day 24: the day before the parade

yes. seven shades of green in combination with 6 different sized blades of grass. When I was about to mix the 8th and 9th shade, I checked in with Shuran Roo if I was being a little crazy and she said very sweetly, "Please no more colors." I agreed and I didn't mix any more.



kids who've been hanging around the workshop on jessie
s float of a giant tree god. they are dressed up in traditional clothing for a press photo.



it's almost 2:00 AM, Tarlo and Shuran Roo are finishing up the paper mache on the turtle head that Sun-in and I just finished making.

day 23: may qwan she

I am mad tired these days. We are at the workshop so late each night because we are working with the adults and they come after work. We leave around Noon and get back around 1AM. . .sometimes later. I stay up to add to this blog, bathe since I am dirt bag at the end of each day, crash in bed, sleep, wake up to eat lunch and the cycle repeats itself. The parade is Saturday night and that means I have less then 48 hours until parade. . .

The turtle is coming along, slowly but surely. It looks so beautiful lit up. It's not finished, it still doesn't have a head and the parade is tomorrow. I also face a dilemma about painting it, all my tests look terrible.

But Shuran Roo (again, not sure about the spelling) has saved me. She is new to working with Dream Community as a teaching assistant and translator. She completely has the wild grass operation under control, managing many adults and rascal kids, to make and paint about 150 giant blades of grass in seven different shades of green. I keep telling her I am sorry for being so crazy, she laughs and says it ok, it will be beautiful in the end. In hindsight, I could not have done this without her.

The people are so fun to work with, especially Tarlo, we have an endearing non-verbal relationship. We constantly make each other laugh, make funny noises, exaggerated hand gestures and a hand full of Mandarin/Ami words.

Despite my low levels of occasional crankiness and becoming easily frustrated due to fatigue, i'm having a blast. I tend to giggle uncontrollably once of twice late at night and the people are great. Being around such passionate determination from the Ami is incredible. During hard moments, I tell myself everything is fine. It's ok, "may qwan she."

day 22: wor boo dong

yes, she is on a leash

"Wor boo dong" which is a very basic way to communicate, "I don't understand." I've actually been saying this for days but of course I have only found people to respind by talking louder and slower to me. So, I learned a new phase today, "Wor boo hway-shwor joong-gwor," which means, "I do not speak Chinese." But I say it pretty lousy and the adults eventually get it, but the kids look at me with the funniest faces; wide eyed, mouths open and their head tilted to the side.

Today was yet another great day. People working, enjoying themselves. And I can totally see the people being really invested in the project, feeling a sense of ownership and pride, thinking critically about the choices we make in making the float. It was pretty great today, for one it didn't rain. . .that much. Then there were lots of kids around, which was refreshing, sweet, and of course incredibly frustrating a few moments. Later in the evening, Ya-shing (I don't know if I am spelling it correctly, but that is how is sounds) was teaching right next to my float at the workshop. She is a 19 year-old Brazilian Samba Dancer. She is actually half Brazilian and Taiwanese. It felt like we were really getting ready for a parade: people making giant floats, people practicing dancing, making posters, meetings about logistics and so on. It is pretty exciting and mesmerizing to have it all done in one week. Madness too. So, the parade is for sure this Saturday at 8PM. We will see how far we get on the turtle.

But make sure to check out the cute little friend above that came to visit my float today. . .

day 21: just fun

i'm tired and lacking the ability to make sense. it is ridiculously late, so this will be most likely be a poor entry but nice photos to look at. Basically the day started alright, one could say average, but then it turned into miserable and ended in magic.

It started to rain seriously hard when we got to the workshop site and conveniently a hole in the roof/tent near my float. I was thinking very negatively for hours. But then while I was working on the float people drove slow past the site to check out what we were doing, people continuously kept saying to me "beautiful" in Mandarin and Ami, it stopped raining, my favorite people came to work, I was just watching everyone be so into it or greatly appreciating all the work, then people on staff at Dream Community were verbally appreciating my work, i laughed so much, and I just had fun.

The first picture is, I still can't remember his name, the brave good man that sleeps by the floats every night to make sure they are ok. Here he was very proud of all the leaves he painted so tediously and tirelessly. The second picture is a view of the workshop space, the turtle in progress and everyone talking (where I don't understand) how to keep the grass up on the float. The third picture was right after Tarlo, who is terribly amusing and charming, kinda dared me to drink a large sum of alcohol and I dared him to put duct tape on his mouth, then rip it off (remember the giant language barrier). Then I got the idea that it would be very funny to mimic his facial hair with the duct tape, at first he thought I was crazy and didn't understand what I was doing and running around for (scissors). But then I said, "Ka Ku Chi Tarlo!" he was greatly amused along with everyone else under the tent.

day 20: fun + work

it was dreamy, i actually slept in today. since the Ami can only come in the evening time after work, we leave Dream Community later for the workshop, usually after lunch. everyday I have the strong desire to go earlier and work, but I've realized that being there from 9AM until Midnight is no fun. Max understands this too. Last night he was a little . . . under pressure and asked us if we wanted to go swimming today before the workshop. With a worried tone I told him that I'd rather work and make sure that the floats get done on time. Then he said a little desperately that he really needed it and we shouldn't constantly work. What a grand idea: fun, exercise, breaks, eating meals together eating important. I have gained a new understanding for all of these lessons. In the end, the work gets done. Sure it's not exactly how I planned it, but I find that it never does anyways, even when I work non-stop. I am still working really hard, but I'm having fun too. So, we went to this place in the mountains today to swim. It was beautiful, I felt rejuvenated afterwards. Amazing actually, it was very good for my spirit.

So the turtle is coming along. . .ok. We didn't get much done today, as you can see in the picture above. This is because we moved the entire workshop from inside the elementary school grounds (because of the Typhoon) to out on the sidewalk where more people can get interested and engaged. I think this is partially a terrible ideal. Now everyone is distracted, all the people they know come over and then those working become unfocused and as I expected, disappear. Despite this, pictured above are two hard working and lovely gentleman i've gotten to know the past few days. We don't understand each other much but we laugh alot. From left to right: Tarlo, Karlo, and I don't know his name. The man on the very right, as I type, is sleeping outside on the sidewalk to watching over all of the stuff. I told Max that was unnecessary, but the man insisted on making sure everything was safe. So, we left him in his cot, a cigarette in his mouth, his hands behind his head and a smile.