Anping

Wednesday morning. 

Still slightly hung over from the excitement of last nights game (see last post), we head to clinicals.  Today is an exciting day!  "Why?" you ask?  Well, today I have the amazing opportunity to go out into the community with a home health hospice nurse and provide care to patients in their home!  Talk about a cultural experience!  

Okay, enough talking in the present tense.  The day started off with me meeting my nurse.  My ADORABLE, WONDERFUL nurse, Marion!  She was such a peach, I can't even describe, but you'll probably get the idea by the end of this blurb. 

Marion had three patients to visit that day, most of them terminal cancer patients in their last few weeks of life.  The majority of her patients were close to Anping, a gorgeous fishing district with tons of heritage.  Anping is a historical gold-mine, with sites such as Fort Zeelandia  and the Eternal Golden Castle.  But Anping has something else that I had a real desire to see.  Something that I read about multiple times in the books on Taiwan that I read.  The Temple of Mazu.

Mazu (pronounced Ma-Tsu) is a very important deity in Taiwanese culture, and one almost specifically singular to Taiwan itself.  Mazu is the sea goddess, and if any of you have ever seen where Taiwan is located on a map, you'll understand why she is so important.  Anyhow, Marion had heard form another nurse the day before that I had been asking about that particular temple, so she graciously took time out of her busy schedule to bring me to the temple.  What happened there was nothing short of an epic experience!  

First of all, the temple of Mazu is fairly large, even by Taiwanese standards (but by all means not the biggest).  And it's beautiful.  I mean, drop dead gorgeous.  The Taiwanese sure know how to decorate, that's for sure!  

This is the outside of the Temple.  You can't help but become a little obsessed with Dragons while you're here!  

The inside was no less spectacular.  

  The architecture is amazing in these buildings, but it's the symbolism that I find particularly attractive.  This next picture is of the shrine to "the godmother" or Mazu herself.  

 To the right of the shrine to Mazu was a shrine to the dragon god.  Like I said, you can't help but become a little obsessed with dragons while you're here!  Especially since this happens to be the year of the dragon! 

As if this wasn't sweet enough of her, my kind little nurse did something just amazing!  As we were walking through the temple, I noticed a stand that seemed to be selling bracelets, although there was no one next to it.  You really have to be careful what you look at in this country.  The second my nurse saw me observing, she forced me (and I say forced because I refused several times.  Nurses here do not make the best salary, and you can't help but feel guilty when they keep wanting to buy you everything under the sun!) to pick out a bracelet not only for myself, but for my friend Jessica (Jess-shur-cah, as they say).  "Right now, they're just pretty." she explained.  She then took both the bracelets and went to the center of the room, removing her shoes as she did.  She stood before a large container with incense, with both bracelets between her hands, which were in a prayer position, and bowed three times, muttering something in Mandarin.  After she did this, she waved the bracelets in a circular motion three times over the burning incense.  Bringing them back, she explained to me that now, instead of merely being pretty, they would provide protection and good fortune for Jessica and I, courtesy of the goddess Mazu.  What a cultural experience!  What an amazing nurse!

After visiting several patients and eating lots of food, all of which she paid for (against my insisting that I pay.  She told me that we were guests, and that in her culture Taiwanese provide for their guests.  She also got me something to eat every two hours on the dot, in addition to all the food that our patients gave us. She was very concerned that I might get hungry again!) we headed back to the hospital.  Marion was one of the most Christ-like people I've ever encountered.  I know what I believe as a member of the Church, but I can't help but think that maybe because of her immense charity towards me, that bracelet does have some special properties after all.

The Taiwanese are amazing people.  I love them!