Geckos and Church

As church was at 11am, I decided to give Michael a bath in the morning. As I entered the bathroom, right by the shampoo was a small gecko. (I called it a lizard, but was later corrected.) What did I tell you about no doors or windows sealing here? Anyways, I called Michael in to see it before taking it outside. At first, I just tried to pick it up with my hand, but that didn't work (to say the least), so I got two clear plastic cups and tried to scoop it in. Well, they have pretty sticky feet, and it was quite a challenge. The poor little thing was so scared that it popped it's tail off. I guess it's a defence mechanism as a predator would go after the tail which started flopping around like crazy and spurting a little blood. It was kind of gross. I finally got gecko and tail outside and left him on our front courtyard wall. I haven't checked back because I'm too scared.

I have discovered that we have no hot water. We don't even have warm water. We have what could be described at best as lukewarm water. So, I have to get boiling water out of our hot water drinking machine to heat up Michael's bath. (I really need to buy a pot so I can boil water on the stove.) I then had a lukewarm shower. I hate cold showers. Then I had to mop up the bathroom before running back to our warm bedroom. Despite the mopping up, it still took over 24 hours for the bathroom to dry, even with the fan turned on. Michael has learned to wear slippers whenever going into the bathroom.

We got a ride to church in my boss' Audi. The chauffer was her husband though. Their church is very close to ours, so she offered us a ride. We arrived a little late, so I just brought Michael to Relief Society with me and then he went fine to Primary. The only people who are still there from four years ago are the Chiles and the Kunzs. And the Kunzs are leaving next month. So, there are a lot of new people to get to know.

At church, Michael learned the hard way about Chinese water "fountains." There are three taps, boiling, warm, and cold (meaning room temperature). Michael has always loved water fountains, so while I was in the bathroom, he decided to put his mouth under a tap and press the lever. He chose the red one. Bad idea. I come out running when I hear his cry and start giving him "cold" water as quickly as possible. I don't think he got much in his mouth because he was fine after a couple of minutes, but now he knows that red means "Stop."


As promised to Grandma, here is a picture of Mikey in front of the Taipei Temple, which is right beside the even larger stake centre where we go to church.