Paint with All the Colors of the Wind

Taiwan is awesome.

You wanna know why? 

Because they have places like this:

Right in the middle of a big city. 

That is a little "village." An old village, that was supposed to be torn down, like their next door neighbors:

Instead, these historic buildings were painted. Wild, flashy, insane colors that make up wild, flashy, insane pictures. EVERYWHERE. 

There is, however, one problem with this place.

It's a little hard to find. 

Even with the help of those who have been there before, three scooters, a good sense of direction, and Google maps, we still made quite a few U-turns. We even stopped to catch our breath and re-orient ourselves at one point when we hit an uncomfortably populated rural area. 

When we stopped, there were kids playing around outside that simply could not get enough of us. There were stares, giggles, and nudges directed in our general direction, and this is probably what was going on at their end:

First girl: *grabs arm* "Look look! Foreigners!

Second girl: "Oh my gosh, they're on scooters! Look at them!"

First girl: *elbow nudge* "Go talk to them. Their foreigners."

Second girl: "Your English is better than mine. You do it." 

First girl: "Ah, no! They're looking over here! Quick, look away!" *giggle*

Second girl: "You do it." 

First girl: "No, you do it."

Second girl: "You."

First girl: "You."

And so forth.

 Until we finish dinking around, decide on a general direction to try, and leave.

(Sometimes this conversation does end with one of the girls bravely coming up to one of us, saying, "Hello, nice to meet you!" And when we smile and reply, they run, giggling, back to their friends and form an excited huddle. Other times the stares, giggles, and elbow nudging just continue indefinitely.)

And then, we finally find The Painted City.

Victory. 

(That's one of the actual painters of the village, aptly named "Rainbow Grandpa." Which is amusing, because there are students at the school--students whom Kendra teaches (lower middle with the silver headband)--that call me "Raynebow Sister," and write stories about me, and my Rainbow brother, and Rainbow mother, and even my Rainbow granpda. So. You know. How could we not take a picture?) 

What a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon.