BBQ

Some of you who know me are familiar with my love of barbecue. Grilling is really more accurate, because I'm not slow cooking with rich sauces. Regardless of which term you prefer, I pride myself on my Argentine grilling background and being able to turn some big chunks of meat into enjoyable meals and social events with some coals and fire.

A few weekends ago I was invited by my host father to join in the company barbecue just out of the city, in the county. A place called Chengqing lake. The barbecue area was beautiful, down off the road in a wooded area with shade everywhere extending down to the lake.

Sing with the Mayor of Kaohsiung!

Kind of.

As a Fulbrighter in Kaohsiung, the Kaohsiung International Education Resource Center (Bureau of Education) foots half of my paycheck. So, sometimes we get an email from them asking us to participate in certain bureau events, but without really asking us. It's like when Mom used to volunteer me to help out with random high school events or to decorate her offices at the hospital. That is, its really hard to turn down one of these invitations. This turned out to be a great opportunity, actually, because our carrot was that we were going to learn a song in Taiwanese and then sing it with the mayor, Chen Ju. She happens to be one of the most prominent members of the Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan, the pro-Taiwanese independence party. As Americans, I think we can all appreciate independence. Anyways, living in Kaohsiung, you get to hear a lot about the DPP and her in particular. Thiswas going to be a really big moment for me.

Rehearsal for Taiwanese song