One Week Later

I read in a book once that your soul can't travel on airplanes, so the farther you go on a trip, the longer you have to wait for your soul to catch up. I've never really gotten jet lag going to Japan in the sense of having sleeping through the day and can't fall asleep at night. But the first week is performed in a somewhat functional daze. Now that it's been a week, I can say my soul has caught up.

The closest city to Ogimi is called Nago, and it is about a 30 minute drive. The end of last week and this weekend has consisted of paperwork, unpacking, and making trips to Nago for supplies. I've spent more money than I care to admit on eating out and basic apartment necessities, but I guess it is to be expected when moving.

If I head west from my apartment, I cross a main highway and I'm at the beach in one minute. If I head east, I can walk deeper into an old neighborhood with lots of Ryuuku style houses. At the end of the neighborhood, there is a path that leads to a waterfall. The past two days have been rainy, and it finally let up when we went out. Because of the rain, the waterfall was flowing harder more than usual. We took off our shoes and waded into the pool and just stared at it and messed around for a good 30 minutes. When we left, someone pointed out what appeared to be a hawk. It was light grey and hawk-size. As it flew closer to us, we noticed the pointy ears, the fur on its head and body, and the teeth. It was a monstrous bat and it swooped down about 20 feet in front of us. I've seen the little bats at the Gainesville bat house, but this was amazing. I am now convinced vampires live in Ogimi and that's why they are the village with the longest life span in the world.

Welcome to Ogimi...MUAH-HA-HA....