Another fun weekend

Last weekend nothing too excited happened on friday. We all just kind of stayed in and hung out. The next day though we set out to go beach camping! We had planned on leaving around 12 but didn't actually get on the road until like 2. I guess that there was a lot of unplanned stuff to do that people hadn't thought about before. We went to the commissary to get food and then came back and people still weren't ready. The drivers decided to go to the marina to get ice but it took them forever for some reason and they came back like 30 min later. We got everybody ready and then didn't have enough cars to drive everybody. We then proceed to cart people in trips to the shopette were another car was meeting us. But it took him like 20 min to get there because he hadn't set an alarm and had just woken up. It started raining on us at the shopette but that lasted like 10 minutes and then it was fine. Then we got everybody in cars but had to go get gas and fill us tires with air. Then we had the chocolate for s'mores but had forgotten to pick up the marshmellows and graham crackers so we had to go back to the commissary for that. Finally, after so many set backs we were on our way :) After rockin' out during the car ride to plenty of dubstep we got to our destination of IE island. We actually went to a kind of smaller island off of that one but it was beautiful and had hardly any people. We stopped for a while at the marina there and lay on the beach while some of the other went out to check on a good spot to set up all of our stuff. It took them like an hour and by that time we had mastered the squaty potties, eaten half a bag of chilps, and had crabs climbing on our feet. We then loaded the cars again and went to a place closer to where we would camp where we could park the cars and carry tents and coolers down to the beach. We had set up of tents on the main part of the beach but the tide was coming up fast and we ended up having to pick them up and move them higher up. We basically had our own private beach because no one else was there. If you went around this huge rock mountain thing though there was another part of the beach that was gorgeous though. When we got there though there were more people on that side so we set up camp on the other. There was less debris like sticks and seaweed on the other side of the rock but more beach area to camp on on our side so it worked out nice. We went to the other side when we wanted to play in the water but our bonfire and stuff was where the tents were. After setting up camp we searched around for some wood for the fire and it took a while because there wasn't a whole lot for us to pick from. We got the wood mostly ready and then hung out in the water while the boys took some axes and hacked up some roots of trees that were sticking out of the ground. We got the fire started and ate some burned marshmellows before we did anything else. Hot dogs were next on the list and it took a really long time to cook them over our moderately sized fire. I don't even really know if mine was cooked all the way through. We ate our food and then played some truth or dare as well as midnight mafia before one of our other friends, Ryan from zip lining, joined us later that night. Eventually we got tired and went to bed. The tents were slightly on a hill so we all ended up cramped at the bottom the tent by the morning. It felt like a was sleeping on rocks and it got chilly at night which I was not expecting and hadn't prepared for. The next morning we woke with the sun at like 530 and sat by the fire. As it got warmer we ended up taking a little nap out in the sun before getting ready to have some more fun in the water on the other side of the rocks. We were the only ones camping on the beach that night. Everyone else had left. Mr. Jess and Mr. Jack though said that some fishermen had come in the middle of the night and were shining their lights everywhere. We stayed in the water until like 11 and then started packing up and were on our way by 1230. The boys drove us to White Beach Naval Base (which does not, in fact, have a white beach) about 15 min away. We ate at this restaurant called Naps which is a southern style american burger restaurant. It was really good. I ordered a salad and Peach/Keleigh got a burger and we split them both. We then went back to Foster and I took a nap and woke up later for our weekly camp meeting that night before going straight back to bed.

3 more weeks!

On monday it was a normal work day and then a couple of us ended up going ou to this restaurant called Dragons. It was kind of a hole in the wall place a couple blocks off base but it was surprisingly good. Not as good as the Garlic House of course but really yummy all the same. The rest of the week seemed to go by pretty slow for some reason, which hasn't happened to me at all since we got here. Wednesday was my director's (Trevor/Mr. Mario) birthday and all the kids sang him Happy Birthday and one of the heads of our center got him a cake that we all ate. The kids birthday song is so funny. I love it and got some of them to teach it to me. The beginning starts out the same but words are added to the end. It goes, "Happy birthday to you, cha cha cha. Happy birthday to you, cha cha cha. Happy birthday mr. mario, happy birthday to you, cha cha cha, konbanwa, stick your head in hot lava, I'm your friend so ha ha ha." LOL I think it's hilarious :)

Some Campers

Since I'm not really doing anything else right now I thought I might say a little bit about my kids. But not their names of course :) We aren't allowed to have favorites but there are def some that I love seeing everyday no matter what kind of day I'm having. One such camper who has definitely captured my heart is called "Prince Charming." He's a little stinker and never likes to follow directions and is stubborn and always says that he hates everything and everyone, but he's so funny and he has the prettiest eyes and he likes me too and always says "hi" whenever he sees me. And I'm pretty sure he knows he's one of my favorites too because he definitely pushes a lot to try and get away with things that he knows SAC staff would not tolerate at all. He's knows me too though, and when I'm serious he'll stop which I appreciate. His sister goes to camp too and she has started to hang around me sometimes but she is a little bit of a crybaby.
Another "non-favorite" is "Buzz Lightyear."He's not in my group but he's so funny and another stinker as well. He likes to cause trouble and already has a huge sense of sarcasm. One day in the morning when I was just getting in to work he calls me over to the doors of the front gym where all our pictures and bios are posted. I ask him what he's doing and he tapes this piece of construction paper on mine that says "kiss me." Oh boy... I was laughing and I just told him to take it off. The next time I walked by the bios it wan't there.
Then there's "Mulan." She is so funny but not in my group either. She is Japanese and we call her and her other three friends the Charlie's Angels because they are always together. They switch off between Japanese and English all the time and she is like their little ringleader. For some reason she was attracted to me from the very beginning and still likes to hang out all the time.
And of course there is "Snow White." She is an only child but really does not have the "only child syndrome." She is the sweetest little girl I was ever met and is always happy and smiling and trying to do the right thing. Her parents both speak at least two languages and are trying to push her to do the same. She's a little bit shy but loves just dancing and singing all over. I'm so happy I was able to get to know her and her mom better over the weekend.

Abused by the Seawall

The last week went by super fast. Our only field trip was to the Commissary which was kind of random. The center split the field trip into three different group. The first day groups 1 and 2 went. Then 3 and 4 and 5. Then 6, 7, and 8. It really wasn't too exciting. We went into the Commissary and then they took us into the back. They showed us around the refrigerator and then took us through this freezing cold freezer. The lady showing us the place put on her nice warm jacket but all the kids just had on their t-shirts and were freezing! And she talked forever too. There are at least 3 kids that I know of that have had fevers within the week of going there. She showed us this dead pig that they had ordered too and for some reason she really needed to stress the point that it was dead. I really don't think the kids needed to see that. At the end of the tour though they gave us popsicles so that was nice :)
On friday one of our coworkers took my friend Keleigh (Peach) and I to get our nails done at this popular nail salon called Coco's. It was around 40 yen but so worth it. We got like a 20 min massage and they had so many options as far as designs. Plus you could change the backround color if you liked the design and not the color. They even gave you this delicious tea with refills! We were there for about an hour and a half and then our coworker, Mrs. Sondra, offered to take us to dinner. We accepted of course and we went back to pick up her husband at their house and see their dogs before going to a restaurant called the Four Seasons. It was kind of expensive but they gave you a three course meal! First there was this really good corn soup, then a salad, and then they cooked our meal right in front of us! The meal came with two sides as well. It was delicious and we took pictures with the cook that made it :)
The next day two of our coworkers Jack and Jess wanted to take us snorkeling at the seawall. Ryan from ziplining came with us too. We got there and there are these huge stone concrete steps leading down to the water. The water was kind of choppy but we were all excited to go in. I guess I wasn't thinking or something but I was just casually walking down the steps trying to get my snorkeling gear ready and near the bottom it got slippery where the slime started from the water being on the steps all the time. I was wearing my flip flops and slipped and fell hard on my butt and my right arm. I scraped my hand on a barnacle and scrapped up my arm and my legs too. There were these grates on the concrete to let the water back into the ocean that I had to grasp on to in order to not get swept out. After that I sat on the steps for a while to try and get my courage back. When I thought about getting up again to see if I wanted to get back in a wave came and knocked me off my feet again. After that there was no way I was going to get back into the water. My roommate Megan and I, who saw me fall, decided that instead of going in the water we would take a look around and see what else there was around the seawall. We ended up walking down it for a while and then sat and watched some surfers for a bit until we decided it was getting too hot and we wanted to go back for drinks and towels. We walked back but by that time the others had gotten tired and we decided to drive to this beach that wasn't too far away. It was really nice and a lot easier to get into the water. I still didn't go in. At that point I was not in the mood any more. Cari, Ryan, and I walked around for a while and then we came back and we all went to dinner at Coco's Curry. Then we split up because some people wanted to see the fireworks that were at Sunset Beach in American Village and others wanted to go to a club in Naha with some other people  from Camp who were staying there for the weekend. I went with the ones to Naha and we got ready real quick and then headed out. It was kind of expensive to get in but once you were in you could get free drinks and the atmosphere was really cool. We got there right when it opened though so there was nobody there. We ended up all dancing together and I felt like one of "those stupid Americans" but it was fun so whatever. Just as it started to get hoppin' though we had to leave because we had to be back for curfew at 1.
On Sunday I got adopted by one of the girls called "Snow White in my small group. Her mom picked up my director Trevor (Mr. Mario) and I and they signed us on to Kadena. Kadena is an Air Force base and one that we cannot get onto by ourselves. It is also the largest base on Okinawa and the only one that has these shirts that everyone wants that say "OKI ALL DAY" on them. We looked around forever at the BX and were just about to leave when we found then in a section to the side. I was so excited and got two for me and one for Megan. Before that they took us to the Chili's on base and bought both of us lunch. It was so nice of them and her mom even offered to buy us groceries after she found out all we ate were microwave meals because we didn't really have anything else. It was amazing and "Snow White" was so excited when she picked us up in the morning. We got back around 330 or 4 and I was so tired and ended up taking a much needed nap. After that was another Camp meeting full of programming for this next week...

Fun in the Sun

Had another field trip to the Okinawa Zoo and the kids had a blast but it was really kind of sad. All the animals had really small enclosures that is probably not even a 10th of the size they should be having. There was a monkey that would throw poop at you too if you made too much noise or stared at it too long. It was nice to get out of the center though. That weekend we took an ITT tour through the base to Expo Park which is where the aquarium is. That was a ton of fun. Megan, Cari, Trevor, Annalisa, and I were able to take a bus up there with a group and then wander all around the park. We saw a couple other Camp A people there too which was fun. There were some little exhibits along the way but the main attraction is the whale shark tank which is apparently the second larget in the whole world! They were awesome! There were two of them in the tank and they were huge! I guess they are like whales though and only eat plankton so it is safer to dive with them cause there were a couple divers in the tank with them. Along with the whale sharks were other various fish as well as these big sting rays. We ate a meal that tasted like food and then went to go see the dolphin show! It was really neat but only lasted about 20 min. It was cute because one of the instructors started dancing and the dolphins would dance with them :) After that we went with some other Camp A people to the beach which was a 5 min trollie ride away and it was beautiful! The water was perfectly clear and shallow for a long way out and warm as well. We didn't have a whole lot of time there though and had to get back on the bus. That night we went out to this club/bar on the seawall nearby called Infinity. It was really cool because it had like three different stories and was right on the water. The top floor was a bar, the middle was a restaurant with a balcony that overlooked the ocean and the bottom was a club. We were there for a while but then had to go back because of curfew. There weren't a whole lot of people there that night either for some reason. On sunday we slept in and then went to a beach called Arhuma or something. It's the closest swimming beach to base and there was a ton of people there. The water here was really murky but nice to cool off in all the same. Cari, Annalisa, Megan, and I had wanted to go out to dinner afterward but it ended up only being me and Cari. We went to this little restaurant right off base called Gem that I had heard all of the kids at our center raving about and it was delicious! At first I was angry though because when we walked in there was only one guy sitting at the little bar part they had in front of a fish tank. Then they had a bunch of Japanese style seating and one booth at the very back that was like secluded and by itself. And what does the waiter do? He sits us right in the booth! When there was nobody else there! How rude. We ended up switching out seats anyways :)

The next day was back to work. And the day after that too. Then it was the Fourth of July! One of the other counselors was "adopted" by a family and they invited us all over for a BBQ that day. They picked us up and we hung out, sang camp songs, and went to the beach. The food they made was so good especially after having microwave meals for so long. The beach was really reefy though and I didn't really go in. Especially because there were a ton of these nasty slimy gross disgusting sea slugs things that were literally everywhere! Later me and Sara, one of my other co counselors ended up trying to construct a little hut so that we could have some shade because it was like 1000 degrees! We had to go back quickly after that because the mom got part of a sea urchin spine in her finger and we had another BBQ to go to. They made us homemade cake and ice cream which was sooooo yummy and then we rushed home to take showers. Later we went to Mrs. Tammy's house for her BBQ that she invited us to. Mrs. Tammy is basically our boss at the center but I think she is a little rude. It was nice of her to invite us over I guess though. We had hoped that there would be fireworks but we waited for a while and nothing happened. The food at her house was delicious too. They made ribs and chicken and shrimp and had a ton more food. We had to rush home after that to because we had a 1030 curfew that night for work the next day. The next two days flew by because we had so much stuff to do. Thursday we went to the commissary to get more food and had to have a meeting and make more posters for the next weeks. Friday was fine and we were all so happy for the week to be over. Friday night the SAC staff at our center invited us all to go out to eat together. We went to Ocean Breeze which is a nice restaurant on base and all hung out together. After that we split up and some people started their weekend trips. Trevor, Annalisa, Keleigh and I stayed and hung out with the staff some more. We went to American Village and bought some Chu-Hi's which are like 3% alcoholic drinks and they bought a ton of fireworks and we lit them off at the beach. It was great getting to know them better.

Saturday Mr. Jess, one of the SAC center staff, offered to drive us to Forrest Adventure for zip lining. It was a blast and we only saw a couple of banana spiders :) We spent about 4 hours there going through the various zip lines. You basically got to do everything yourself after they gave you a little training lesson. It was on the big mountain that we had to get bussed up to and you zip lined through a bunch of vegetation and greenery. It was so pretty and near the end you had to climb up these big poles to zip line off of and you got a great view of the ocean and reefs. One of the zip lines was called the Tarzan and you basically dropped off the ledge of this pole and then swung into a net that you then climbed out of and continued the rest of the course. It was sooooo hot there and was kind of hard work because you had to climb up a bunch of ladders and nets and then hike up more stairs to get to other zip lines. halfway through the course though they gave you free drinks! While we were there we met this super nice couple names Lisa and JD who had been on the island for about 8 months and had been stationed at Foster. There son Ryan was there visiting too and he will be leaving a day before us. We made friends with him and his other friend Micah from Alabama and they went to karaoke with us later that night. They were super funny and we had a great time belting out hearts out for about 3 hours. Once again we had to rush back home for curfew and made it about 5 min before we would have been late.

Today is beach day and hopefully shopping and we might meet up with Ryan and Micah again too.