Hualien

Wednesday was Jim's last day in Taiwan, so we did our best to fill it will fun festivities for him! We finished up our clinical day with a tour of the mother-baby and labor and deliver unit. It was so fun to see the little Asian babies! I was forced to hold back my baby snatching tendencies ;) It was interesting to learn that 92% of babies are breastfed and that only 10% of patients have epidurals as compared to over 90% in Utah County. My hope for natural childbirth was reaffirmed to say the least. There were some minor differences in techniques and practices surrounding childbirth, but in general the process was more similar than difference and I was surprised that there were not more alternative labor and delivery practices used.

After clinical we went out to dinner for hot pots with the ICU nurses and other staff. It was delicious! After coming back the our dorm we worked on finishing up a short video we were making for Jim. When it was ready we called it down for the showing. We knew we had done good when he was trying to claim he had gotten dust in his eyes...psh. We followed up the movie with a night of beautification including eye brow plucking, real aloe face masks, and a little baguanfa. I am sure Jim loved it. It was hard to say our goodbyes, but we decided to let Jim go, considering he had already missed his first week of class to be with us. We are already missing him!

Thursday morning we were up early and off to Huanlien on the east coast of Taiwan. We arrived there around noon after a 5 hour train ride. We were planning on taking a train home the next day around 5pm, but the tickets were already sold out, so we had to get tickets for 11:45am the next day. We had 24 hours to live it up in Hualien, so we did just that! After trekking through the stifling heat we found our hostel and were informed that there was an American man sharing the room with us 9 girls...ha. We hadn't met him so we spent the rest of the day referring to him as the "man", taking bets on his age, and guessing his hobbies, including the possibility that he was a serial killer. We took a taxi up through Toroko National Park where we looked at the marble canyons, "hiked" to the Eternal Shrine, AND met a couple from SALT LAKE! Coincidence? I think not! Josh and Sara were a darling couple who have been married for just over a year. Josh served his mission in Taiwan and they were just finishing up their 2 week trip! That night we visited the stone market and looked at lots of Taiwanese jade, rose stone, and coral. We also watched some tribal dancing, which I always love. Toward the end of the program I looked back and saw our dear Josh and Sara!!! They took us to downtown Hualien and helped us find a place for dinner and later, a taxi back to the hostel...what a blessing!

We were planning on waking up early to head to the beach, but didn't quite make it in time. Instead we hailed taxis and tried to point to some park on a map as a last resort for something to do, but when the drivers got there one responded "no beautiful" and insisted we go somewhere else. Being in the taxi that had no idea where we were going or what was going on, we were convinced we were going to become the stars of "Taken 2". We drove for what seemed like forever until we came to a Liyu Lake and docks of countless paddle boats! And not just any paddle boats...but dragons and swans and geese! We took out two boats and had a blast! It was definitely the highlight of my Huanlien trip. We were so grateful for our great taxi drivers for taking us somewhere beautiful and for giving us a great deal!

We were lucky to have made it home safely after realizing we didn't pay the hostel before we left, and had to employ the help of two wonderful Taiwanese men to figure out what trains we needed to transfer to, but I was happy to sleep for a good 4 hours of the trip! That night, we spent time with our friend Davit from Kenting. It was great to see him and are looking forward to hanging out with he and Kyle on Wednesday, our last night in Tainan!

On Saturday we met the Community Nurses from the hospital with all of their families for a wild adventure about an hour south of Tainan. We visited a darling village market, watched a ceramic artist make some incredible pots, went to a paper umbrella shop and saw a woman make an umbrella, ate tsua bing, and stopped by a historical museum where we got to paint our own paper umbrellas! On our way back we stopped by a Hakka clothing shop. The tailor who owned worked the store was a Hakka gentleman who was 102 years old and still sewing! I was amazed to meet such an incredible individual!

Today was our last day in the Tainan ward. We sang the College of Nursing signature song "Lord, I Would Follow Thee" in sacrament. While we were riding the bus home, it started to pour. I must have jinxed it after telling my parents this morning that it hadn't rained once since we have been here and it is suppose to be Taiwan's rainy season! Just stepping into the torrential rains for 1 second, drenched me immediately, needless to say it was a wild walk home from the bus stop!