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.