Sweating is Good for the Soul

As the title suggests I'm sure you can guess that I've been doing a ton of sweating here in Asia!!! The humidity is outrageous. But dare I say it, I think I am actually getting use to it. Someone mentioned snow the other day and I cringed a bit. I can't even begin to imagine the air being cold enough to snow!!!!!

On Tuesdays we don't start teaching until 4:30. (Quite the life I live...I know) So some of the other teachers and I took the opportunity to hike the local mountain...Monkey Mountain. Now, as the name suggests the whole mountain is just littered with monkeys! However, these aren't nice monkeys. They are extremely territorial. You can't even look them in the eyes. I do believe that they can smell fear. Or they hate the smell of human sweat. Either one, I'm not quite sure!

So we set out around 11 to conquer MM. It was a windy day so it was perfect for hiking. After the first set of stairs I began to sweat. By the time we were about one fourth of the way up I felt as though I was just sitting in a puddle. Then at about half of the the way up I was certain I wouldn't live to see the top....ok a little dramatic but thats what the heat does to ya!

However, making it to the top was one of the most rewarding experiences yet! Just to see out past the smog and the view of the ocean was gorgeous! Also at the top were some old Taiwanese men there to greet us with Monkey Mountain tea. After hiking a mountain one would think that the last thing you would want is a cup of hot tea. But come to find out it was amazingly refreshing. I think it was because our insides were hotter than the tea temperature so it was great. We sat and rested for a short bit, drank our tea and watched the monkeys climb in the trees. We even witnessed a slight monkey fight as one tried to shake the branches to get the other to fall out!

We made our decent after that and it was a great day! We are hoping to go once a week. We've even set a goal to carry water up the mountain in December for the tea making. My legs are sore today so that goal seems pretty ridiculous but it will get better the more we hike!

Below is a picture of what the monkeys look like. Its not taken by me because if I were to take one they would probably rip the camera from my hands and throw it!

I think this weekend we are heading to the beach about an hour away called Kenting. It will be a great time!