Wha????

Okay, so my first real blog. It's taken me a few days to process what I saw the other night, but here goes...

There is a festival here in Taiwan that occurs every 10 years. It used to occur ever 60 years, but I think revellers wanted more chances to enjoy such a festival.

Over the past month Zach and I have seen many a decorations popping up in our fair city of Jhong Li, Taiwan. Lanterns here, 5-storey life-sized puppet-show stages there. Lots of color and...beauty? I was very interested. The other day we drove past the giant stage near our house that's been up for weeks and there were loads of decorations, stages, food-stalls and people milling about. We found out the festival was that very night! Now, Zach has seen this particular festival once before, so he warned my vegetarian butt what we were about to encounter. I decided it was a part of the culture I wanted to experience and I could set my personal feelings aside for a bit.

Later on that evening he took me to the temple in town where most folks would be celebrating. It sprinkled chilly rain down on us as we walked the distance from our car to the crowds, lights and sounds. And what, oh what did we see???

Crowds of people pushing down a narrow street lined with lights, carnival games, and food stalls selling everything from cotton candy to Indian food to special Taiwanese delights (most of which consisted of extreme deep-frying, hot dogs, or unidentifiable meats). The smells were overwhelming. People yelled at one another over the loud cracks and booms of fireworks, which went off randomly everywhere (watch out! They sometimes go off right in front of you! People just walk around them, plugging their ears). They echoed off of the tiled buildings and often exploded at office/apartment-window level.

Then, the pigs. Apparently each temple (Buddhist temple, mind you) is involved in a contest for this special festival. They each raise a pig and vie for who can raise the fattest pig--stuffing it until it's so fat it cannot walk without breaking its legs. They grow to enormous sizes and weights. When the festival time arrives, they slaughter it and eat the meat. They then take the enormous outside shell of the pig (skin, ears, snout and all) and stretch it out so it looks as big as possible. They display it in giant cases 20 feet high, surrounded by blinking lights and gaudy decorations. Oftentimes they are painted on and a pineapple is stuffed in their mouths. Goat heads are also popular--usually displayed next to the pig, adorned with sunglasses, hats, tobacco pipes, necklaces. The pigs are, literally, the size of cows.

My jaw hung open in utter awe...and confusion. How did this fat pig display come about? Our Taiwanese friends could not even remember the festival's name, let alone the meaning of the pigs.

After slowly making our way past pig after pig after pig, we came to a near standstill as the path narrowed. People had stopped to watch the entertainment and those of us making our way through moved at a snail's pace. Because....the entertainment....was....a stripper. Apparently they go hand-in-hand with many of Taiwan's festivals. Children, young men, women, elderly...all eyes were on the aged dancer lazily making her way around a pole on a stage with a background of colors and lights. The 'dancer' took many mini-breaks, walking to the corner of the stage to grab a drink of water, chat with some dude, or...I dunno...spit out gum? She looked utterly bored in her cammo mini-shorts/underwear and bra. Like she was preoccupied with thoughts of.....? It was fascinating. I didn't think my jaw could drop any further after the pig shenanigans...but it was nearly to the pavement. I observed those watching the dancer...even they looked bored. With the exception of a few young lads with camera phones. But what was everyone thinking? What were the kids thinking? I assume it's not the first exotic (or not so exotic) dancer they've seen, as scantily-clad dancers often dance upon decorated trucks which roam around town to celebrate temple festivals. WWBT (What Would Buddha Think?)?

We smooshed on. I almost could have just lifted my legs and been swept along by the mash of crowd. Old women pushed, children disappeared under arms and heads and coats. Once past the stripper the crowds dispersed a bit. Zach had to find a restroom so we went...to the hospital?!?!? Our Taiwan acquaintances informed us that would be the best place to relieve one's bladder. On the first floor, we walked past those registering into the hospital, folks attached to saline drip bags with tubes, and festival revellers. It was surreal walking past "minor surgery" rooms on our way to the public restroom. Fireworks shook the building as they continually exploded nearby. Did I mention it was surreal?

We walked a ways to the temple area where we joined a small crowd, removed our shoes and walked over a wet, dirty mat to stairs which led us over a covered mini-bridge. This symbolized leaving our "sins" (???) behind us (at the back gate) and moving forward through the front gate. We then waited in line to be "blessed" (???) by a couple of older women who swished a fan over us and stamped the backs of our clothes with a large red stamp.
Our souls were thus cleansed for the new year.

My favorite part of the festival involved terrible littering (what have I become?) but immense beauty. In the light rain we made our way through the mud to a lantern stand where five of us wrote our names on a piece of paper. At our turn, a skilled man wrote our (Chinese) names in quick calligraphy strokes on a giant lantern. He then asked us a few of our wishes for the coming year and scribbled them on another side of the lantern. He lit our lantern and flipped it over to allow it to fill with warm air. The five of us rubbed our hands on the warm lantern top while actively thinking about our wishes. One of our group then lit the sparkler attached to the lantern and we sent the 3 and a half foot glowing red orb up into the sky to join the others. I watched and watched as it floated up, up, up, into the misty sky into the place where raindrops are made. It was a beautiful sight and I was spellbound.
And the lantern was made of plastic sheeting.

We returned to the pig area to find things wrapping up. Stages were being dismantled and kids were grasping their goodies (cotton candy, plastic toys, balloons) as their parents led them home, out of the rain. We stood in line for a "samosa" at the Indian stall--an Indian flatbread filled with curried potatoes. We were lucky to nab the last one! We were disappointed to find the stripper had quit for the night, the darkened stage already half gone. The rain had increased, and the littered, darkening street was looking rather dreary. It was time to head home.

But wait! If we wanted to stick around until 11:30 there would be more strippers dancing in front of the temple!!!!!

Eh, I'd rather go home and watch TV.

IS my life interesting?

So....after a few folks got on my booty about not blogging about my oh-so interesting life, I decided to write up my second blog entry ever. I just finished baking my first-ever lava/pudding cake and it smells delicious. The lights on the christmas tree are so pretty. I should be doing my chinese homework right now. I'm watching a comedian on Comedy Central. I'm getting excited for the soup party. I am sleepy...oh so sleepy.

Interesting enough?

I'll write more later, when exciting things pop up.

I LOVE SPOKANE!

Teknmolgee

Oh, dear. I've started blogging. Be prepared...