Cousin Cometh (Part 1)

My wonderful cousin Sheila came out to visit me from August 2-10. Can you believe it? All the way from Canada just to see me! I was so blessed. So the first night we went to On Dish for dinner and all-you-can-eat ice cream. The next day we headed south, beginning with...

Sasoriza! Those of you who have never been down to the Okisho area and don't know about this shop... what are you waiting for? Milk tea with tapioca balls in it - such an awesome drink! (Actually we stopped in again another day - I think it was on Saturday.)

Then we went to Okinawa World, a.k.a. the caves. It was actually my first time there... it's kind of a kitschy touristy place but the caves are some of the longest and oldest in Japan. So it was cool seeing all the formations down there. It was also real cool down there! I'd love to build a summer home down there... well maybe.

After that, we went to the Peace Memorial Park in Itoman. I've probably been there a dozen times, but it never fails to move me. It makes me sick to my stomach when I think about just how brutal the war was here in Okinawa. Oh that reminds me, we met an 82-year old man at Okinawa World, and he told us about his experience in the war. He said he was 18 (story checks out, as the war was 64 years ago) and was actually among the bodies strewn everywhere (mostly dead bodies). He found a grenade and wanted to pull the pin and end his life... but he lacked the physical strength to do so because he hadn't eaten in 3 weeks (or was it months?). Heart-wrenching story.

Well anyhow, the night ended with some homemade taco rice and a trip down to Kokusai Street at night. It was a packed day... but Sheila said she wasn't jetlagged so I decided to really push it!

More in the next post - I don't like writing novels when I update!