Farming in Taiwan! Week 1.5

Going from the relative dry, cool weather of my hometown into the heat and humidity of Taiwan was a big change.  Even though it was nighttime when I got out of the airport, it felt like it could be the middle of the day.  The NCTU aiesecers brought me to the trainee house in Hsinchu via the high-speed train as I tried to deal with the sudden heat.

My project is working on an organic farm near Zhudong, but because the farmer wasn't on the farm for the first few days that I was in Taiwan, some other EPs and I had time to travel to other cities and explore Taiwan for ourselves.  Almost every city here is easily accessible by bus, and tickets are only around 100NT for students, about 3 to 4 USD.  In Taipei we visited Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, tried food in Ximen - a lively shopping and eating district - and went to the top of Taipei 101, which is one of the tallest buildings in the world.  We also took a day trip to Taichung, and after getting totally lost on the bus system, we managed to get to the National Museum of Natural Science, an amazing and quite expansive museum that covers human cultures, prehistoric times, human development, biology, evolution, architecture, and even more that we didn't have time to see.  We also went to the Fengjia Night Market, one of the largest night markets in Taiwan, which was absolutely incredible - hundreds of food and drink stands, thousands of people, the smells of fried meats, veggies and tofu, fruit milks and bubble tea, and bright lights and colorful signs everywhere.  It was chaotic and beautiful, and a perfect way to end our period of free time before the project started.

The next day we got to see the farm for the first time.  We moved from the NCTU trainee house in Hsinchu to a house in the little village next to the farm, where we have a lot more room.  There are six EPs on the farm, split between two projects.  My project also includes running a camp for local children about organic farming, which we will start next week.  In the meantime, we harvest and pack vegetables, pull out weeds, clean the land around the farm, and host tour groups from major cities in Taiwan who want to see life in the more rural areas.  It's a lot of work, and each day feels very long, but the people here and the other EPs at the farm are all nice.  On the days we have off from work we are able to travel around Taiwan even more.  It's been a long first week-and-a-half, but so far has been   good.