It's late but I want to get this thing set up

Hello everyone! It's April 13th and after 11 pm and I finally have the chance to sit down and write a little on our new blog site! Boy, the past 2 and a half weeks since I arrived in Okinawa have gone by in a whirlwind. Erik, and our friends Giff and Kristen (you'll probably be hearing a lot about them), picked Addy and me up at the Kadena airport on Friday, March 28th. Erik and I shoved all my luggage and the dog into his Nissan Skyline and then squeezed ourselves in and took off for our house. I LOVE our house! Besides the fact that Kristen and Giff live right down the street (a huge plus!), it is very conveniently located (5 min to base, 3 min walk to the ocean), and is in a great little neighborhood. Pictures to come of course.

I basically spent the first week falling asleep by 9:30, and while most people have told me that they would wake up at 4 or 5 in the morning, I had no problem sleeping until 7:00. Other than sleeping a lot, I had a whole house to unpack and organize while Erik was working. I was extremely motivated so it went by relatively quickly. Something we've done a lot of here is going out to eat, which is very uncharacteristic of us, but so hard to resist! There are dozens of little restaurants within walking distance of our house and all of them look apetizing. One of our favorites is a turkish place down the street at which we are already regulars and on a first name basis with the owner!

One of the first nights I was here, it rained into the morning. I took Addy outside to the side of the house where we have a covered walkway, and as I was standing protected from the rain, I noticed another creature affected by the waterlogged ground. A snail. This guy was huge! Here's a picture of it scooting up the inside of our covered walkway. Some people may not think this is that cool, but it's my first snail sighting so I was excited!

The second week here, Erik and I began searching for a car for me. I was hooked on getting as boxy a car as I could because they're just so funny looking. Being on an island, the roads can get pretty congested, so most of the cars here are narrow with a short wheel base. But it seems like in order to make up for the loss of space, they decided to add height to their cars, giving them a very boxy shape. It really is goofy if you think about it, because generally, Okinawans are pretty short, so when they drive these boxy cars with all the head space, they look even smaller inside, (not to mention the cars look like Tonka toys anyway). So we went to several used car dealerships and the lemon lot on base and I had my heart set on a beaut. This one was white and a real rectangle. I loved it. But then we truly found the car of my dreams at the lot across the street.

She's called the Green Apple. Bench seats in the front and back, and yes, I am sitting in the driver's seat on the right side, Kristen in the passenger's, and Addy is in the rear window. This is right before we went cruisin' on base; my first time driving it because Erik didn't think I should drive for the first time on the narrower streets off base... probably a good idea. Oh yeah, and the doors are green on the inside too. :)

Well, now it's past midnight and I have stayed up longer than I intended working on this blog. I kind of had a feeling that would happen. I have a lot more to write about and a ton more pictures to post... and you're probably thinking you were hoping for more than a snail and a weird looking car on the first post. Well, sorry! All I can offer you now is a preview of what's to come: Okinawan scenery, poisonous snakes, vegetable cereal, shrimp cocktail on dry ice, scuba diving and much more! Sayonara for now!