Day 10!! On our way to Hualien!!!

Tuesday, July, 17th!

We woke up super early, packed our bags, and checked out of our rooms. We were all ready to go to Hualien, located in central Taiwan and considered to be one of the most beautiful- and touristy- parts of Taiwan!!! As we boarded the bus, we were all very excited to leave Taipei and experience a whole different side of Taiwan. Before we headed to Hualien, we stopped in LoTung to observe an ophthalmology clinic and blind school started by the Albert Schweitzer of Taiwan, Dr. Chen Wu Fu.

The clinic's history was so interesting and inspiring!!!! Dr. Chen Wu Fu started this ophthalmology clinic early after World War II, when Japan finally left Taiwan. He treated not only eye problems, but also general health problems for the people in Lotung for free of charge! To this day, Dr. Chen's son-in-law, Dr. Lin, continues on with this legacy! We got to meet Dr. Lin, a very amiable man who spoke very good English! We found out that he received his education at great institutions in the U.S and had even lived in the states for many years!! It was finally great to communicate with someone who has very good English and doesn't need a translator!!

After the clinic, we drove to see the blind rehab school, located further up a mountain. There, we got a tour of the school and viewed the gallery dedicated to Dr. Chen. We saw many gifts that Albert Schweitzer, himself, had given Dr. Chen!!!! The artifacts were truly amazing to look at!!! We also saw many of Dr. Chen's inventions!

During the tour, we saw how the bind rehab school used certain colors and textures to help its students get around the school! I was amazed to see how every little texture matters to these students! What struck me the most, though, was the slide that they had in case of emergencies! Rather than using emergency stairs, the school had an emergency slide! How fun!!

After touring the school, we sat down and ate a traditional Taiwanese boxed lunch consisting of Taiwanese sausage, cabbage, side dishes, and rice! The food was very tasty and seemed pretty nutritious! I enjoyed lunch time the most because we got to finally sit down and talk to Dr. Lin. We listened to Dr. Lin talk about his experiences as a doctor in Taiwan and his dissatisfaction of Taiwan's healthcare system. It was interesting to finally hear the physician's side in regards to the NHI.

After lunch, we headed off to Hualien! A few more hours later, we were finally there! I was so car sick and tired that I missed a lot of the drive there.... but I heard it was a truly beautiful drive (despite the rain!). We got to Dr. Nezami's hotel, dropped off our luggage, and walked around town. Hualien looked like a much more rural Taipei. There were still many stores, but nothing compared to the number of stores in Taipei. For dinner, we had Japanese style BBQ (similar to Gyu-kaku in Los Angeles!!). The food was good, the company good, and overall, it was a good end to a long day!

However, I was not done for the night!! I thought I would be exhausted, but I still had some energy left to explore. I met up with Adam at my hotel and we rode the hotel's courtesy bikes to a night market far away!! It was fun riding a bike through the breeze, a refreshing feeling that I never would've gotten in Taipei!! At the night market, I had the best stinky tofu of the trip... Boy was it stinky!!!!! After getting the tofu, I was content and ready to bike back home to the hotel. The bike ride sucked almost every last life force I had and the minute I returned to the hotel, I passed out!