Yesterday we went to an Okinawan market in Naha City, the place where my grandmother would shop. I was hopeful for a true taste of Okinawa here, sans tourism, but that's silly.
What I've really wanted, like always when I travel is enjoying my take-along-hobby: seeing the architecture of the area. I learned that most of the buildings in Okinawa were destroyed by the war so there's really not a lot of "old" to see. There are several U.S. military bases throughout the island and the American way is pervasive. For instance, at the market I saw these shells of scallops and oysters with broiled cheese on top and this market was not next to a base. Cheese is not something that the Japanese EVER had in their diet. For those of you that really know me, you are more than aware of my dairy allergy (I'm sorry that I go on and on about it sometimes). Seeing those cheesy delights disturbed me, am I not in my birth country where everything available to eat should be perfect, even prescribed, for my body? Other cheesy sights: The Karaoke House served cheese pizza. I frowned. Am I jealous that I can't eat cheese and my cousins can? Yes, I am.
We went to the harbor in Naha for lunch today. We had soba noodle soup, fish soup and squid tempura, Aiko had a hunk of fish head (something left over from when they cut the sashimi). We sat at this teeny set of table and chairs that would fit Katherine and Jordan's 10-year-old bodies perfectly. Needless to say, my 6' self is quite gargantuan compared to the general population here. Not even the men are very tall, very few at least. Well, now that I think of it, Hiroke was tall and so were his 13 & 15 year old basketball playing sons. So there are exceptions. Anyway, the lunch was unfussy and delicious, the squid tempura… I'd have that any day over calamari. The squid meat was thick yet not rubbery like the ring calamari. Oshikata! (it was delicious!)
After lunch we drove to this Okinawan market place. It's like they enclosed several alley ways between lots of buildings in the city. It's a place that looks like it just grew and grew until you didn't know your way out unless you were there from the beginning. Lots of bargains, everything from souvenir t-shirt shops, Japanese pottery, food. My Aunt stopped at a little place and bought 2 small bottles filled with a refreshing "healthy drink". I learned it was a mixture of brown rice, white rice and a special Japanese dark brown sugar (it has a distinct flavor) all blended together to be a thick, tan, viscous liquid. The bottle looked like a small version of an old-style milk bottle, so the viscous drink came out easily, albeit very slow.
One store we walked by sold fabrics and accessories for kimono. Y25,000 for a roll of kimono fabric, that's about $337 for an approximately 20 foot long roll of fabric that is 14 inches wide. The fabric is beautifully designed and printed, for all of you color geeks out there like me, you would just want to have it in your possession, it wouldn't matter what you did with it because it's just so exquisite.
Aiko, Mother and I are driving the 60 minute ride back to Koza now. I packed my laptop so that I could type my experiences while on the road. We just passed through a toll booth and the female attendant was so polite as she took our ticket. Many of the service oriented jobs are filled by people in perfectly fitted, very clean looking, colorful uniforms -- and they usually have a hat or visor to go with. The woman took our ticket with both hands out like she was accepting a divine gift from us, while rattling a long line of gratitudes to us, in the most cheerful of voices, strong inflections of kindness and happiness combined. Most of the clerks of any store I have been to make a special point to notice you are in the store, they make eye contact, and if they don't say irashe mase (ee-da-shay ma-say) which is "welcome", they tip their head down as they close their eyes. So polite.
My cousin Kumi and I are supposed to go out tomorrow for a while. She is very tired, and I don't blame her, we all are! She has done so much for us during our stay. She arranged a reasonable priced rental car for us, she has taken us so many places, drove to and from every where, even arranged the party that we had last night. My Aunt also has been so lovely, she left Nago, a city about an hour north of here for the week to stay with her daughter, Kumi, so that she could be closer to us for the week. And also, my Uncles, Aunts and many of our cousins have gifted us to no end.
Lastly:
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