Two weekends ago, in honor of the 4th, Bacon and I decided to have a thoroughly "American" weekend. It was the first occasion tinged with wistful thoughts of home that we've had since being here. However, the feeling has since passed and we just commented to each other the day how much we thoroughly feel at home now in this country so far from anything resembling the land from which we came.

Friday night we went to a funky outdoor bar and restaurant area in Ximen for some piping hot stone-oven pizza and tasty beverages. We ate on a cute deck upstairs overlooking the action down below at a pizzeria called Alleycats. The pizza was pretty good, and on our way out the owner came up to us and asked us: "You stay in Taiwan- long time or short?" When we told him we were going to be here for quite a while, he asked for our names, snapped a picture of us, and told us we get a free pizza the next time we come in. Ah, just one of the perks of sticking out as over-sized foreigners.

Saturday night rolled around and we were armed with dangerous explosives and cold drinks, but sans the grill we wanted for a cook out in the courtyard. We ended up just ordering pizza and garlic bread, which we figured could still pass as Fourth of July food. We spent the night with friends reminiscing about American pastimes (like eating lots of food) and shooting off fireworks in a large field behind the apartments.

Though most of them were hardly what could be considered amazing, there was one rather large rocket at the end that burst into a huge sparkly display- our mission was accomplished- we felt at home :)

*We miss and love all of you-!*