Hello everyone! There is so much to tell about our first days in Taiwan, but for now I'm just going to try and give you all a general feeling of what it's like and how our first trip to Taipei was:

Warm, humid air sticks to our skin, the way the rice is thick and sticks to our insides. The smells and sounds of Sansia rise around us: foreign voices are starting to blend with the chirp of the exotic birds and the daily song of the street-sweeper, creating a new language of the city, the Taiwanese--home. Some words still feel clumsy on my tongue, but my attempts bring a smile from the locals, some of the nicest people you will meet. As we awkwardly try to decipher our way through this new environment, people continue to surprise us with their willingness to teach.

Taiwan is a land of contradictions- the beauty of the landscaping clashes with the grainy feel of the smog in our lungs. The streets and subways are impeccable, but we can't drink the water from the tap. Our apartments have six locks, two doors, and a security-guarded building, but people leave their shoes on mats outside their doors. People walk around with their own pampered pets, but shoo away the many homeless dogs that roam the streets.

Our first trip into Taipei found that it is vibrant, full of color- literally- and alive with the movements of the culture. The smells of the fried street foods and sushi bars mingle with the traffic and hundreds of little shops in the trendy Ximen area. The staggering presence of Taipei 101 matches the ritzy vibe of its downtown area, where the beautiful people flock. Little benches and parks, palm trees and clean-cut architecture dot this part of the city. In contrast, the Longshan Temple area is an entirely different view of Taipei. Completely non-Westernized, it beats with the pulse of traditional Taiwan culture. The actual Longshan Temple is beautiful, intricate, and a great example of authentic Taiwanese architecture, though it has been renovated and rebuilt countless times due to natural disasters.

While we are finding foods we enjoy, like the meat-filled dumplings, sticky rice, sesame balls (their sweetness dissolves in your mouth) and a crunchy red fruit, after a long day of walking around, it was nice to come home to some delicious Taiwan Beer and Pizza Hut :)