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.