Welcome to the Philippines!

Hello friends!

I'm here in the Philippines, in Puerto Princesa, on the island of Palawan. We arrived here on Monday after a fantastic three weeks in Taiwan. I learned so much about the culture, food, and so many other things!

For now, though, I'd like to tell you about the day I just had.

I woke up this morning fully prepared to plant mangrove trees, or something similar. The UWP staff members told us to bring shoes that could get wet because we were going to be standing in a little bit of water. I thought, "oh, that's not a problem, as long as there are no snakes." Little did I know, we weren't going to a mangrove site. We were driven to a jungle (yes, a jungle). The bus couldn't make it down the road we were supposed to take, so we hopped on a 3 wheeled jeep-looking-thing, and bounced our way to an open pasture full of water buffaloes, stray dogs, and beautiful mountains surrounding it. By this point, I didn't really care what we were doing, all I knew was I had found the most peaceful place on earth! No mechanical sounds whatsoever!

But the road didn't end there. The Filipino "guides" said it was another 20-30 minute walk. I was still thinking "no big deal, this is incredible." As we ventured into the jungle, we encountered a small, lightly-treaded, muddy/slippery trail. The guides seemed confident in the direction they were heading, so we followed! Soon, we were passing people going the other way. We smiled and said, "mabuhay" (it means hello in Filipino), and kept walking. As we got farther and farther into the jungle, we came across a group of people serving rice and meat with bamboo shoots! It was incredibly efficient, so we tried the same. We quickly ate lunch with our hands, eager to get to work! We walked back on the path a little ways but took a sharp turn into the thick of it. We stumbled down a slope, and splash, we were in the river. Brown, mucky water, in the middle of a Filipino jungle, with strange creatures surrounding us. Nervous and excited to be in a river in the Philippines, we plunged into the neck deep water, floating our way to a place we could touch.

Once we got semi-comfortable being with the 2-inch spiders and floating things that felt like strange animals, we started clearing out the river of dead logs and debris. We worked our way down the river, tossing out what we could. When we ran out of time, we made our way back up the slippery, muddy river bank. Half of the group was quicker than the other, so we went a different way, with a different guide. One thing we didn't know: this guide took us on a 15-min detour. He explained it would take us through a small underground river, so we were all for it! When we got to the underground river, we held on to a rope to guide us to the exit. Another unknown fact: the exit was an extremely steep slope, more slippery than an ice rink! It was quite a challenge getting our group up it!

Once we were all through the underground river and up the slippery slope, it was more adventure. By this time, it's been 30 minutes. The other half of the group is already back with our bags, heading to the bus. We're still trying to find our way back. We start walking, and come across another river crossing. Fortunately, this one only requires one rope (only one rope, huh?), so we make it across quickly. Our guides are whacking vines and bushes out of the way, making a path, and when I ask, "where is our stuff?", they reply, "oh, we're close, ma'am." Another 30 minutes passes, and we're still beating through bushes, finding our own path. After we've been walking, and getting scratched for an hour, we finally reach our bags!

Oh no, the journey isn't finished yet, we still had to hike back out of the jungle! So, like I mentioned earlier, we clambered back the faint path, and after what felt like forever, reached the beautiful meadow. It was even more beautiful that the first time I saw it! Knowing where I was made me feel so comfortable! Then, an hour and a half later, we climbed back on the bus (with the rest of our worried group) and rode 2 hours back to town.

It was one of the coolest adventures of my life, and also one of the scariest, but I know I'll never experience anything like that again, so I decided to make the best of it! I pretended like we were in an Indiana Jones movie, which made me feel pretty bad ass! And now I'm at my host family's, in a comfortable bed, thankful we didn't get more lost.

Hope all is well, and Happy Halloween!

XOXO
Bonnie

Nihao ma? (How are you?)

Good evening friends (morning for you)!

What a week it has been. Up with People finished the USA tour with a bang, and headed to Taiwan with excitement, and a bit of nervousness. We boarded a plane in New York City and landed in Taipei at 11:00pm the next day. I cannot begin to explain the anxiousness we all had on the plane. We couldn't sit still, it was Up with people students roaming the plane, talking about how excited we were!

After we landed in Taipei, we boarded three buses, jammed them with our luggage, and ventured into the crazy night driving of Taiwan. Two hours later, we arrived at an incredible temple where we spent our first night. The thrill, and exhaustion, was overwhelming. The strong smells of incense were so "spiritual" and  welcoming of the culture. The girls got one room and the boys got the other. We slept on bunk beds, but they were not the traditional American bunk beds. 

We slept on thin blankets and red, rectangle, brick pillows. For three hours, we rested our minds until we were greeted by the sun. We did yoga on the roof in the humid, sticky air. Our breakfast was hot soy bean milk, hot coffee, and hot tapioca with some sort of sauce. We also had a rice bread sandwich with an assortment of meat and vegetables. Needless to say, it was interesting.

The rest of the day was spent touring Erlin, Taiwan. We visited the largest Buddha in the world, met out sponsor, who welcomed us with a traditional tea ceremony, and then we toured a museum that had a display with the history of the bicycle. By this time, the jet lag was starting to set in, and it was all we could do to stay awake on the bus. Then, before I knew it, I was in bed at my first Taiwanese host family. What a great experience. So welcoming! 

I'm writing this blog, and it's Tuesday night here, and it feels like just yesterday we were doing our first Community Service project. Now I truly know the feeling of "time flies." This culture is incredibly giving. Everywhere we go, they have gifts for us, and they give us a presentation of their school, or nursing home, etc. Today, we interacted with students at Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology. It was great to meet students our own age, and talk to them about the college experience in Taiwan. We're even doing a private show for them tomorrow night! I can't wait. 

Now, let me tell you about all of the food we've been trying. A couple nights ago, we went to a night market. There are food vendors, clothing vendors, and many other vendors. The strangest food I ate: chicken stomach. It didn't taste bad, but the texture was a bit more than I could handle. The other crazy food they eat regularly here is stinky tofu. It smells (literally) like fried dog poop. It makes you want to vomit, but it actually tastes pretty good, surprisingly. And right now, I'm drinking Mango Taiwanese beer. Strange combination, huh? My host dad walked in, saw me and my roommates working hard, staring at our computers. He didn't say anything, walked out, and came back with a handfull of beer and said, "enjoy." He must have sensed our mood. Anyways, I have loved almost every moment of being in Taiwan. Some smells I can't get out of my head, and perhaps that is how I will want it to be when I can't remember the taste, but some things I will never forget, and the smell of stinky tofu is one of them. I will never forget the Taiwanese BBQ with some other cast members in celebration of the Moon Festival. 

I will try to post more often, but for now, I am going to bed because tomorrow is a show day! Thanks for tuning in :) 

Wan an (goodnight in Taiwanese),

Bonnie