Lanyu Update

So today we finally got to do a bit of work - we helped paint one of the church walls. It's been fairly unstructured and disorganized of a missions trip, but in general, that's just the lifestyle people tend to live here. When you have nice weather, great scenery, and fewer ambitions, people tend to just sit back in their pavillions and enjoy the passage of time, watching the movement of the tide on the beach, feeling the gentle breeze tickle their feet, and dissolving themselves in the present moment. In general, people are late to do what they set out to do by at least a few hours, such as was the case with painting today.

We were scheduled to help out late morning, but since we could not locate the paint brushes, and no one had the motivation to make a concerted effort to find them, everyone hung out in pavillion until late afternoon, just chatting and enjoying the day. Not that it was just us that was lazy; the pastor and church elders were in no hurry either, and we spent the majority of the day in pleasant conversation and taking pictures of a picture book, which turned out surprisingly well. See below:

Pictures from the book:

However, we finally did get around to painting that wall, though the fumes were most unpleasant. Here are some pictures:

Here's what an actual traditional boat looks like:

Also, early in the morning, I finally got someone else to run with me! Yao Yi came out with me as a way to apologize after he and Michael ditched me (I meant conveniently forgot I existed) last night in their motorbike ride around the island:

That was nice, but here's what I missed when they went out riding:







After the ride, they joined in to help me out with the kids - we had a program for some Lanyu kids and kids from Taiwan for a few days. However, as in typical Lanyu fashion, the boat was broken and it took a day to repair, so they lost a day waiting in Taiwan. Anyhow, some pictures from that:

Orientation:

Swimming by the shore:

Games & Activities with the kids: