Magical clouds
the next two weeks went by pretty quickly. i was still sick from the move and averaging at least one convulsion a day, normally during the morning. there was no significant change in the convulsions, they were still mostly spasms concentrated around my stomach and neck with vomiting, nausea etc etc. rose was turning out not to be as good a cleaner as dina, but she was a much better cook, so colin and i were eating healthier food.
we had friends come to visit and marvel at our beautiful new flat, we sat outside on our veranda and had tea almost every evening and when i was feeling well enough i enjoyed wandering around the rooftop taking photos during the day. i was feeling sick, but positive. i was amazed by the beauty of our surroundings, i loved being able to just walk outside and look at nature. i took tonnes of photos of clouds as i was inspired by being able to see so much open sky above me. my eyes felt like they were being exercised, stretched as i had to peer into the distance when looking at the mountains. so much nicer than staring at the tiles of the building across the alley from you. this was exactly what i had wanted!
we weathered our first typhoon on saturday, august 18 - typhoon sepat. it didn't hit us too hard although it was a category 5 typhoon (the strongest), but colin and i did have a fight that day. this was because colin had gone out drinking on friday, august 17 with our neighbour. our neighbour is/was a british guy, a party animal and wannabe dj. he was/is a nice guy and colin took to him straight away and this worried me. i knew that colin was lonely and needed friends and i wasn't happy about living next door to someone who was going to re-introduce colin to the world of drugs and all night parties. this drunken night out was my first warning sign. the typhoon had already started on friday night and i was scared and angry. i had been left alone in our new, very exposed rooftop flat in a typhoon. the windows were rattling and i didn't know what to expect, i felt abandoned and left out. these were to become very familiar feelings to me in the future. of course, i understood that colin needed to go out and have fun with friends, but not during a typhoon, please!
colin came home drunk and passed out, we had a fight on the saturday and made-up the same day. i realised that i hadnt really left the house since we moved in and explored the mountains. so colin, in a loving attempt to cheer me up and cure my cabin fever took me out in my wheelchair the next day, sunday, august 19 to survey the carnage of typhoon sepat. i was still feeling sorry for myself and started crying as i was wheeled past the mountain. colin had been hiking and had told me about waterfalls covered in blue dragonflies and mystical buddhist shrines. i desperately wanted to see all this beauty for myself, but i knew that i couldnt hike up those trails and that just broke my heart.
the next two weeks went by pretty quickly. i was still sick from the move and averaging at least one convulsion a day, normally during the morning. there was no significant change in the convulsions, they were still mostly spasms concentrated around my stomach and neck with vomiting, nausea etc etc. rose was turning out not to be as good a cleaner as dina, but she was a much better cook, so colin and i were eating healthier food.
we had friends come to visit and marvel at our beautiful new flat, we sat outside on our veranda and had tea almost every evening and when i was feeling well enough i enjoyed wandering around the rooftop taking photos during the day. i was feeling sick, but positive. i was amazed by the beauty of our surroundings, i loved being able to just walk outside and look at nature. i took tonnes of photos of clouds as i was inspired by being able to see so much open sky above me. my eyes felt like they were being exercised, stretched as i had to peer into the distance when looking at the mountains. so much nicer than staring at the tiles of the building across the alley from you. this was exactly what i had wanted!
we weathered our first typhoon on saturday, august 18 - typhoon sepat. it didn't hit us too hard although it was a category 5 typhoon (the strongest), but colin and i did have a fight that day. this was because colin had gone out drinking on friday, august 17 with our neighbour. our neighbour is/was a british guy, a party animal and wannabe dj. he was/is a nice guy and colin took to him straight away and this worried me. i knew that colin was lonely and needed friends and i wasn't happy about living next door to someone who was going to re-introduce colin to the world of drugs and all night parties. this drunken night out was my first warning sign. the typhoon had already started on friday night and i was scared and angry. i had been left alone in our new, very exposed rooftop flat in a typhoon. the windows were rattling and i didn't know what to expect, i felt abandoned and left out. these were to become very familiar feelings to me in the future. of course, i understood that colin needed to go out and have fun with friends, but not during a typhoon, please!
colin came home drunk and passed out, we had a fight on the saturday and made-up the same day. i realised that i hadnt really left the house since we moved in and explored the mountains. so colin, in a loving attempt to cheer me up and cure my cabin fever took me out in my wheelchair the next day, sunday, august 19 to survey the carnage of typhoon sepat. i was still feeling sorry for myself and started crying as i was wheeled past the mountain. colin had been hiking and had told me about waterfalls covered in blue dragonflies and mystical buddhist shrines. i desperately wanted to see all this beauty for myself, but i knew that i couldnt hike up those trails and that just broke my heart.
Temple
however, there were still many interesting things to photograph along our trip and the best find was a huge temple. it was the most colourful, ornate temple i had seen in taiwan and its discovery revitalised me. i wandered around the huge temple for at least an hour trying to capture the detail and colour of its myriad carvings until i had to be wheeled back home, exhausted. but colin promised me that he would take me there again so that i could continue trying to document its size and beauty. i was happy in my new surroundings, colin was also happier, and we were both looking forward to our date with dr chung and the good news it would bring.
