Today is the last day of July on the Chinese lunar calendar. July (on the lunar calendar) is known in Chinese as "gway oo ray" or "Ghost Month". According to tradition, this is the month that the deceased wander the earth. The ghosts you especially want to look out for are the ghosts of deceased ancestors that have not been properly honored. Due to Ghost Month, we have not been able to go into the ocean since I arrived because that is where the most ghosts reside. The last day of ghost month is especially important because this is the day when the most ghosts are out. Today, as is customary for many and most people in Taiwan, we left out food offerings for the ghosts with incense attached to them (as seen in the picture above). After that, we burned paper money, which isn't real money but paper stamped with silver and gold, origami flowers and gold coins, and pictures of clothing and other necessities that the ghosts need. This is different from the normal burning of paper money, which goes to deceased ancestors, because instead it goes to the gods of the Chinese folk religion as well as the ghosts that wander the earth. The best part, after the paper money is burned and the incense dies out, we got to eat the food! All in all it was a very interesting day.