Seriously serious

So apparently the Taiwanese are FAR more concerned with your health than they are in the states. In order to go ANYWHERE where there are more than two people you have to have your temperature checked. At first I was taken slightly aback, I showed up at the kindermusik class with DD and the teacher was like, as part of our hello routine, I will check your temperature. I thought to myself, huh that's odd.... but hey bunches of little kids, I can see how you might want to do that. THEN I went to language class and THEY took my temperature. And today we went to an indoor playground for Zora and they took our temperature again! So not only is there a crazy amount of hand sanitizer being used (it is EVERYWHERE) and face masks being worn (and highly encouraged) there are mandatory temperature checks for any regularly scheduled event. It's crazy! I wonder why they haven't started doing this in the US... or even why they don't encourage face masks. Talk to me about our health care system being the best in the world. HMPFH!

Some things in life are universal

Ok, well maybe not universal. But we have a cable problem so DH called the cable company yesterday and asked for someone to come out to take a look at our cable. The person on the phone said they would send someone over between 6 and 8 pm. (6&8pm??) I thought it was a little strange, so I was not surprised when they didn't show up.
However, I was shocked! SHOCKED! I tell you! When the cable guy showed up at 10pm! TEN! PM! I was already getting ready for bed, and had to hide out in our room while he tried to fix our TV. I couldn't believe it... still can't believe it! TEN! DH talked to the man and he said that they work until right around 10 every day. I wonder what time they start....
So it is good to know that even in foreign countries repair men never show up when they are supposed to, even if they do work really late.

Hair

I have been experimenting with my hair. I know, this is nothing exciting, women do it all the time, but I really have not. The biggest change is that my hair is now natural. No relaxer, nothing that won't wash out. I have been doing a lot of online research trying to find a product that will give my natural hair some curls without frizz and have come across a lot of angry black women. I didn't realize when I put my hair in braids three years ago that I was joining a new edgy "natural" movement. I was just pregnant and didn't want to mess with my hair. When my baby was a year and a half I figured I had 15 minutes or so to devote to my hair so I could take the braids out. At that point I was completely natural, and I loved the hair. I didn't know what to do with it, but I loved it. Now leaving my hair natural is not a political choice, or a black awareness statement, or anything. Like I said it all started out as being too lazy to take care of my hair, then continued on as hey maybe I don't have to have my husband perm my hair while we are overseas!
So it came as kind of a shock to me that so many women AGONIZE over whether or not to go natural. There are SO many websites, articles, tweets, etc written by women who have decided to thumb their noses at America and go natural I was surprised. In fact, my natural tresses could be signaling that I am edgier, or trendier than I actually am. I think I am saved by the fact that I still straighten my hair on occasion, but when I go back to the states I intend to have my hair professionally looked at to see if I can get the most AWESOME AFRO ever, just because it looks cool, not because I am in any way Afrocentric.... you can ask almost anyone... I am the least Afrocentric person you will ever meet.
Anyway, I have decided to share my experiments with the world. So I will post some pics of the experiments as the happen.

9/11

It has been 8 years since the attacks on 9/11 and so much has changed, and yet so little.... I moved to NY in October of 2001, a mere month after 9/11. The city was still very much in shock. We lived in Brooklyn, but whenever I took the train to Canal street to see my then fiance there was always this smell that hung over the air. I am not someone attracted by death, or famous places so I did not go to visit the sites of the building. I didn't see it until February of the next year when I worked at Merrill Lynch, I walked into my boss' office and looked out of his window into a gaping hole. I couldn't believe he had his blinds open, when I asked him about it he said that the site looked almost normal at that point, before it really was a nightmare. I can't imagine what he must have thought, the buildings had to have been close enough to see the others out of the window.
I can't imagine what it was like for people who lived in NY during the attacks. What does it mean, when the subways shut down, when you are terrified to get on a bus, what happens when you work uptown but live in lower Brooklyn?
One of the saddest things I remember about New York during this time are the posters. Everywhere you looked there were posters of missing people. People looking for people, some were young, some were old, some had children, some were somebody's children.
But even just a month after 9/11 the city was already healing. I go back now, and the city, while not the same, still lives on... stronger, meaner, tougher. New York grabbed my heart in a way that no other city really has. It's gritty, dirty, and mean, but it's a survivor - the greatest city on Earth.

Ho hum back again

So I woke up this morning and opened up my curtains only to find a BEAUTIFUL rainbow painted across my sky. I think it was the biggest brightest rainbow I've ever seen! I could even see the purple in it clearly (normally when I see rainbows they are mostly red and yellow with the green and blue fading out). It only lasted a little while though so I didn't even have a chance to get my camera out (by the time I finished gawking and getting DD to look it was on it's way out). I'm going to take it as a good omen that my time here in Taiwan will be good.