IT'S RAINING OUTSIDE & I CAN'T GO OUT AND PLAY

Ah...my first posting from Taiwan. We are in Tainan visiting with David's family. We arrived last Monday - the weather was beautiful. A week ago, we hopped a train to the eastern side of the island for a week at the beach. Our plans were quickly changed by the first two typhoons of the season. We came back to Tainan late last week and have been stuck indoors ever since. It has been raining cats and dogs. There has been incredible thunderstorms (which my two year old nephew calls 'fireworks') and the flooding has been severe. We've spent our days playing Wii games, visiting David's mom, watching movies, visiting the world's largest department store, hanging out and eating some of the best food in the world. Tainan is known for its street vendors. Little 'mom & pop' shops on the side of the street each serving a single item - noodles, dumplings, prawns, seafood BBQ, and (my favorite) shaved ice with mangoes and a sweet syrup. I have tried some amazing food here! David has taken several food pictures that we will share once we are back in the states.

Yesterday David and I took our almost six year old nephew, Andrew, to see Ratatouille. It was a wonderful film. Pixar never disappoints. I highly recommend it.

We've heard that the rain might stop on Thursday, but we're not betting on it. We've also heard that another typhoon is scheduled to arrive on Saturday. In the meanwhile, we'll continue to play games, watch movies, play catch (with the soft ball), go swimming (indoors), and just hang out. David said before we left the United States that he'd be happy just sitting in a room with his brother and the rest of his family. He will go home happy.