Travel Day
The day began with hurried last-minute packing before we all
headed to the train station to travel from Taipei to Hualien. Throughout the 3
and a half hour train ride, I watched as the cities began to shrink. Tall
buildings morphed into foggy mountains, and streets melted into rice fields. A
very happy sight to see!
Once arriving in the city of Hualien, we took a bus to the
Catholic retreat center in which we will be spending our nights. After some
quiet time, during which several of us went to the beach, the delicious dinner of
your choice of rice or pasta dishes was eagerly consumed by all. The Verity
girls then struck out on our own to explore the city and celebrate Stephanie’s
birthday. We went to a little cake shop called “Café 85”, where we enjoyed
delicious cakes and bubble tea. After singing to Stephanie in Chinese and
English, we set out for the night market!
And thus began the adventures of Hannah and Christine… After
eating some pig ears, we decided to split off from the rest of the group to
check out a few other streets. We experienced some sort of Chinese New Year
preparation section of the night market, complete with several stands with
Chinese food and an auction. We then moseyed down a couple other streets and
got free samples of sweet potato (I think :P). Christine spotted a store with
firecrackers, which we could not pass up, so bought some sort of balls that you
throw on the ground so they will explode and make noise. We’re not sure what
they’re called, but they are very fun!
We then realized that had taken one wrong turn and were going
the wrong direction. We stopped at a gas station, where we met a young man who told
Christine the general direction of the beach, which we arrived at nearly half
an hour later. We were still quite a distance from our lodging, but once we
found the beach, it was easy to find the lighthouse, which was located close to
the Catholic retreat center. Christine and I finally arrived back. It was a very
fun hour of being lost, and we can now navigate quite a bit of the city! The
day ended with a time of prayer with the ’13 class girls.
Please be praying for the children and youth that the team
will be ministering to this week. The number of children attending the CI is
quite small, so there will be a large focus on the youth program. Please pray
for smooth communication as well, as there will be two different sets of people
working on different ministry opportunities throughout the week. Praising God
for the gorgeous weather and the opportunity to spend Stephanie’s birthday with
her in Hualien!
Hannah Lanier
