Day of River-Tracing

Today, we continued to learn about the native inhabitants of Taiwan. River tracing involves following the path of a river. The rushing waves that broke down rock and created the landscape I saw before me was the same river that was providing life to the fish and quenching our thirst.

When it was my turn to jump, our guide counted to three, but I found myself still standing at the top of the cliff. Questions raced through my mind, what if I jumped too close and hit a rock, was the water below deep enough to catch my fall, was it safe to even safe to leap from this height

To succeed, we needed three ingredients:

1) Our guides knew the river like the backs of their hands. Instructing us where it was safe to jump from.

2) We worked as a team, cheering each other on, and offering hands to fellow river tracers

3) Trust ourselves, be brave, trust our guides

After river-tracing, we went to a memorable rice patty. Some of us went to the fields with our bare feet and was able to experience firsthand what it was like to pick rice like the farmers.