these walls

last night i finally ventured out...its funny how in the same moment the base can feel big, yet be so small.  in the heat and humidity of the day, the walk can feel almost endless getting to the destination with kids in tow, sweat dripping down my body - and yet once i had been inside the walls for a week, never having seen what was on the other side, it was like my brain was going crazy not knowing what was just outside.  of course i'm not stir crazy already, we've barely just arrived - but my curiosity and my deep desire to make this my home, our home has me itching to scour every inch of the area, and slowly make the mystery and novelty of where we've landed into just another part of our new normal.  so, outside the gate with the iwakuni roadrunners i went.  my new friend holly invited me to join them and it ended up being a really small group - three of us gals and one local guy.  out the gate, down the street, down some steps, along the seawall and back again. 4.5ish miles, lots of chatting and endless sweating. i couldn't help myself from staring down the alleys and into the open garages and through the shades of the windows as we went along, so interested to see what "real life" looks like here in japan.  the run felt great, but it felt even better to get a little dose of what my new iwakuni life will hold. this is where i live now. these are some of my new people. these are the sights and sounds of my every day.
once i had seen it, i needed more and we planned to venture out as a family today.  another morning at swim class and daddy came along for the first time making the logistics  of the morning more enjoyable split between two parents. betsy has still be fussy any time i am more than 3 inches away from her, so i hopped in the water with her class today and she was back to her normal little fishy self. even better than happy betsy coming back to me was her major potty training success (we've been planning to go back to training as soon as we landed here in japan, she's been ready for forever but it was complicated with all that transition) - in the middle of class she said she needed to go and go she did - the more complicated variety too, a first for her. i was so proud and we all went out for ice cream after swim class to celebrate. woo hoo! we are well on our way with the progress of #2 and two days in a row of waking up dry from naptime, its a big deal.
so back to venturing out. after betsy's nap, we loaded the kids up and off we went with no plan or destination in mind, other than perhaps finding food.  it was so refreshing to see what's happening out there but it also put in perspective how big iwakuni actually is; its quite the walk to get to the main downtown area. as we wandered down the road, the heat was getting to everyone and we decided we needed to save our adventuring for later once we own a car. our babies are just too little to be in the heat for that long. poor curtis was sweaty and sad so i found a perfect spot to nurse him, standing next to a wall behind a large street sign. momma's gotta do what she's gotta do. ;)
so the immediate area outside our base is definitely more small-town japan that what i experienced in the tokyo/yokosuka area. like the rest of the country, everything is built in and up and around everything else, tucked in smartly, making the most of the space and land available.  there are shops and houses and cemeteries all nestled in, shoulder to shoulder.  to be honest, my first impression was "oh, its a little run-down and rough looking"...but amongst some of the older, more weathered buildings there are some newer very nice homes as well. its an interesting mix.  the infrastructure of the roads and signage are very well maintained and everyone we passed was friendly enough, offering a smile and tolerating my attempts at japanese greetings "konnichiwa".  i peeked into a little market very close to the base entrance - definitely nothing fancy, yet everything she was selling looked like good quality, very reminiscent to what i'm used to seeing at our farmers market. i'm hoping to get to know the lady and ask her about her food...but i have a lot of practicing japanese before that will even be remotely a possibility.  a friend of mind is taking me to a local grocery store on sunday, so it will be interesting to check that out as well.  i need to find a better source of produce, the produce at the commissary is very small.
as i was saying, we kept walking, i was taking in all the details between refereeing the kids behavior, and they were all visibly falling apart as we got hotter and hungrier, so we made the call to head back to base instead of asking the kids to endure more walking without knowing where we'd end up for food. once we have a car, we have a map of lots of places to try - its just to far to walk with the babes along.  sure i was a little disappointed we didn't get to enjoy some local fare, but i appreciated the opportunity to glimpse our surrounding area and take it all in a bit.  being outside the walls of the gate inspired me even more to attempt to "master" the language while we're here - unlike tokyo area, there is not much "romanji" writing here so i am going to have to learn to read one of the three other writing styles, more likely a bit of all three (kanji, katakana and hirigana). i am thankful for my rosetta stone, but of course i feel like i am not learning it fast enough. there is a "survival japanese" class offered on base in september i'm hoping to find childcare for so i can attend. and i'll keep plugging away with ms. rosetta stone of course. so far my real life applications have been saying hello, goodbye and thank you to the lifeguards and bus drivers. but the kids are practicing those few words too and are always rewarded with a smile and a chuckle from the japanese folks they are speaking to.  the japanese ladies who bag groceries at the commissary are particularly smitten with betsy and her blue eyes (they pronounce her name "bet-e-sy".  next week i'm hoping to scope out some preschools for peter. they are currently on their summer break and resume classes in september. i think it will be great for him to get started now, although i had been debating if it would be too soon. after seeing how happy he was go to go "school" (childcare on base) the other day during our brief, i know he needs that time to be challenged and to be independent in the world. 

betsy and her "congratulations" ice cream

one of our few happy moments together - lately everyone has been pretty fussy and discombobulated. am hoping the move into our real house tomorrow will help balance everyone out a bit.

right outside the base gate

little market just outside base

thai place we are interested to try

curtis having his emergency snack break

cemetary

this gas station had a pit crew that took care of you when you pulled up - down the street there was a self-service option

this was a little disheartening to see outside one of the local establishments...i am sure i understand why its there, surely some young marines have not behaved well, not respected the space or the culture...makes me want to connect with some locals even more and show them how Americans can be, not the stereotyped drunks that many experience unfortunately.

many people have gardens in their back yards...this was one of the bigger ones we passed that wasn't fenced off

very interesting the way the houses fit around the roads and the roads fit around the houses - its hard to tell which was there first.

learning to read the important words. lol :)