saturday

here's what's happened today thus far:

• woke up around 10am, amidst the four others who spent the night last night. something about our circumstances here in the JET community generates frequent sleepovers and the occasional surreal adventure. it's like being back in grade school in a few glorious ways.
  
• cooked up some spaghetti and moved the couch out to the porch to enjoy the sun and one of the first truly spring-like days of the season. listened to the best of Motown while eating, that was a very important element of the experience.
  
• drove to one of Ueki's most beautiful and historic parks, watched the coy swim lazily around the large shallow lake at the bottom of the park, then climbed a long stone staircase to a series of shrines and prayed at each. we continued to hike further along a small trail until we came to a dwelling identified as the Demon's Cave (in Japanese, Spooky translated), which was an ancient stone dwelling burrowed into the side of a hill amid a magical copse of trees. it was created in the sixth century and has remained there since. I had no idea such things were in Ueki.
  
• drove to the onsen we all love and lay in the sun and warm water, rejuvenating our souls.
• stopped and ate some basashi (raw horse meat, kumamoto's famous for it) on the way back.
• skyped with my ol' friend Greg, who's riding the daily grind for all it's worth in Washington D.C. doing what every creative liberal arts graduate should aspire to- selling gourmet chocolates and editing copious amounts of army propaganda footage and the occasional Bin Laden construction company infrastructure advertisement.
  
• now we're making tacos as some clothes and sheets dry outside, preparing to drive down south for our friend's going-away party. he has to return to south africa, which is a damn shame. I think we'll all miss Jamie's warm smile, attentive ear and heart of gold.
  
• tacos are ready, time to go. adios. paz y amor a todos.