Taiwan from the boat on the way to Turtle Island.

Wednesday, all twelve of us (plus some staff members) went to Turtle Island. Described to me as being "incredible" and "something you shouldn't miss," one could say I was looking forward to it. So called Turtle Island for its shape from an aerial view (see the picture below), it has a volcanic terrain, lots of steep cliffs, and amazing views from the top.View from above. Not taken by me.

Approaching the island.



The hot spring in the ocean made that part of the water turn a lighter color. It also made for a distinctly sulfur smell.

Before we got to the island, we went looking for dolphins. After going for about 20 minutes with nothing, except impending sea-sickness for some, dolphins were spotted off the left side of the boat. It was insane. The boat guy said there were something like 200 dolphins swimming around us, jumping. It was something that my camera couldn't even capture. And maybe that's better- I got to really be in the moment.

We finally got to Turtle Island were told that it was 706 steps to the top. A lot, true, but not too bad, we thought. We received sticks to battle off any of the poisonous snakes we should come across and started up.

1,706 steps later, we reached the top.

Exhausted, but thrilled with the view, we had lunch at the top before heading back down.

Me, Jenny and Meg: happy and tired.

Views from the top. The pictures don't really do it justice.

So after an exciting Wednesday, it was back to school for a solid 6 periods of teaching on Thursday. The highlight of the day: jump roping with the first graders. I don't know what they were most surprised about: the fact that I COULD jump rope, or the fact that I WOULD with them.

Lucky, with said jump rope

One of the "teacherteacherteacherteacher...hi!" girls.

The cousin of a first grader. All the way from Japan- he was in school for a week and a half with us. I wasn't the only foreigner! He already spoke Japanese and Chinese and for this past week, he was also learning Taiwanese and English. Get 'em in while you're young, I suppose...