Tulane in Taiwan: Day 3

Today is a good day because I'm finally adjusting and slept through the whole night! Bye Bye jet lag!

We started off the day by petitioning for an increase in tobacco tax. This involved a press conference where some people from the John Tung Foundation spoke, along with Dr. Chen, and students from Asia University, China Medical University, and Tulane. Danielle Walden and Tony represented Tulane and did a great job. Then we stood outside in front of the Congress building and had some more pictures taken. Apparently having Americans petition is a big deal. I'm not sure if we will end up on TV or in the newspaper.

Iris, Doris, and I with our stellar vests for the press conference

Dr. Chen with a former model that now volunteers for John Tung foundation

Then we headed to lunch. I indulged in some KFC (Lame I know!), but sometimes you just need some fried chicken. Carrie and Ping got green tea lattes from Starbucks after lunch. I don't think we have those in the states.

Ping and Carrie

We randomly ran across a Mary Kay promotion and got a lip makeover. It was awesome!

Our next stop was at Taipei Medical University, which has a school and hospital facility. They have a medical school along with graduate programs. We learned about the global health and development program, which was recently started. The program has less than 10 people enrolled per year, and the majority are international students, which I thought was interesting. Dominic, a graduate student from Malawi, spoke about health care in his country. He started off by showing us health indicator statistics for his country. Just by looking at the statistics for a recent year, one would think they look pretty low. But, these number have actually increased significantly in recent years due to increased HIV/AIDS prevention, ground breaking research on malaria, and promotion of child health. It was interesting to hear him talk about his country.
We also learned a little about the hospital. From what we saw of the hospital, it was extremely nice. It has 833 beds and employs over 2,000 people. They made a point to mention that it is ranked 64th in Asia (I guess that is good?). The hospital is located in the central business district of Taipei, which they like to say is like the Manhattan of Taipei. It's a very expensive area with tall shiny building. The world trade center is nearby along with Taipei 101. Taipei 101 is one of the tallest buildings in the world. It's named Taipei 101 because it has 101 stories and because they strive to pass 100%. It's also certified as LEED platinum. Which is awesome, because that is the highest ranking a green building can receive (thank you habitat for humanity for teaching me that). We were able to travel in an elevator to the 89 floor where they have a lookout. There is a speed elevator that travels from the 5th floor to the 89th floor in only 37 seconds. From the lookout we were able to see a lot of the city and mountains that surround the city. You could see a tunnel running through one of the mountains. It is 13 meters long and was apparently a huge engineering feat. Going up to the lookout was a big highlight of my day. It was nice to see and learn more about the city.