Aug 8

This morning we leave Meinong. I must say that I am ready to go. I have enjoyed it, but in the few days left I am eager to see more of the Island. We are taking a bus to Pindong, then a train to Taitung, where we will spend the night (although we do not have rooms booked). From there we will go to Hualin, which is close to the Taroko Gorge. In Hualin w are staying at a Japanese style guesthouse owned by a friend of Jeff’s friend. Gina, one the girls I am traveling with, is good at making connections and accepting offers of hospitality. If I were on my own I know I would just follow the guide books recommendations, so this is a great experience for me. Usually I don’t like staying with people I don’t know.

Trailhead ammenities
The trail was covered in some places...
and missing in others.
lunch at the butterfly cafe

Aug 7-

On our last full day in Meinong Orange and Arthur offered to take us hiking. Once again the typhoon damage interfered with our plans. The trail was blocked by fallen trees and power lines, all of which we were able to navigate around. In retrospect continuing as far as we did may not have been the best idea. At one point when we were trying to climb above a blocked portion, I got the distinct impression that much of the ground was still liquefied, and that if I slid, I would take a chuck of hillside with me. Eventually we reached a section where the road had completely disappeared down the hill, and decided that it was time to turn around. I doubt we made it halfway along the trail, but as I see it this will be a more memorable experience than if the trail was clean and we reached the top, no matter how stunning the view may be.

Aug 6- Serendipity

Today was a pretty busy day. We had been invited on a trip to an aboriginal village south of Meinong by Orange and her husband Arthur. (of course these are not their real names) They are teachers who have been active with MPA since the beginning and have helped out several times during our stay. Now that there are only three of us left, as well as Dave’s girlfriend Kari, they have been kind enough to show us around. The six of piled into the car and head for the mountains, only to be denied entry at a checkpoint (you have to show ID to enter the aboriginal villages). Typhoon Haitung had seriously damaged the road in, and we would not be able to make it. Discouraged, we headed down the mountain. On the way down we stopped at a hillside restaurant/café owned by a famous artist, Sakuliu. The gate was locked, and we were looking at the building when some people drove up. They explained that they were not opened because of the typhoon that just past (another typhoon came through this weekend, but it was not as bad as Haitung)) but eventually agreed to make some coffee. As it turned out Sakuliu was there, and we ended up spending hours sitting around talking to him about art and architecture and aboriginal traditions. It was amazing. We aren’t quiet sure why he came out of his studio to talk to us, since he sent everyone else away that stopped in. By the time we left we had drank wine, ginger flower tea, and another tea he whipped up out of various leaves, as well as eating a rabbit he killed the day before.

Studio wrap up:

My project was to present a proposal for the reuse of the buiding we were using as a studio space. It was a former tobacco processing station, where farmers would bring in tobacco and get paid according to the quality. The market for tobacco in Taiwan has crashed due to the WTO, so the space has been empty for a couple years. Although we did come up with the design, most important thing was to communicate the potential of the site. The project went ok, not the best I've done. It was hard finding a balance between working as a PR project and actually designing the space, like in a normal architecture studio. I certainly don't feel as though we were able to design a project we believed in, because the instructor kept pushing us in a different direction. In the end I think he wanted something splashy and eye catching, rather than something thoughtfully considered. At least that was my feeling. I think that was the root of my frustration. He kept pushing for things that we knew would be a lot of work to resolve architecturally, but we didn't have the time to resolve them. But likeI said, I have come to realize that the focus of the studio was less on learning design than it was experiencing community activism/ participatory design. We were there to spark ideas and raise support for MPA.

Just a few fun images to keep you entertained.

It's not uncommon for the head and feet to come on the plate with the chicken. This one was a bit thirsty for taiwanese liquor.
astro turf helmet
taipei graffiti

The Next Generation students painted a sign on the side of the building. It means something like "future vision gallery", alluding to the idea of our presentations providing inspiration for future development in Meinung.

The final presentation is over and all the frustration has melted away. We had a long day, but it ended with a big party and everyone had a good time. We taught the Taiwanese students to play quarters, and made quite a ruckus at dinner. Fortunately the restaurant is somehow affiliated with MPA, so they didn't care. Most people have left for Taipei, or at least started the trip. I'm not sure how far they will get, because the last report said that Taipei was flooded. Another typhoon is moving through the region. This one isn't nearly as big or strong as Haitung, and it also didn't pass directly over the island. Still there is a lot of wind and rain, particularly in the north. Because of the typhoon I am staying in Meinung for the weekend. One of the local school teachers has offered to take us to an aboriginal village. Next week we (traveling with a couple friends) will go to Kenting, in the south. Kenting is a national park on the southern tip of the island, complete with mountains, beaches, and scooter rentals. After Kenting we will head up the east coast, but we haven't planned where to stay or what to see. It's a fly by the seat of your pants affair. I don't know what my connection opportunities will be, so this may be the last time I post before Taipei, which theoretically is a wireless city.

Exporting on the fly

Today our presentation posters were due. We had a 9am deadline, so I ended up holding my computer as I rode to school, because my files were taking a long time to export to PDF format. Now we have a model to finish before the open house tomorrow. We shall see how the day goes.

Wasabi makes the day bright

Today is a bad day. Today is the kind of day when you want to pull your hair out and throw things, when you begin to lose respect for your instructor and feel like its less important that you learn than be a tool. I feel like a tool, and today I am ready for the studio to be over.

Enough of that. On a more interesting note, I have conducted an experiment, based on the success of Taco Bell hot sauce for cleaning pennies. For those interested, Wasabi sauce does not work nearly as well. Score one for the Bell.

The dogs give chase

Today’s adventure came late in the day. I had been working in my room on the computer for a while and decide that it would be nice to take a bike ride. It was around 10 PM, so it had cooled down quite a bit. Everything went well for the first half, while I was on the major roads. I had just finished working on a map of the bike paths, so I thought I would try a couple out, thinking they might be well marked, and trusting in the fact that I had been studying them for about an hour. I went south out of town, then north on a road that led north, but stayed east of the town. I didn’t know exactly where I was, but I had a good idea and I could see the mountains for bearings. Then things went downhill. I wasn’t sure where I was, but I was beginning to reach the road up into the Yellow Butterfly Valley, which leads into the mountains. About that time I rode by a house and three big dogs decided to chase me. I had already had a couple encounters with dogs, but these meant business. I rode quick as I could and came out unharmed. Not only that, I could see a temple that I recognized. Unfortunately it meant I was at the base of the YB Valley, and had to turn around and run the dog gauntlet again. The next half hour or so I picked my way through a village recognizing some things, but unable to find my way out. Finally I found someone to ask directions from. Now remember, I don’t speak Chinese. I said Meinung, and he could tell I was long. He replied “Meinung something, Meinung something”, and I think he was asking if I wanted Meinung town or something else. I just stood there looking like an idiot, and tried to get him over to the less than helpful bike path map about 20 feet away. He wouldn’t budge, but used hand signals to show which direction, and that I was to turn right at the intersection. Sure enough, as soon as I turned I knew exactly where I was, about a minute away from the temple guesthouse. That is the end of late night solo bike rides for me.

Food and More Food

Yesterday started with a banquet at a local temple, where the food just kept coming. At one point the plates were stacked three high in the middle of the table. At the end they brought out bags to take stuff home, but since we don’t have a fridge, we couldn’t take any. The little ladies were circling, just waiting for us to leave. In the afternoon we had an open house to show our design proposals and get feedback from the community. After that the Next Generation (Meinung youth organization) threw an Indonesian barbeque. The food was fantastic! Some of it was standard fair, chicken, lamb, and beef, but there were also skewers of chicken intestine (a bit to chewy) and a local dish which is made from rice and duck blood. The consistency reminded me of Cream of Wheat cookies. After that a group rode out of town to an irrigation ditch where we wallowed around in about a foot and a half of water. It may sound strange, but it felt oh so good. There is silt in the bottom of the ditch, but the water itself is clean, and it is one of the few chances to immerse in cool water and stave off the heat. On the way home I got a push from one of the guys on a scooter. He rode up beside my bike and put his foot on the back fender, and I just coasted along. Beats peddling like a chump. Since it was Friday we went to the night market. At one point I was the only foreigner in the group, and even Payee (sp?) couldn’t understand everything because the others were speaking Hakka (dialect). We ate hot-pot and played a game similar to pachinko. All in all a good day.

Pigeons
We have started working more intensely on our projects, which I am not going to write much about today because it has been a frustrating process and would probably bore most of you. Instead I will write about the fascinating world of pigeon training. There are weird structures on top of buildings that look like little houses. Some of them are quiet interesting, while others look like they are about to fall apart. They are pigeon houses, and the pigeons are being trained to race. The picture shows the pigeon house next to our studio. The pigeons in the top house are the best, and they go out every day. The building below is filled with pigeons as well, but apparently they are either too young, or not trained enough to fly with the big boys.
When the pigeons are let out to fly the trainer stays on the top of the house and watches them. Sometimes they try to come back to soon, and he waves them off with a flag. The other trick is to launch bottle rockets at them, only the bottle rockets are much louder than the ones we have at home. Apparently this teaches them not to be scared off course by competitors or thunderstorms, etc. At first the sound of exploding fireworks at any time of day was unsettling, but now it doesn’t bother me. I wonder if it even registers with people who live here. When the trainer wants the birds to come in he blows a whistle and they all come back. I don’t understand how the actual racing works, but I imagine they are taken out of town and are timed how long it takes to get back to there roost. Of course that means there is no common finish line.

Kaohsiung
This weekend we went in to Kaohsiung, the big city. It is the second largest city in Taiwan, and is about an hour bus ride from Meinung. The day started out a bit rough, as we were unable to find the tourist info center. In the end it didn'’t matter because we realized that had it been where the guidebook said it was (which it was not) it was not open on Saturdays. Our quest for pizza was also problematic, and I we ended up at McDonalds. Some of you may know that I do not usually eat at McDonalds, because I think they are an evil company. For the sake of avoiding group mutiny I agreed to ignore my one man boycott, admittedly I was interested to try a sandwich made from sliced beef, with sauted onions and sticky rice cakes in place of the buns. I have to admire McDonalds for at least including menu items that acknowledge the culture. The day improved when we located a bookstore that carried English language books, and an expat restaurant with pizza. Our last stop was Holiday KTV, for a bit of karaoke. Unfortunately we missed the bus back to Meinung, so we had to take a cab. If you think cab rides are scary in New York....

This is the studio building, which is also my project. (top)
Jeff (the instructor) showing the water line from the flooding at the studio. (bottom)

Today I woke up to sunshine for the first time in about a week. Of course that means it will be hot again, but its still nice to get rid of the gloom. Yesterday was the fist day without continual rain since the typhoon, so we spent the morning cleaning out the studio. It was a wreck, and it took several people several hours to get the mud out. Still it was nice to do something active for a change. After the cleaning we worked on a preliminary proposal for our site. This morning we are presenting our proposals to each other for feedback before we meet with members of the community next week.

Typhoon Haitung has past, but the rain continues. Although we are technically no longer confined to the guesthouse, I still haven't ventured far. This afternoon I plan to ride in to town, rain or not. The important part is that the wind is gone (it's not that the wind is blowing, it's what the wind is blowing). We are supposed to start working on our projects, which means I need to get in to the studio and start building a model before the presentation on Friday. Quite frankly I am tired of being cooped up, and I'm curious to see the condition of the studio. The last group that went in said the water was only a couple inches, but as they left it was rising again. The rivers are all topped off, so any rain and run-off from the mountains causes more flooding. The weather report says the rain will continue through the week.

This is the Temple where we are staying.
Rather than writing everyone the same thing, I have decided to finally enter the blogging world, but only while traveling. I will try to avoid pontificating about politics and the like, because I’m sure the world could care less about my thoughts on Bush and the waning days of Babylon.
For those who do not know, I am in Taiwan for a summer studio until Aug 6. After that I am hoping to go to Japan for the World Expo, and I will return to the US on Aug 15th. While in Taiwan we are living in Meinung, a farming community in the south. We are working with the Meinung Peoples Association
http://mpa.ngo.org.tw/english/e-index.html
on several projects involving redevelopment, tourism, and water management. My project is a redevelopment proposal for the space we are occupying as a studio. My teammate and I are proposing a community center, with a rec center for youth, community rooms, library, and an office for the neighborhood manager or an NGO. The site used to be a tobacco grading station (tobacco was a cash crop before the WTO) but has been vacant for several years.
Last weekend was the yellow butterfly festival, and I was part of the group that led the prime minister to the stage. The picture shows the prime minister leading people in throwing flowers into the river. The previous day we walked up the river and swam around in the pools. The river is really low in the photo, but it is probably overflowing now because of all the rain. The festival was created 10 years ago to raise awareness of the butterfly habitat, which is essentially an arboretum, developed during the Japanese occupation. The trees were collected from all over Asia, so it is a really unique place. If the dam is built the valley will be filled. And if there is a big earthquake (5 faults run through the area) and the dam broke the entire valley would flood.