Today I went to the Eslite Bookstore, the biggest bookstore in all of Taiwan. I wanted to buy a book on bonsai, but most all of the books were in Chinese. After that, Justin and I burned some more paper money (we do this the 2nd and 16th of the lunar calendar, as well as on major holidays to honor the gods and ancestors and to bring good luck to the home and business). Then we went to the traditional market to buy some vegetables. It is kind of like a Farmer's Market, exept the meat and fish and vegetables are layed out on the street. Now I'm off to help Justin pack because he is leaving tomorrow early in the morning. 再見!

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.

Yesterday we went to the flower market. The market is located underneath the freeway and is filled with all sorts of beautiful things. Basically the garden section was every gardener's dream. There were beautiful pots, soil, seeds, watering cans, and an assortment of flowers to choose from. My favorite part of the market were the bonsai trees. They had every sort of tree you could imagine! I wish I could have bought one, but they are far to expensive. Maybe I will buy an unfinished one and grow it while I'm in Taiwan?

Today Engrid took me to a second-hand market. For 200 NT, you can rent a table for the day and sell all sorts of stuff. There I bought a feng shui compass and a small jade carving for a grand total of 120 NT (4 USD)! Afterwards, we all went to go eat really spicy noodles.

Here are some pictures taken from the roof of the building I live in. Enjoy!

Here is a picture of me at one of the many temples in Taiwan. Today Justin and I went here so that I could get a glimpse of the religious practices of Taiwan. I only got a picture of the outside because I felt that it would be disrespectful to take a picture of the inside of the temple. Inside the temple there were tables upon tables filled with food (as an offering to the gods) as well as lots of incense and statues.

Yesterday, there was a big hurricane in Taipei, so I didn't get to do much outside or get any pictures. Engrid, her friend, Justin, and I went to a district filled with department stores and looked around at the different stores there. One of the stores was a tree-story bookstore! I found a copy of the book 1984 and picked it up for only 180 NT (about five or six dollars)! After that, we had a delicious dinner at home, and Engrid, Hank, Justin, and I taught each other card games. Not bad for a rainy day!