Well, this is it, folks. My last day in Okinawa. Probably. That's the thing - you never know with the military. As it stands right now, Chris is off to Afghanistan in the middle of March after spending February in America for combat skills training. This means I'm checking out of Okinawa for good and will be heading back to Ohio. I think I'm going to sub, hang out, etc, and then go somewhere fun for the summer. We should still be moving to Dayton, Ohio in September sometime. But anyway, back to the fun stuff. Since we knew we were quickly running out of time to see the island, we signed up for a few activities. We went on the Battle of Okinawa tour, which took us all around the island to look at various ... read more

I'll admit that before we booked the tickets to Kota Kinabalu, I really had no idea where Borneo was. I also thought that Borneo was its own country. Well...it turns out that Borneo is an island with a country and parts of two other countries. KK is the capital of Sabah, which is a semi-autonomous state of Malaysia. After pristine, modern Singapore, it was a nice change to spend a few days in gritty, relaxed Kota Kinabalu. Our first welcome to the island was the budget terminal of the KK airport. We stepped off the plane and had to walk across the tarmac for about five minutes before being herded into a building that was essentially a warehouse. We purchased a taxi voucher and got into the most ridiculous cab ever. The entire vehicle was blinged ... read more

This weekend was a double holiday for us - Columbus Day (which all of the federal government, including the military, celebrates) and Sports Day (a Japanese holiday). We were looking for something to do, and the giant tug-of-war going on down in Naha seemed like the perfect thing to do. The Naha tug-of-war has been going on for the last forty years as part of the Sports Day celebrations. The tradition seems to have started in the 17th century, but it didn't make it into the Guinness Book of World Records until 1997. I doubt anyone will kick it out of the record book, either. The rope is absolutely enormous - about 90,000lbs, over 3 feet in diameter, and over 600 feet long. It takes up several blocks of highway 58 (which, rather inconveniently, is basically ... read more

I had known Ellie was going to be in Tokyo for months, and I desperately wanted to meet up with her. I put off booking the tickets for months because I was concerned I'd get a job and then be unable to go. Well, I got a job (yay!) but they're taking forever with the paperwork, etc, and I won't start working until October (even though I was hired in August!). So I booked my tickets a couple days before leaving, packed up my trusty Lulu Castagnette carry-on, bought some Reese's cups for Ellie, and set off to the airport. Since my flight was on a Tuesday afternoon and Chris was at work (what kind of boyfriend doesn't take a half day to drive his girlfriend to the airport?! geez!) I took the super retro bus ... read more

Well, we survived our last few days in Koungheul, a few horribly long days in Kaolack with no electricity, no water, nowhere to go and nothing to do , and we're now back in lovely Dakar. Things that once seemed so run-down, strange, and dirty to Mom now seem clean, in great condition, and highly advanced after two weeks out in smaller towns. It's all about perspective. We drove back to Dakar in a taxi in the middle of a ridiculous downpour. I was worried our taxi driver just wouldn't show up to drive us due to the awful weather, but he was just late because the guy who gives out authorization to leave the city overslept. Oh, Senegal. Driving between Kaolack and Dakar is a bit like a video game. You need to dodge the ... read more