rain, rain

it's still raining, but they promise us it's clear in taipei. i mean, i'm not complaining too much, having survived four years in seattle and four more on the East Coast where it rains way more ... in fact, the weather makes you want to enjoy some hot tea, and there's a lot of that. tea and rainy days go together like chocolate and peanut butter .... peaches and cream ... michael jackson and kiddie sleepovers .... but anyway, i mostly just want my shoes to dry out. you can actually smell them *outside* my suitcase.

the rain has been causing flooding and mudslides everywhere, and the road to the mountain we were going to visit was washed out, so we detoured and headed to a tea shop where they taught us all kinds of things about tea. while that was interesting, the real attraction was the palm reader at the next table! he read us all while johnny translated and it was insightful and spooky all at the same time!

let's just say he sorta nailed some things with me ... stuff no one else could know, so i got a little freaked out. but he knew i was having sleeping troubles and so i asked him what i could do to help myself with that. he turned me around and started to rub my temples with his hands and told me to do that for 15 minutes every morning. he said i was too tense and needed to quit "thinking so much." he asked if i could feel it and i said yes, so he did it harder. yes, i feel it. yes i must be stressed. he rubbed even harder and switched to using his knuckles! he was saying something and i asked johnny what was going on and he said i was still too stressed. well, like duh, it's not that i'm that stressed, it's just that he's driving his knuckle into my temple! i was starting to smell smoke! i could practically feel it coming out the other side! it totally hurt and he finally stopped. my ear was on fire. but i guess it would be worth it if i could sleep .........