“...WE HAD BEEN TOTALLY UNPREPARED…”
Part 1: Our time in Dahu began with despair and hopelessness. Our homestead was overwhelmingly disgusting, our digital connection to the outside world was severed and it always seemed that our itinerary was taking us away from Dahu for long journeys with unclear purposes. Looking back at the beginning of our time there, even though the disparaging moments are highlighted, I also see that there were many good points such as our time with the farmers, climbing Manabang Mountain as well as visiting the bat cave to name a few. Though we had been totally unprepared for the despondency that we experienced at the beginning of our trip, I nonetheless felt sad as it was ending and when we left Dahu. At the point in our stay when we stopped moving around so much and started to experience the place, that is when we started to integrate ourselves into the local community. We spent our working as well as our free time with farmers, teachers, and students in our exploration of the landscape all while learning about each other. We walked through jungles, swam in wild waters, hiked up mountains, played games as well as eating and occasionally drinking too much.
“...THE LABOR WAS ARDUOUS AND OFTEN UNFAMILIAR…”
Part 2: The intense sun shone down between the mountains, turning my skin brown, as I worked in the disused field behind the school. Each day laboring in that field I would sweat until my clothes were saturated and my skin glistened. The work was hard, sometimes monotonous and would often be interrupted as children would run out of their classes in order to help me in the field...though sometimes “help” would instead mean to dig for worms.
Day 1: Removing the weeds and leveling the soil.
Day 2: Laying bricks.
Day 3: Laying more bricks and splitting bamboo.
Day 4: Weaving the bamboo into the dome structure.
Day 5: Completely covering the structure in woven bamboo.
Day 6: Assembling the table, transplanting plants and installing the LEDs.
Usually I build faster but the labor was arduous and often unfamiliar. Nonetheless, the construction was finished on time and hopefully it will be used in the future as an open classroom for alternative pedagogies and experimental learning.
“...TO RIDE THOUGH THE MOUNTAINS…”
Part 3: In our last day we should have been doing responsible things such as packing, cleaning, and generally preparing to leave but instead we accepted an offer from one local farmer to ride through the mountains to Zhuoshan and back. We started with a bowl of noodle soup with won ton and a succulent pig’s foot on the side at a small restaurant in Dahu, before riding into the countryside. As we finished and walked outside, I was remissed that we had not been told about that restaurant before as it was really delicious. From there we rode directly into the mountains along country roads which took us through canyons and up steep hills. As we rode I often felt myself slipping on the narrow motocross seat, and held on tighter with my feet and hands onto the bike’s steel frame. We went up the mountain to view the expansive landscape and then back down to ride across it. That last day was among our best. Although our best experiences were all vastly different, the common traits that they shared were a sense of wildness and freedom in experiencing the sublime environment of Miaoli.
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