strangers... but family...

friend: "wait, so who are you meeting?"
me: "a friend of a friend"
friend: "so you don't know her"
me: "nope"
friend: "strange. so what will you do?  how will you find her"
me: "we'll just hang out.  she'll be wearing pink converses and holding a pink camera bag"
friend: "okay. interesting."

I guess I didn't think twice about meeting up with a complete stranger that I knew nothing about, except that she is a sister.  What else do I need to know?  I've basically been doing that past few weeks - getting connected to people and organizations... walking through doors He's opened... going with the flow.  So when my friend Carmen, who served in Taiwan last year(?), asked if I could meet up with her friend, a new sister, the only answer was "OF COURSE - I would LOVE to".  And I'm so thankful we did get to meet... a new friend... a sister... family... right away... because we share a Father who loves us and saved us and created sisterhood (and brotherhood).  Anyhow, we had a good time wandering the streets of Danshui, a northern coastal part of Taipei right along the ocean.  We ate, walked (visited a beautiful Church in the area), talked, took lots of photos, shared, and prayed.  A sweet time of sharing and fellowship. Some photos of our time together.

public bathroom stalls

Oh... so an update on the squatty toilets post.  After some information gathering from my new friend... because naturally a normal question you'd ask someone you've never met before... she said you face the direction that the flusher step/button is at.  Now, this sometimes contradicts what my other friend said about positioning over the hole in the toilet.  I will continue on my quest to find the right answer.  BTW, I must say, the public toilets in Taipei are quite impressive... large... relatively clean... and not bad at all.

Afterwards I wandered my way back to the hospital to see my gramps and family.  Had some challenges finding the bus to take me to the hospital, but after asking several people, wandering aimlessly, I made my way onto the right bus - thank God!  :)  Gramps was in a better mood today... at least during the brief time I was there.  He was pretty funny... the prayers are covering him... me... the family... thank you.

Oh, last night, I met up with old friends from my home church in pton who just moved their family here in the past year to serve.  Had a great time catching up and hearing and seeing what they're up to in Taiwan... wish I had more time to spend with them...

Tomorrow I visit a dentist here in Taipei to take care of some annoying tooth thing I've had for the past couple months.  I've never been to any dentist other than ones in America so I'm not sure what to expect, but I hope things aren't too different than from the states!   My brother also flew in today from HK... last minute fly by to say hi to the family - literally booked flight like 12 hours ago... looking forward to some good family time this weekend with my dad's side of fam... cool aunt and uncles... little crazy baby cousins and the old ones (my age)...