Sunday, September 29, 2013

Bonus Picture Post! #2 - Orchid Island Part 2

Some people enjoyed my first posting of pictures from my trip to Lan Yu (Orchid Island) in 2008, so here are some more. I didn't want to put lots of pictures of my friends and fellow camp volunteers who I went there with without their permission (Several were girls and we were all pretty 'campy' by this point; I don't want to get killed when I go back to Taiwan...), but there are some of the camp kids and even a couple of skinny me from being in Taiwan 9 months already. (One side benefit of working in Taiwan.. I lose weight without trying. Living in 90% humidity has benefits...)

I think I'll try to do at least one pic post a month from now on. Since pictures can communicate more than words, it's another way to help you all experience a taste of Taiwan. (Speaking of which.. maybe the next picture post will be about food!) Enjoy~


This formation is called Two Lions, if I remember correctly. See why?

They could call this Goat Island too..
Not as pretty sounding as Orchid Island, but I saw no orchids and hundreds of goats...

Looking East toward "The West"... it's all Pacific until Hawaii

This could have spiritual significance but to me it looked like
someone left behind their fly-fishing pole

There are a lot of churches on Orchid Island,though most of them are not what you'd call evangelical...


Some areas are getting more touristy...
Island kids, who came to our one-day VBS event with songs and games.

Some ring tossing...
I was a hit with the local kids, who had probably occasionally seen
but never gotten to interact with a foreigner before.

The kids were fascinated by my nose (it's pointy!) and stubble,
both of which are seemingly in short supply on Orchid Island.
Two of the kids, a brother and sister, especially befriended me.
There was a moving event as our team was leaving, when the little girl asked
tearfully in Mandarin if I was ever coming back to visit them again.
They're teenagers by now, I wonder if they remember our visit?

Cute and friendly pot-bellied pig who loved attention
as much as any dog I've met


Good times...





3 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Not sure why ^that guy deleted his comment, but it was about the sad fact that the native people on Orchid Island are largely dependent on government subsidies. While there, I was told these subsidies stop if they begin to earn an income, which discourages people from working or being prosperous. This has a very negative effect on the culture there as a whole.

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  3. Sweet pictures. It's always fun to see how children react to foreigners.

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