no good, very bad day

jerry

jerry looking profoundly confused. you have to click the picture to enlarge it to fully appreciate the eyebrow positioning.
ever since 7-11 shut down, this is where we go for all our last minute needs. an old woman works behind the counter so we affectionally call the store 'grandma's'
front of the spa
this is the owner of the spa, nicky
danny, the owner of latini's, in the kitchen
this is the view from where i sit in latini's. i didnt take a picture of the front of the store because some people were sitting in the front and they were acting kind of weird about me taking pictures. so, another day.
one day they wrote it in english for me. what a surprise to see 'cafe americano' up on the chalkboard.
the trash truck and everyone standing out with their trash bags waiting for it to come to them. i wish you could hear the annoying song it plays.
wait! you can. thank you, youtube.
taiwanese trash truck song
now play that video at least three times a day, every single day, and you practically live in taiwan

today was crummy.
-forgot my lesson plans for my 2 classes that require the most planning
-paid my coteacher what she told me her mom had been quoted to get the paint off her car. used all of the money i had saved to buy another scooter
-got overwhelmed at the prospect of somehow getting my potentially broken, in need of being checked out, scooter to a repair shop and then somehow communicating with a guy who definitely won't speak english, while not getting ripped off
-got overwhelmed realizing i couldn't call family or friends to help me and that it's more or less up to me to figure it out
-started a new class today that's literally a catch-all for the worst kids in every class who are seriously behind. i wondered where some kids in my other classes had disappeared to, and they're in this new class. none of them can make a sentence
-started crying on the bus after all of that and everyone was looking at me and everyone on the street was looking at me when i was waiting for the bus and i just wanted to be invisible, which is impossible for me in this city

so it was just an 'i hate taiwan' kind of day. i feel bad complaining but i think it's just part of the reality of being so far from home in such a different place. there are going to be bad days.
tomorrow, i'm watching sleepless in seattle, baking biscuits to top with frozen raspberries and fresh whipped cream. it works every time when i need some cheering up