Month of the Eisa

The Eisa Dance can be seen at many festivals in Okinawa. It is one of our favorite parts of living here. Seeing the local people so immersed in their history and lineage is inspiring and enlightening. 

The Eisa Dance is performed with three different types of drums, dancers, musicians, singers, giant flag holders, and an eccentric Chondaraa (you will learn about him in a second). August is very popular for Eisa festivals, which celebrate Buddhist ancestors and the afterlife. The festivals are likened to fairs in the States. With bouncy houses, a variety of deep fried food, beer, and interesting outfits. 

Tons of people gathered for one of the largest Eisa festivals in Okinawa.

The drummers are always perfectly in sync, hammering out a beat that the crowd can't help but sway along with.

Dancers bring up the back of the parade, performing a well-timed, carefully learned dance that pays homage to their ancestors.

The Chondaraa is a funny, trouble-making character. He makes fun of the dancers, scares children in the crowd, and gets uncomfortably close to those taking his photo.

Troy and I posing as an Eisa Drummer/ Dancer pair.

The Okinawan's love their Hanabi, or fireworks, just like we do!

Write A Post, Help A Dog

Write a Post, Help a Dog 2011

In honor of BlogPaws, the conference for Pet Bloggers, Pet Brands, and Pet Health Care Professionals, Pedigree has decided to launch a Write a Post, Help a Dog Campaign. For those of you who missed the event last year in September 391 bloggers wrote about the program and with each post, Pedigree donated 20 pounds of its Healthy Longevity dog food to shelter animals. In all, 7,820 pounds of food was donated to two shelters known across the country for their dedication to the care and re-homing of senior dogs: Muttville Senior Dog Rescue in San Francisco and Castaway Critters in Harrisburg, Pa.

How you can help in 2011

Simply spread the word about Write a Post, Help a Dog 2011 and once again Pedigree will donate 20 pounds of food for each blogger's post. Here's all you need to include in your post:

• The Write a Post, Help a Dog program is aimed at raising awareness and food for the more than four million dogs that wind up in shelters and breed rescues each year.
• For each blog post mentioning the Pedigree Foundation from now until midnight ET on September 3, Pedigree will donate 20 pounds of its new dry Pedigree recipe food for dogs -- its best recipe ever -- to a shelter, because every dog deserves leading nutrition.
• The Pedigree Foundation -- a 501 (C)(3) nonprofit organization is committed to helping dogs by providing grants to shelters and rescues and encouraging dog adoption. This year the Foundation has already raised more than $376,570 against its goal of $1.5 million to carry out its work to fund grants that not only help shelters operate, but to further shelter innovations.

The Pedigree Foundation depends on charitable contributions from individuals to carry out its mission to help dogs find loving homes. In addition to writing a blog post, here's how you can help:

• Donate online at http://pedigreefoundation.org/donate.aspx
• Apply for a shelter grant from the Pedigree Foundation by completing a form at www.pedigreefoundation.org
• Purchase Dogs Rule Gear at www.dogsrulegear.com where the proceeds go to the Pedigree Foundation to help loving dogs find a home. SPECIAL OFFER: Get 10 percent off Dogs Rule Gear by using the promo code BlogPaws10 from August 22 - September 30.

If the post were not motivational enough.. how about a plea from the two sweetest boys on Earth?

 "Please help other doggies like us live a happy life! We were both rescued and want other doggies to be as lucky as we are, never going hungry and always receiving love!"

-With Love and Puppy Dog Kisses,

Chesty and Murphy Walton

Logging Some Bottom Time

If you read my last cleverly titled blog you have probably been wondering if I actually had the guts to go in the ocean again. Well, not really, but with a little coercing three of our good friends took us for our first real dive. Lucky for you, they both have underwater cameras so we can share the shots with you! 

Here's a fun fact for you- Bottom Time is the amount of minutes spent underwater. We have logged just over 200 minutes. :) 

Thanks Mariko, Madison, and Kristle!! :)

Our first underwater portrait. :)

Always stick with your buddy!

Part of the cool underwater world we get to explore. :)

Can you find the stonefish?

Stonefish are one of the common dangers of tropical waters. They blend in well with the coral and are hard to spot. The spines on their back are venomous and can cause immediate shock and even death! Luckily, they are not aggressive. As long as you wear proper footwear and don't bug them, they are fun to observe.

Troy giving the universal sign for "OK". We catch ourselves doing it out of water now, especially at softball practice!

Lookin' like a nerd while I clear my ears. As you go toward the bottom, the pressure increases and air spaces must be equalized. For me, I blow while holding my nose for one ear, and swallow to clear the other. It must be done over and over and over until you reach depth.

Many people know the Clownfish as Nemo. They live in special sea anemone and are very protective. One of them bit Kristle's finger. She says it didn't hurt!

Find the fishy... my new favorite. They are dainty and fun.

We always refer to the trumpetfish as the Troy fish. It is tall and skinny like him! This is such a cool picture of him getting up close and personal with one.

"Larry" the batfish and his buddies hung out with us for a while. Right after this picture, he bit my finger. It felt like a cat's tongue. Too cool. :)

Hope you enjoyed our blog, come back to visit soon!

Pee in your mask, Spit in your wetsuit.

I wish I was as cool looking as this guy in all my dive gear.

Wait... what? I think it's supposed to be the other way around. 

Troy and I spent the past week getting SCUBA certified. That means we can legally buy a tank and go breathe... underwater... up to 60 feet below the surface. It was exhausting, fun, mentally challenging, and pretty freakin cool. 

For the first two days of class, we spent 5 hours going through a diving book. We were essentially taught how to handle anything that went wrong during a diving experience. That part was a piece of cake, and we both aced all the tests. 

The next 5 days were spent underwater. First we were in the pool for 5 hours a night, 3 nights in a row. The first night was scary for me... adapting to breathing underwater through an artificial air source. Troy was a pro, like he always is with any new sport. We had to do many skills including removing our mask, spitting out our regulator (the mouthpiece that delivers air), losing, and recovering it, removing the entire SCUBA unit underwater and replacing it, and much more. You would really be laughing if we had pictures of me during some of these skill tests. Boy was it overwhelming! I honestly did not like or enjoy the experience at all at this point.

Then we were off to the ocean! Every time I got under the water, I floated right to the top. After weighing me down with 20 pounds and telling me I was extra buoyant (which I will pretend is a good thing), our instructor helped me to the bottom. This is when my experience changed. Instead of looking down on the fish as a snorkeler, we were literally surrounded by them! They considered us one of their own. A sea snake even came up and hung out with me while I did one of the tests- removing my mask and replacing it. He was there for moral support, I guess. 

The line of cars waiting to go to our dive site. There were 8 people in our class. I was probably hyperventilating at this point while Troy said "Kara, it will be okay, you will see cool fish!" and I said "This is NOT cool, I'm going to die and I didn't even get to tell my mom I love her!"

The pile of gear we had to put together, carry on our backs, and float through the ocean with... Mine was heavy with that extra 20 lbs!

When we finished our almost 40 hours of diving and passed all our tests, we became certified Open Water SCUBA divers! I am really proud of myself for completing the course, and so happy that I have an awesome husband who helped me make it through the classes! 

Super excited to put the official diver sticker on our cars!

Woot woot, we did it! :)

Hopefully we will get an underwater camera soon and you can see some pics of us down under! :)