Car Washes In Okinawa

I have never been to a place where the lines at the car wash is always long! If its a nice sunny day, you can fuhgettaboutit. But even on an overcast day like today the lines are about 10 cars deep. For those of you not living in Okinawa, you may be wondering what's the big deal about washing your car. Because its not like many of us have a nice new shiny car that we're trying to keep the new cat scent in. Actually I'm still trying to get this putrid moldy smell out of my 3 door SMX. If you live off base in an apartment, like we do, then chances are you don't have access to a water spigot and water hose. Another reason washing your car is a big deal here on the island is that our cars get really dirty and salty! We've had typhoons in 3 of the last 6 weekends and the cars have taken a beating! So in an effort to not have to wash the car and then sponge it off before the soap dries, you have to go to the car wash. And wait. By the way I typed all of this with plenty of time to spare while waiting in line to get the car washed!

World's Largest Tug of War Contest, Naha Okinawa

The rope is 90,000 lbs and 200 meters long!

 The world's largest tug of war contest is held annually on the island of Okinawa in the city of Naha. Approximately 25,000 people attend this event every year. We missed it last year, but now that we are on within the last few months of our tour here on the island we are trying to make sure we get in all the things that's on our bucket list. This was one of the events. The day started with Elyce and I meeting some friends at the hospital and then driving down to Naha. We started around 1030am so that we could make it in time for the parade and to avoid any traffic. The drive was quick and easy, which is unusual, because whenever we try to get to the airport in time we get stuck behind the worlds longest string of "yellow plates". Anyway, Jason had the good idea of parking at the DFS mall and then taking the monorail to Kokusai Street. Great idea! We made it to Kokusai Street just in time to see the first group march down the street in the parade.

 So the parade wasn't exactly like the parades back in the States. Instead of floats and balloons, this parade consisted of several groups of men who carried very ornate decorations on top of a very large bamboo pole. Each group had around 20 or so men dressed in their parade garb. They would take turns trying to balance this one tall bamboo pole with the ornate decoration at the top. I know I'm not explaining this very well, that's why I have pictures!

The parade also had a lot of children performing karate or traditional dances. Their wasn't much music but there were plenty of chants, drums, bells and the intermittent pops of firecrackers. We had no idea what they were saying but we tried to mimic them as best as we could.