Taiwan, here we come!

A few months back, in anticipation of our trip, I signed up for the weekly email from the Taiwan Jewish Community. Each Wednesday I read about their Shabbat services, learning opportunities, and the comings and goings of the congregation's members. This morning, before Gabi picked us up to take us to the airport, I read the email with renewed interest. This week, the email applied to me--this week, we were going to Shabbat services! I was almost giddy as I filled out the Google Form indicating we'll attend Shabbat dinner. It's crazy to realize that what we've been planning for and talking about for so long is actually here.

As I hit send on the email, I noticed another email from Maggie, the woman from Life of Taiwan (our tour company) who has been so incredibly helpful as we booked this trip. I'd asked her when we'll meet up with our guide since we have a small gift for him. (For those of you who are curious about these things. it's a box of See's. IFYKYK). She replied, and I quote, that a gift for our tour guide is the "warmest cuddle." I am sure it is a translation issue, but gifts in our family will forevermore be referred to as the warmest cuddles.

We had a lovely long layover in LA. It never ceases to amaze me how coming home can feel both so normal and so surreal. But we got to see loved ones, and that's always the best. What wasn't the best was the truly horrific traffic getting into LAX. I have no idea what was going on, but it was epically bad. How bad you ask? Bad enough that when Romi and Rob jumped out of the car at terminal 1 so Romi could pee (damn you Gatorade), Joel kept driving like a boss to the Tom Bradley International Terminal, and they were able to jump back in the car at terminal 2! With our TSA pre-check it honestly took less time to check our bags and get to the gate than it did to get to the airport.

So here we are, at the gate, waiting for the next leg of our adventure to start. We are taking all your love and good wishes with us!