It is presently Monday morning at 9:30 after my whirlwind trip to Sinshe (Shin-Shay), Hualien (Hoo-Ah-Lee-Ehn) County, on the Eastern coast of Taiwan. It was INCREDIBLE! We tagged along with the Fine Arts undergraduates, and a handful of other graduate foreigners from the Culture and Arts department. We visited the Kavalan (Ka-Vah-Lahn) tribe.
A brief history: Kavalan means "People of the plant", and this tribe is known for it's artful work with the banana tree fiber. The Kavalan were originally from EE-Lahn (I don't know the Pinyin for this), which is 6 hours north of Hualien by bus, over very steep terrain. When the Haan Chinese came over from China in the 16th Century, they forced the Kavalan out of their home, and down to Hualien, which was already inhabited by the Amis (Ah-Mees) tribe. The two tribes blended, but slowly lost their craft of banana fiber weaving. From what I understood, in the 1990s, a group of women from the tribe discovered a photograph taken in the early 20th century of a beautiful skirt made of banana fibers, and have worked to reclaim their lost art. The Kavalan demanded the government return their land to them in the 1990s, but the government said they could live anywhere, if they could afford the real estate. Today, the Kavalan practice their art, but it is dying because it is not getting passed down to the younger generation. The Kavalan are also known for their "modern" system of rice farming. The government owns their rice fields, though, so I don't know what kind of profit they turn out. There are only 1,200 Kavalan people left in the world. They are incredibly kind and welcoming people.
*Warning, this will be a VERY long post.
Friday, March 22nd:
We were supposed to get on the bus from TNUA at 7am, but our bus had engine trouble, so we didn't get going until 11am.
It's okay, I played with the campus dogs. Scruffles was around again.
This is the department dog, Peggie (or Kao-Lien--Cow-Lee-ehn, it means "Poor"). She's very shy, so I'm so glad she let me pet her!
Finally, we boarded our HUGE bus. This is Aiden, he was one of the student trip coordinators and spoke excellent English.
As we exited the city, we passed through long (miles long) tunnels through the mountains.
As we drove through the mountains, it was just a wall of green on either side!
We hit some "real" suburbs (to me), which looked a lot like suburban Denver--mountains behind spread-out (rice) fields with houses dotted between, and clusters of buildings no higher than 4 stories. The towns were adorable, and the houses were quite large and decorative (Tudor style, even). I think they were owned by wealthy rice farmers. The green rice paddies made it look like these homes were surrounded by lawns.
We stopped at a super stop to use the restrooms. It looked like a freakin' Love's or any other American tourist trap! They boasted the hottest chilis in the world; they made ice cream, which others tried and immediately started crying, haha!
The views from the bus were absolutely stunning. You have a right to get jealous now.
As we neared Hualien county, I noticed how much the layout looked like rural America--the buildings were old and small, the ground untended, but it was very open. There were rice paddies, and a few fields with water buffalo or geese and chickens in them, and everything was clustered near the highway.
I didn't realize how much I missed rural spaces until that moment. It felt familiar and comfortable to be in a place with wide open views and small communities. I've never really thought of myself as a true "country girl", but the amount of comfort I suddenly felt made me realize how much I need that once in a while.
We arrived in Sinshe--this is the whole town. The building with the lights is the only restaurant, the school is behind us, and the first, low roof on the right is the only convenience store (which was bought-out by the time we left)!
From left, Julio, a Guatemalan grad student, Kay, our interpreter and staff in the Fine Arts dept, Laoshi (Lah-ow-Shih, "teacher" in Chinese--I never caught her name) the woman who invited us here, and two of the many undergrads from the Fine Arts dept (I didn't meet all of them, as there was a sort of Graduate Foreigners-Undergraduate Taiwanese kids divide).
The yellow thing is a kind of bread fruit; this is the bread tree, which is sacred to the Kavalan; they plant one wherever they live.
The low white building is their museum, built in the ancient Kavalan style (it wouldn't have been plastered before, it would have just been bamboo, but their last one burned down, so they reinforced it).
Beautiful artifacts made from banana tree fibers and young bamboo. The red and gray trim on the garment above is made from banana fiber, and it was SO SOFT!
Images of the process of making banana fiber
Signs in the park of the Kavalan tribe
The steppe rice irrigation system employed (supposedly, first) by the Kavalan. The cluster of buildings in the lower photograph is the beautiful graveyard, similar to the others I've seen. The Kavalan master of agriculture was very interested in learning what and how other cultures farmed.
We learned how to make Ali Feng-Feng (Ah-Lee Fong-Fong), a traditional woven food basket for steaming a rice mixture.
Emily captured a great moment of me struggling with the weaving.
Sweta finished first--all that hair braiding paid off!
The two decent ones I made (the other was a tragic mess). Apparently you make one for yourself and one for your lover. I made three before I knew that was the reason behind them, so I got teased!
They brought out banana mochi--it's rice and banana pounded until it makes a sort of jellied-paste you cut into chunks, and then you roll it in a mixture of crushed peanuts and sugar. It was super good!
This completely sweet, but totally mangy and mangled dog came to watch us work. We found out that he'd been getting picked on (and attacked) by this guy:
It's a freaking puppy! He was adorable, but a total little shit--he kept picking on that other poor dog who just wanted to nap near us!
We stayed with the nicest people. The mother was one of 8 kids--this used to be her parent's house, so they had a HUGE house with a lot of bedrooms each with 2 double beds and bathrooms. The current owners only had three kids (who were all adults and moved out). They took all of the foreigners except two, who were already assigned elsewhere. Their house smelled like my Aunt Veronica's house, and I felt totally at home for a moment!
The shrine in their home.
Their living room--on the first night, while everyone showered and unpacked, I went downstairs to be a good guest and say hello and try out my shaky Chinese on our friendly hosts. The mother asked me if I liked to sing and I said yes, I used to be in the college choir--I didn't notice that behind her, her husband was bringing out AN ENTIRE KARAOKE SYSTEM. They (very politely and enthusiastically) told me I had to sing for them--they even had a whole selection of English songs. I'm so afraid to be rude to anyone here--they have all been so nice to me! After trying to get Sweta, Emily, or ANYONE to come downstairs, I sang "Every Breath You Take" by the Police, and watched as a timid, laughing crowd of my peers gathered on the stairs to take photographs, BUT NOT HELP ME. Louis (our new friend from Haiti) joined me, and Julio came down eventually, too. After I finished, they asked for another one, and I made Julio pick the song and sing with me. We sang "Unforgettable," and I made a polite, but hasty retreat to the shower!
Yeah, take a picture, Emily, it will last longer. ;)
Saturday, March 23rd:
This is the sight that greeted us in the morning from the balcony. I am the luckiest.
This is the view from the landing we were at the previous night (and where we spent most of the weekend).
Beautiful cliffs and artful erosion barriers lined the beach.
oh hey. I'm just being a giant here in Taiwan. Hook 'em!
We learned that Taiwanese don't swim. Here are the theories I've been told:
1) They just didn't learn how to swim--Guide book
2) When the war between Taiwan and China got so bad, the Taiwanese lined the beaches with land mines, and in many places, it was forbidden to swim, so the older generation doesn't swim (nor wants the younger generation to swim, though the mines have since been cleared)--Julio
3) The Haan Chinese believe that there is a ghost in the ocean that pulls you under, and many old people don't want their grand children in the ocean (pools are okay, though)--Kay, our interpreter
4) The water used to be very polluted when Taiwan was in its factory hey-day, so no one wanted it on their skin--Cheena
All seem plausible reasons for why Taiwanese don't swim in the ocean, but that's not going to stop me (I've read that there is no reason not to swim here, any more than elsewhere in the world). The Kavalan people swim, so why not!
It was SO HOT the whole weekend. The sun was very unforgiving, and it was incredibly humid. Sweta and Jackie (from Belize) braided my short hair to get it off of my neck and face--this is attempt #1 with nothing more than a rubber band and a single bobby pin.
The display of banana fiber weaving samples. It was so soft! I can't get over how fine, and delicate they could get the fiber to be. It was like a stiff linen.
The Ama's (Ah-Mah--both syllables short--"Grandmother") doing the ritual for a good harvest before we cut the banana trees. Alcohol, cigarettes, and betel nut ("Beatle" nut--like chewing tobacco--it turns your mouth red). The Ama poured a glass of wine, dipped her fingers in it, and flicked the wine to the ground, the sky, and to the side, before drinking it; one for the earth, the sky, and the ancestors. She did the same with the cigarette, but nothing with the betel nut. It's a little like "pour one out one for my homies." :)
Sweta and Nellie did it!
Laoshi's studio
The view from her studio
The Fine Arts students are eating the local Taiwanese wild raspberries.
Laoshi's husband harvested some banana trees for us--they use the "virgin trees" (have not bore any fruit) for fiber weaving.
Have you seen this view??!
Enjoying a little beach time
My Chinese name "Lucky & Beautiful Girl" (upside down for you).
The bird that Laoshi has--it fell out of it's nest as a baby and they kept it. It escaped one day, and returned because being kept was better than fending for itself. It made some WEIRD noises!
The Ama's peeling the banana trees--they looked like giant rhubarb stalks, and peeled like celery.
You must then split the peeled stalks to 4" widths or less.
Then you carefully peel the starch cellulous part from the skin of the tree--all of this has been done using one knife.
Doin' it! Also, new hairstyle compliments of Jackie.
Julio!
Then you let them dry in the sun--they bake like Shrinky-dinks! Different sun exposure turns them different colors, too. Cloudy=tan, partial sun=brown, and high sun=purple. They turn into what we think of as rafia.
The view from the bathroom entrance--we worked all weekend under that tent.
After they've dried, you flatten them back out with the side of the awl, then split the fibers to the thickness you want (they use extremely thin ones, but since we're as skilled as a bunch of toddlers at this, ours were about 1/4")
Then you tie the strips together with a tight slip knot and roll it into a twine ball (just like American farm twine) over a tube of some kind. My twine ball was not so well made.
The Ama's demonstrating how to weave--other Asian cultures, including Okinawa Japan and the Philippines also weave with banana fiber, but only the Kavalan use this type of system.
We also learned how to crochet with banana fiber. Typically, men build the homes, fish, and weave baskets, where the women weave the banana fiber clothing, cook, and do domestic work. The crochet experience taught me that, should I have been born Kavalan, my children would be naked, and I should have been born a man.
Later that night, we met more of the members of the tribe. We talked, learned dances, and drank (ain't no party like a Kavalan party)! Seriously, the booze just kept showing up...we don't know from where. As we danced, members of the tribe walked through the circle and handed out shots of rice wine to the dancers.
We are not good dancers, as you can see.
The Taiwanese Bros from TNUA--as Bro-tastic as any American tribe of Bros, challenged Louis to an arm wrestling match, and like all Bros, turned out to be all talk, 'cause Louis schooled them!
Even the puppy got schwasted. Note the plastic cup of spilled rice wine.
There was a "get to know the foreigners" circle later, where all were invited but the Bros (again, like all Bros, they were disrespectful to the Kavalan the whole time). The Kavalan sang us some songs, and asked if we had any. We sang "The Eyes of Texas Are Upon You" (terribly, I might add), but they laughed and were thankful.
Jackie pulled out a Belize flag and sang a round of "London Bridge is Falling Down" (I'm not sure if this is a Belize thing, or if everyone was just a little tipsy).
Sunday, March 24th:
A beautiful endangered Taiwanese lily that our hosts had been cultivating for 10 years.
Did I show you my US$3 men's knock-off Birkenstocks from Shilin? Turns out, I just need to buy men's shoes here, since the men wear some cute stuff in Taiwan! They were very helpful in the Hualien heat.
Cloth made from the mashed pulp of banana trees and dyed. For NorthWestern cultures, the abundant resource was animals (buffalo, deer, bear, wolf, etc) and they used every part of the animal for shelter, clothing, tools, and food. For Southern and Eastern cultures, the resource is plant-based.
Filling the Ali Feng-Feng with a mixture of rice, meat, and mushrooms before steaming them.
Weaving lesson on our make-shift mini-looms!
Tah-Dah! Banana fiber mat.
The chief of the tribe in traditional dress.
Behold, the bros are weaving (this guy wove a chopstick wrapper into his mat)...ummm.
Getting packed up--Julio and Sweta have the same bag...it looks bigger on one of them.
Our last stop was in Hualien City, near the port.
Where we visited a local art museum
I took a picture of some old cameras with my iPhone 4S. That's probably art. ;)
A couple of paintings that I thought were really beautiful.
This lantern was the size of a wrecking ball. Danielle Branson, you need this.
And this.
We had a lecture from a woman who studies banana fiber-weaving cultures.
This is a loom from the Philippines of ikat-dyed fibers, that were then woven into a mat.
This pattern is created through the dying process, rather than the weaving process.
All the teachers, from left: Kay, the lecturer, Wan-Li (she is a Fine Arts teacher at TNUA who did her PhD in Taiwanese women's textiles), Jim, and laoshi.
Before hopping on the bus, we ate our Ali Feng-Feng, which was delicious, but the combination of eating two of these in less than 2 minutes, and the shocks-less bus over the mountain roads resulted in a lot of motion-sick students (myself included). Four people actually threw up at the rest stop. It was...rough. But we made it home safely by 10:30pm.
The food:
Our last lunch with the Kavalan--this is Jim smelling the soup.
The food was awesome, but quite unusual by my American standards (I'm sure they would say the same thing about our food). Everything was well-cooked and well-spiced, though. Here is a list of the things we ate this weekend:
-Rice LOTS of short grain sticky white rice
-Several kinds of spinach-esque cooked greens, all were very good with varying degrees of bitterness
-Mountain greens (the curly tops of ferns, mixed with peppers and minnows)
-Various fish soups, bone-in; they were all incredible, but a little slow to eat
-Small chicken chunks, but still with a lot of bones
-Laver (cooked moss)
-Pig fat slices with cooked garlic and ginger
-Squash--SO good, like extra-smooth butternut squash, but with a milder flavor
-Banana tree core with canned pineapple
-Bamboo
-Ratan soup (yep, like the chairs; you can cook it and eat it, but it's super bitter
-Rice porridge (for breakfast--it actually tasted like plain oatmeal!)
-Eggs with tomatoes and other vegetables
-Tree tassles--yes, just like the ones that bloom out of the trees in the US in the spring and litter the sidewalk like dead worms. You can eat this variety, and they are actually REALLY good--like a canned green bean.
-Wild Mushroom soup--this was kick ass, the mushrooms here are the size of my hand, but more mildly flavored than a portobello. I love fresh mushrooms!
To quote our hosts, "The Kavalan eat everything." They enjoy the bounty of the earth, eating wild plants. Perhaps once upon a time, Westerners may have done this too, but we have since lost the open-minded approach to what is edible. A lot of the food we at took some preparation, too. Some of the greens had spines on them before they could be cooked, some had to be soaked for a while to soften, and the fish had to be cleaned, etc. It was all delicious, though!
My trip was amazing. Everyone was so kind! Neither our cups nor our bellies were ever empty, and we were always greeted with a smile and a hello. The Kavalan are a friendly, happy people, who wanted to know everything about us, and share their disappearing culture with us. They didn't have a lot, but they happily shared it all with us. There was no power struggle amongst them, just friendly teasing, and when one profits, the entire tribe shares in it. They heartily and sincerely invited us back anytime, and I will forever remember my time with the Kavalan people of Taiwan with extreme fondness and gratitude.
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