LIFE

BLUMEN..

2010-04-07T07:06:00.000-07:00

EASTER ATTACK!!

2010-04-07T06:31:00.000-07:00

I never miss an opportunity to decorate eggs and neither should you! I honestly can't stop taking pictures of these kids......they are some of my favorite people in the world!! Weird thing to say, but its true. If you met them, you would totally understand. There are only a couple months left before summer and get a little sad thinking they won't be mine anymore :(.....

Absolutely Saturated

2010-04-07T06:17:00.000-07:00

During our Chinese New Year’s week long break, we were graced with NEVER and mean NEVER ending amounts of rain. That wasn't going to stop me though, no way I was going to spend my week off in this shoe box I call home. So I buttoned up my rain jacket and set out for a new adventure. My eye was set on Xindian, the most southern stop on the MRT (subway). The views there were spectacular! With all the extra rain, the river was flowing and you could hear the waterfalls waiting to be discovered. I went by my self the first two days in search of a particular hike I found on somebody else’s blog, but to no avail with my embarrassing lack in the Chinese language. On the third day in the wet, green, mountainous terrain of Xindian, my friend Tai thankfully joined me and we found how to reach that "hidden from Maresa” hike in 5 minutes.......I really need to learn Chinese ............

Happy Birthday Camille!

2010-04-07T05:42:00.000-07:00

This year for Camille's birthday I got a little wild and threw her a surprise party. Needless to say, it was a success! Well, kinda. I desperately tried to get everybody to our house from church before she did, but like always even with leaving about 35 minutes before her, she beat me home. So with a slight delay, we greeted her with, "SURPRISE" as we filed in the door. A little bit backwards with the person getting the party typically being the one walking in the door, but she was just as wide eyed as she could have been :). We spent the rest of the evening living it up with homemade salsa, banana grams, paints and fireworks....a perfect party, wouldn’t you say?

KEELUNG

2009-10-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

Keelung is officially known as the rainiest place in Taipei and it is pretty gloomy but I love it. It's a port city and has plenty of character. This time we went to visit a friend who just moved there, Lily. She's been a little bummed about the move so we went to explore with her and found some cool stuff!

A Beautiful Bunch

2009-10-10T23:40:00.000-07:00

They truly are a wonderful bunch! I love them each soo much, I know it sounds cheesy, but they are the best. I wish you could meet each one of them, your life would be better for it! Say hi to Devin, Dylan, Job, Harrison, Gavin, Vicki, Stanley, Emily, Nikitha, Davis and Derek!!!

Taiwan 10/10 Independence Day

2009-10-10T19:45:00.000-07:00

Here is another adventure with Yang, Carrie and Nana. We are in the mountains just outside of the city, enjoying the clean air and the sweet company. This little trip naturally included some DIY and more than enough food to feed the chinese army....... I brought pinapple for the barbeque and they thought it very strange but humored be anyways. I want to bring smores next time :)

Yilan in May

2009-07-05T07:32:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Yang invited me to join their school trip with her familyand class. It was like a, "traditional" taiwanese adventure where everything was DIY. The whole DIY thing is pretty popular here with the kids and families. We stayed in this fun german-like nature cabin in the mountains and made some traditional toys, foods, lanterns--the whole shabang. To make it even more fun, there were fireflies at night! The next day was filled with even more DIY stuff!! I love DIY but I'm deffinately DIYed out as of now..........can I say DIY any more?

Bali Land

2009-07-05T06:26:00.000-07:00

So this year for Dragon Boat festival I wasn't plannin on anything special, a little travelin, hiking, something like that. But then on Tuesday, on my way to work on the bus, I noticed that I missed 6 calls from my friend Judy and work. I call her back and she instantly asked, "You want to go to Bali tomorrow?" And that's exactly how it happened. I don't know what I was expecting but it sure did deliver. Bali is an island in Indonesia and is known for its arts and crafts. It has a booming tourist industry which seems to be fueled mostly by Taiwan and Australia. Bali is filled with green trees, winding rice fields, blue water, brown smiling faces and marvelous stone works. A definite recommendation from me!!

Easter!

2009-04-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

This year to Celebrate Easter, I had a little "party" in my 2nd grade class. My 2nd graders are one of my favorites. Once you meet them, it's easy to tell why--they'er absoluted dolls. For example, on Easter I told them that class was going to be a little different--they were estatic. We acctually did a lot of work in class and for the last 30 minutes, we colored in some paper Easter Eggs and we took turns hiding them for the opposite sex. They were absolutely beside themselves, screaming, yellping and grinning from ear to ear. We finished up with a little soda and cookies, they thanked me profussly and almost all of them announced-- "We want to have Easter everday." I even got more hugs than I could count ;) I love my job............

Hula Hoopin It Up

2009-04-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

So a couple of weekends ago I went to visit an old friend, dear 'ol Cami Kay!! As expected--we had a blast!! We hung out on the beach next to her house, she surfed and I basically hula hooped the whole time. Needless to say, I was pretty rusty, but it didn't take long to get back into the rhythm. I have never had so much fun!!! Hula hoops are now a must for the beach!! Thank you Cami!

Ruxi The Wonder Pup

2009-03-11T08:58:00.000-07:00

I would like to formally introduce you all to our home's latest addition, Ruxi. So how did we aquire this new friend you ask? Well, once upon a time I was sitting at home when Camille comes in the front door and says, "We have a delema". I really thought something bad was going on, but no, it was a PUPPY!! :) He's a funny looking and acctually almost ugly puppy, but he sure is sweet! The first couple of nights we didn;t get to see Ruxi's true personality shine because the poor thing was itching too terribly but once we got him those scabes meds, we realized Ruxi wasn't as calm as he appeared!! I couldn't get a good picture from him (he isn't too terribly photogenic) so I just made a video. He's knawing on a bone we found at the park tonight. He was pretty happy with this find, tail and all!

India

2009-02-19T07:46:00.000-08:00

India was: Different. Fun. Painful. Beautiful. Dirty. Colorful. Exhausting. Tasty. A little Scary. Shocking. Breathtaking. Disappointing. Eye opening. Difficult. Easy. Enlightening. Over Whelming. Friendly. And more than I could have ever expected and I can't wait to go again! I have so many conflicting emotions about India and I guess the best way to understand what I’m feeling is to just go to India and experience it for yourself. You must. You need to! My advice to you on this adventure would be, keep your eyes, ears and mind open. And You can do it! Charo!

2009-02-19T07:07:00.000-08:00

Lantern Festival and The Year of the OX!!

Its Lantern Festival in Taiwan and luckily for me, Taipei has been chosen to host the event.

Different schools make these humongous lanterns

No occasion's an occasion with out fireworks and the 101.

My personal favorite.

2009-02-19T06:30:00.000-08:00

The happiest statue I have ever seen, Mr. Chang Hai Shek himself.

A couple with style.........I think they were Japanese??

This is one my my new favorite places..........everybody is just enjoying life here and you can feel it!

Me, my super roomie Camille and Steve from Keelung

Vanessa, me and Marylnn.

Later I will dedicate a whole blog for the men and dogs here in Taipei----I never go a day where I dont see a man with a little pampered dog, I need to get busy with my picture taking!

Should I Go to India?

2009-01-06T06:48:00.000-08:00

HMMMMMMMMMM.......I need some help, soon it will be Chinese New Years and I'm not sure where to go. I have a super fun friend who is going to India for this holiday to visit some friends in Mubai and I am really thinking about joining her for about 10 days. The tickets are expensive, but that doesn't really matter--its India right? But then, there is the matter of terrorist attacts....the one that happened in November really freaks me out! Should I go? Is it safe? Or should I just find somewhere else to go? Am I over reacting? I need some advice!!!!!!

2008-12-31T21:11:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years!!!

2008-12-31T20:51:00.000-08:00

Four strawberry tarts + four bottles of orangina + a Honduran + an American and the 101 = A GRAND welcoming to 2009!!

My furry friends

2008-12-29T06:37:00.000-08:00

Here are my furry Christmas buddies.............. Belle the dog, Big-Momma Xioming and the ever loving Noel. When I come home from work, Xioming meets me at the window, Belle yelps excitedly like I haven't seen her for a month and Noel waits for the second I sit down and slinks into my lap----I am going miss this attention...................

Can you tell who's camera shy?

My Chinese Name

2008-12-29T05:17:00.000-08:00

So the other day, one of my students told me what my name means in Chinese. It's acctually quite similar. It's pronounced as Ma lie sa, which translates as horse, beautiful and sand. I love it, I wouldn't change it for the world! Now I just need to remember how to write it :)

2008-11-17T08:19:00.000-08:00

The top of the mountain.

I really did use this toilet........and it wasn't as bad as it looked.....but it was NOT "Modern!"

An organic sink--that worked

Can you spot the 101?

Mushroom Garden

Mushrooms are beautiful!

Moss textures are irresistible

A gun, a sword, some ice-cream and panda transportation----what more could you ask for?

He looked so cute and then the second the camera clicked--he turned on me

Big Sharp Mountain

2008-11-17T08:12:00.000-08:00

This spider is for real. She is as big as my hand (no exaggerations) and I saw about twenty of these horror movie-esq creatures on the hike! Whenever I think of these, I can hear their pointy feet scuttling across tile---ting, ting ting ting----- "I am coming to bite you my darling"

2008-11-17T07:58:00.000-08:00

Big Sharp Mountain

2008-11-17T07:30:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday, my roommate and I ventured out with our hiking book in hand and "Big Sharp Mountain" as our goal. We had a rocky start, with a few wrong buses here and there but our luck sure changed as we got closer to our destination. We ended up catching a free shuttle from the middle of nowhere to the trail head of our hike---that little shuttle bus saved us an hour uphill walk to the trail head! Then we came upon three Buddhist temples and in front of one was a party! Well, it was more like a full time mini-carnival, but it was sure happenin by the time we got down. The parents were chatting, the kids were bouncing about on their sugar highs and the stray dogs were happy.

As we got further up, "Big Sharp Mountain," we met one of its lovely waterfalls. The mist and breeze this waterfall emitted was very refreshing and energizing like none other. I could have stayed there for hours! As we hiked further up the mountain we learn why it earned the name, "Big Sharp Mountain." It was well worth it though!! From the top, you can see clear to the ocean and across the whole of Taipei along with the famous 101. Also on top, they've created a mossy rock garden paved with green trees........

HALLOWEEN!

2008-11-17T07:08:00.002-08:00

This year for Halloween, I had to work in a haunted house. As you can see, we are the cast of, "The Little Red Riding Hood." It was fun, but it can be quite exhausting trying to be scary for three hours straight--I screamed A LOT. Though many of the children recognized me right off the bat, cooing my name, "Maresa, its Maresa" they still screamed pretty loud when the wolf came bounding out----it was hilarious.........until one little one tried to save me from the wolf by nearly pulling off my skirt...........

A little lofty

2008-10-26T03:49:00.000-07:00

It just so happens that my little loft isn't so lofty. The first time I walked in--I acctually hyperventilated at the thought of living in a space this small for any length of time longer than 30 minutes. However, thankfully the shock has worn off and now I'm quite comfortable in my 10 ping apartment. Pings is the Japanese measurement they use for houses here in Taiwan and it roughly converts to 10x23 sqf. I made a video of our place, but I couldn't get it to download, so I guess these terrible pictures will have to do in the mean time. They really don't do the house justice like the video does, but here they are nonetheless.

Oh My Mummy!

2008-10-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

This Saturday was my turn to do the activity and so I decided to put on a good ol' American Halloween party. It was a pretty entertaining morning but the funniest thing by far, was the mummy making game! When they were done getting wrapped up--they all burst from their rags simultaneously and starting tossing the paper in the air whilst giggling not stop--it was a riot! I have also added a few pictures of Little Dalton, where I work. I am on the fourth floor and I have no windows :(. I never know when it gets dark......

Home Sweet Home

2008-10-12T05:01:00.000-07:00

Here is the view from my house, I love it dearly. Not many places in Taipei have a view of green and a cute little house.

Hanazakarino Kimitachihe

2008-10-12T04:32:00.000-07:00

This my roommate's and my latest obsession, "Hanazakarino Kimitachihe". Its the best ever romantic/comedy EVER EVER. First, this show was a manga and then the Taiwanese created a show off it--it was such a hit, the Japanese followed with remake and then we ended up making our own remake too, you might know it as, "She's the Man". However, I must say that this show far exceeds "shes all that" and deserves your undivided attention. Also note, the ever-so-lovable main characters are Taiwan pop stars, haha. Download it, Watch it and Love it!

Oh, and here is the Link to help you find it (it has Englsih subtitles):

ohsosublime.blogspot.com

Wong Lee Hom

2008-10-12T04:03:00.000-07:00

This is Mr. Wang Lee Hom!!! He is a pop star extraordinaire! Not only can he sing and dance, but he can play the piano, the guitar, the violin and also do MAGIC!!! My roommate got free tickets and they were great seats! Apparently, this Mr. Wang is a pretty big deal, not only were the pyrotechnics amazing but in the opening act, he was an illustrated anime man who saved the world with his music! How rad can you get!! Oh, and he had so much glitter in his hair!! You will not only find this dashing young man on stage, but on posters selling anything you can imagine, tea, glasses, phones, anything!! They really make their pop stars work here--oh, and he's from New York! HA! Here are some of the pictures I snuck..........

SHARING IS GREAT!

2008-10-12T03:51:00.000-07:00

OK! So as many of you know, I am now in Taiwan and loving it! I am soaking up the Taiwanese curlture and I need, no--MUST share my new knowledge with you all. A lot has happened over the past few weeks and here are just a couple of things I need to share with you.

HEre I am World of BLOG!

2008-10-11T22:27:00.000-07:00

I enjoy reading my friend's blogs so much so, I wanted to create one of these doodads myself!! I will try my best to keep this as interesting and error free as possible, but as my name is Maresa--there are bound to be some blunders....................