The eagle has landed

Today marks the beginning of my artist residency in Hengchun, Taiwan. I completely forgot about that feeling when you step out of an AC airplane, and the climate of your destination hits you straight in the face. Wooh! The heat and humidity! Love it! This is my fourth visit to Taiwan, so I found myself giggling when rediscovering some trademarks such as the crazy taxi drivers, the not-so-intuitive light switch placements, the kindness and collective mindset of the people, the rain that takes its job super seriously, and the melodies played by the trash-trucks. I will be staying here for a month and a bit more. The biggest enigma for me is whether I will be able to overcome my jet lag in a decent time. Every time before, I needed more than a week of adjustments to get over it, but now I am more skilled with the consistency of my rest in general. Some things I am curious about this time are tasting all the special fruit, playing as much as I can with the local musicians, collaborating on interesting projects, and swimming in the Pacific. My first day was spent at a rehearsals of the local Hengchun moon-guitar orchestra, where I had the privilige to play with the elders that are keeping this beautiful tradition and songs alive. My favorite moment was playing the song with the oldest member of the orchestra her wisdom, calmness, acceptance and youth is absolutely vibrant at her tender age of 97.