by Christine Martinez
When traveling to Taiwan, I told myself to have an open mind and heart. That advice was what allowed me to fully intake this beautiful way of life and the value of giving. After traveling to the city of Hualien a few days into our trip, we visited Stella Maris Catholic High School, which encourages the practice of aboriginal traditions while practicing Catholicism. The students and faculty were beyond welcoming; they greeted us with the warmest smiles. I was overwhelmed with emotion because they knew nothing about us, but did not show any hesitation toward us. I felt so appreciative because we were visitors to their country, and yet they swarmed us with traditional Lunar New Year gifts and memorabilia from their school. They gave us a drumming toy that is used to ring in new luck, and hand sewn bracelets with the school’s silver emblem in the center.
As the days progressed, we went into the jungle to do earth oven cooking with the aboriginal students. The earth ovens were made of rocks with a small fire pit under them. I was able to talk to the students while putting rice in bamboo sticks. They spoke English well. Then we went to a short lecture about aboriginal culture, a few miles away from the jungle while the food cooked. When we returned to the jungle, the sun had set and the staff had finished setting up dinner. Everything looked delicious: the chicken, the fish, and potatoes by then baked to perfection in the earth ovens. To have fresh food cooked with just the raw forces of nature, then to eat it at night in the jungle was an experience I will never forget. I remember hearing nothing but laughter that night amongst the dimmest lighting from the few lamps around. I even had some insightful conversations with my classmates where we discussed how that had been the best day we had so far. We also talked about what we would do to never forget the kindness we were shown that day; we said we’d ‘pay it forward’ upon our return to the states and push ourselves to be more open towards new people.
Unfortunately, around this time of our stay, I faced the biggest challenge of the trip. I began to lose my voice. Although I knew I was catching something, I also knew that every day on this trip was an opportunity so I told myself to pull through it because I didn’t want to miss a beat. After returning to Taipei for a few days, we visited the Old Street and Waterfront boardwalk. The shop owners there were very helpful, especially the Chinese medicine shop. I walked in and tried to speak a little while pointing at my throat and the store employee immediately grabbed a jar of dried tangerine peels for me. I was a little doubtful; I barely had a voice and her solution was dried fruit peels? But within a few minutes of eating them, I felt relief from the burning sensation in my throat.
As I came near the meeting spot, I decided to walk over to a street vendor selling jewelry out of a briefcase to purchase a few more souvenirs. I had met many vendors on the trip. Often times they spoke only a little bit of English, however we managed to have a conversation. One time I had chosen two pink stone bracelets. The vendor asked whom the bracelets were for and I told him they would be gifts for my mom and sister. He handed me a third bracelet and I told him I had gone over my spending money for the day and just needed two. He said the third was a gift for me and it had a different design that was said to bring me luck. He told me that now my mom, sister and I would all have a bracelet from here. My eyes began to water up and I gave him a hug to show my gratitude and asked if I could snap a picture of us. Luckily, one of my classmates was near me and took a great shot.
This experience is what I come back to every time I think of compassion. While I could tell by their clothing and vending stands that many of the merchants were poor, they seemed simultaneously rich because Taiwanese people seem to give it all. Regardless of how much they have or who you are, they offer everything they possibly can. This was the moment where I realized that their way of life and being content with what they had to the point of giving it away was a way of life I would strive for: to be a true giver.
The next day was the optional service learning and given that my voice was mostly gone, I contemplated not going. Then I realized that with all the compassion I had seen I had to pay it forward and do my part by serving. Nine other classmates and I went to visit the Tzu Chi Recycling and Education Center. This center truly does amazing work; it has a detailed separation process for every item that is recycled and it refurbishes or creates something new out of everything taken in. The center is also an adult day care where the elderly are the main volunteers who keep the center running. Seniors who used to be engineers or mechanics work on refurbishing items, keeping their skills active. Giving seniors the ability to practice their skills and socialize allows them to have a sense of purpose. Seeing them smile and wave at us, and wanting to show us everything they were working on, I could tell how proud they were. While we were walking around, I heard some chimes and our guide told us this meant it was the time of day to pray. We were invited to close our eyes and pray with them regardless of our beliefs or denominations. As we stood in the center of this recycling yard, I opened my eyes to get a better sense of my surroundings and this is when I saw a sign that read, “Do not underestimate yourself; everyone has unlimited potential.” That quote resonated with me because here were people in their last years of life, doing work so that the earth can be more sustainable for the surviving generations. They were making an unbelievable impact. To be around them was truly an honor and an experience I will never forget.
My time in Taiwan allowed me to reflect on the type of person I am. How much compassion I show, how much compassion I am truly capable of, and how much more I can show. I learned that the world is a lot bigger than I ever imagined and people live in very different ways. The values Taiwanese people practice in their daily lives are examples of the human capacity to do overall good. From the patience of our tour guide, the encouragement to ask and learn as much as possible from Dr. Chen, and sharing details about our lives with each other, every interaction helped me learn something. I even took losing my voice as a lesson about what I can overcome with perseverance. I gained an appreciation for herbal remedies like the dried tangerines. I learned about the power of embrace. I was traveling with people whom I spent an entire semester in class with and didn’t learn anything about them until my trip. I will always feel guilty for not trying to get to know my classmates before this trip. However, I feel an abundance of warmth for them because they became my friends on this trip. I may not often see these friends, but I know that we will always have this experience to keep us close. Mainly, this trip helped me understand the importance of a positive perspective because despite not being recognized as an independent country, Taiwanese people still treat everyone with an equal amount of compassion and understanding.
