Into the Wilderness: Lanyu / Orchid Island!

So I've been assigned to Lanyu (also known as the Orchid Island), one of the 2 islands off the southeast coast of Taiwan, part of Taitung County! There's a group of 4 of us going together, 1 native Taiwanese, 2 from the US, and 1 Tao (pronounced Da Wu) aborigine from the island who will help show us around.

After a morning at a native Taiwanese church service in Taitung, the day started off well with us catching (at the last minute - which involves us throwing the pieces of luggage onboard while the boat was about to drive away) boat to Lanyu. The ride was 2.5 hours, and I was in great spirits, as I was not one to usually get seasick too easily in open water. Leaning againt the dock, watching the flying fish glide in and out of the water, and feeling the strong wind beat against me, bringing in the saltiness of the splashing water, while the bright, pleasant sun shining overhead, all was well until I sat down next to the dock and my camera slipped out of my pocket and into the Pacific Ocean about 2 hours into the journey. For the remaining 30 minutes, I felt nauseous, finally feeling the eroding effects of relentless wind, the sticky dried salt on my face, and my slightly sunburned skin. I no longer enjoyed the up and down motions of the waves.

Regardless, we docked at Yeyou, one of the 6 villages on the island. Jay (Zhang Jie), our aboriginal colleague, had his father, a pastor on the island pick us up by van. There was a paved road all the way around the island (and one across the middle), and we drove around with open sliding doors, feeling the breeze while marveling at the view - at times there were cliffs with hundred feet drops into the ocean just a few yards outside of our moving doorway.

We arrived at another village shortly - this one was Langdau, which was the only village in the North. The pastors from the six villages have gathered there together and were conferencing on what to do with us. We joined them, and they invited us to eat duck and crack nuts while they talked. While they spoke Mandarin to us, the rest of the discussion was in the Tao language, incomprehensible to me. One very curious feature was how agreement was indicated: when one pastor offered a suggestion, another would shake their head and say "no no no..." The former pastor would continue on, and the "no no no's" (or maybe they were "non non non's") would continue on. It took a few instances of this for me to realize that he was not indicating contemptuous disagreement, but rather, harmonious consensus.

After the meeting, which they basically decided where we would stay initially, and what we potentially would help out with, we played basketball (see below) before moving to Jay's house, where he frequently houses guests and tourists. We would stay there for the next few days before moving on to our next station. Although my camera is now sleeping with the fishes, I still managed to get these pictures from someone else's camera:

On the boat with the ROC flag. Taiwan is in the background: