - he had a dissatisfied look on his face most of the time, and eventually changed his seat!) When I realized he wasn't coming back to his seat, I started to get the feeling I had done something really unappealing to him! I didn't know until we got to our hotel, and they had a guide in the lobby, that feet are considered very "low" in Thai culture. It is best to keep them on the ground at all times (even crossing your legs could accidently insult someone.) There are all sorts of things about eating food too. Food is not suppose to touch your lips on it's way into your mouth, and rice is never to be left on your plate! And lastly, if you walk near or sit next to a monk, you are suppose to keep your head lower then his as a sign of respect. (VERY challenging for us because I found myself to be similar size to most Thai men, and much larger then the women. Damon towered over everyone!) It's my understanding that these Thai traditions are not quite as prevalent since the influx of Chinese citizens occurred, but they are still, obviously very important. On our last day in Thailand, we took a river boat out to another temple called, "Wat Pho." It is famous for housing an enormous "Reclining Buddha" statue. There are many different types of Buddhism practiced in this part of the world. The Buddhism practiced in Thailand seemed to have a lot of fold traditions surrounding it. The Reclining Buddha image has significance because it is the position in which Buddha spoke his last words. The statue was very impressive. I also really enjoyed seeing the houses and buildings lining the waterfront.



Waterfront buildings.



Wat Pho temple grounds.



Worshippers praying at a small shrine near the large Reclining Buddha statue.



Another riverfront view!



One of the many boats ferrying people and tourists along the river.



It was a bit shocking to see such new cars after being in Egypt! Especially the taxis! Notice the tuk tuk (near the bottom, left of center), an inexpensive way to get around!



Street markets were everywhere, and I loved the colors and shapes of the umbrellas!



Elephants are good luck in Thailand, and their images were everywhere!



Damon and I had to shake our heads at this one. Here's MacDonalds, and Ronald has apparently picked up the the peaceful, spiritual greeting of Thailand. (He comes in peace, while dishing out those heart attacks...)



This is how to write MacDonalds in Thai!



Our stay in Thailand was our first introduction to the most popular mode of transportation around Asia - the scooter! Notice how they all zoom in front of the other traffic! They seem a bit precarious, but they are SO much fun to ride!



This is my favorite photo from Thailand. Look closely and you'll see a women napping at the table. Street restaurants like this one were very common in Thailand.

Last Day in Egypt

We left Egypt at night, so during the day we decided to go out and see some of the things we hadn't seen yet. It ended up being one of my favorite sight-seeing excursions in Cairo (and a bitter-sweet ending to my stay there!) We first attempted to go to the Museum of Islamic Art. After a fairly long taxi ride there, we discovered that it was being renovated, and was closed. So we decided to go to "Islamic Cairo" which is a funny name (since most of Cairo is "Islamic!") but refers to the oldest part of Cairo, where the city originated from. It turns out, that area is just behind the biggest outdoor market in Cairo, Khan al Kalili. I had been very close to it on numerous occasions! Not knowing that at the time, I tried to tell the cab driver the name of a mosque I knew was in the oldest part of the city. After a hilarious and very typical experience involving a very different part of the city, the wrong mosque, and a group of about 5 Egyptian men attempting to help us out! We finally just asked them to take us to Khan al Kalili, and we were roaming oldest street in Cairo in no time! We had a map, so we went looking for some of the oldest mosques in the city. We came across the one photographed below, and a man approached us and asked us if we wanted to see inside. We got a private tour (after negotiating baksheesh of course!) and got to walk around in this magnificent, old mosque. Our guide took us to the roof, and we got a great view of the city as well. After leaving the mosque, we wondered around the old streets. I really enjoyed just walking around. We passed many old mosques and buildings, but I found myself more captivated by the old, tiny little shops. They are hard to describe, and I was out of film, but think of a movie that takes place during Medival times, and that is was it was like in this area! There was even a blacksmith working away in his tiny little shope! The area is known for being quite poor, and many people were living very traditionally. It was like taking a time machine back hundreds of years! I was very sad to leave Egypt, and I find myself still missing it! I would love to go back some day!




The street near the Museum of Islamic Art.



Inside the mosque were dozens of ancient laterns. It was fascinating to think what it had been like when that was the only light source in the building!



Detail on the outside of the mosque.



Damon took this one of me outside of Khan al Kalili. Minutes after this, we hopped in a cab, went to pick up our bags, and headed to the airport!

Happy Holidays from Taiwan!

Well, as usual, I haven't posted anything for a long time! As most of you know, after being hired to teach English in Taipei, we left Egypt and headed east. We stopped in Bangkok, Thailand for 3 days. We had to get our visa's to go to Taipei there, because there isn't a Taiwanese Consulate or Embassy in Cairo. Taiwan has been interesting, but more on that to come. First, pictures and thoughts from Thailand and a few remaining from Egypt!