Sorry for the lack of updates, folks--we've been either busy or gone all day for the last four days. It's Tuesday night here now and I'll see how many posts I can get knocked out tonight for you!
Saturday at Seito-san's paprika (pepper) farm. A group of 40 Japanese volunteers joined us, and the seven of us from our team whooped their butts at rock-picking. We few were able to cover almost as much ground as they did.
Amanda looking suspicious.
Ken, Ben, and J.B.
Saturday night we had a BBQ at the Nozomi center for our Yamamoto-cho neighbours.
Watanabi-san hangs out with us all the time because we are cool.
He loves taking pictures. He's showing Amanda one he took of her.
Taking a picture of Hashimoto-san.
Joe, Ed, and Ethan.
Edie Cummings and Amanda, looking attentive.
Anna!
Me.
A random child. Also Ben.
Haruka-chan and some of our other Chiba missionary volunteers lead everyone in a song.
Ed and Joe join in.
Cal tells the neighbours about the Nozomi center and welcomes them to drop by.
Ken who is Korean but born in California and lives in Chiba now was our master chef for a couple days, and was the mastermind behind our BBQ. He also made squid for the BBQ. Super chewy and spicy.
Our Ken (different from the Ken aforementioned) is excited about squid.
I was excited because it still had the suckers on it.
Yum.
Joe isn't sure about this. His previous squid experience was a dismal failure.
Eraugh.
He survived, for those of you who care.
Watanabi-san loves flowers and, I believe, tends the garden outside the Nozomi center.
People at the BBQ.
Mike chats with the Marukos. We spent a long time cleaning debris out of some of their fields.
Maruko-san looks a little like one of those white and pink monkeys that sit in the hot springs for National Geographic photoshoots.
A small, thin, old, blind little dog that someone brought to the BBQ and tied up on the other side of the center.
He was a sweet little thing.
The Japanese have their houses in shambles and cars totaled, but they will still have neat, orderly, lovely gardens.
An abandoned restaurant (?) down the street from the Nozomi center.
A bear sitting on a post outside the abandoned building.
A lion overlooks Yamomoto-cho.
Behind the restaurant. Someone has even gone to the trouble of traveling out here to keep the garden tidy.
Tommy Lee Jones reigns supreme over Japanese vending machines.
More gardens! Wherever the Japanese can fit them.
Japan also has great manhole covers. I found this one on a tiny back road in Yamomoto-cho.
Tsunami damage.
I found a little friend.
Japanese Cicada.
The Japanese love sunflowers. Who doesn't?
i love the tommy lee jones pic!!
ReplyDeleteI want to go to Japan with you.
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