Ugh.

I wasn't going to blog about this but I figure I could maybe get some advice or helpful commiseration from readers, so chime in if you like. Mia had been scratching her head for a few days, and on Tuesday morning I found out why. She had lice. Ok. EW.

All I know about lice I learned from Linda Evangelista in elementary school. She had lice and she had hair down to her butt. After a while, she showed up with a chin-length bob. I now know why.

Thankfully, Mia didn't have a really horrendous case, however when I told her teacher about it via email on Tuesday morning when I decided she wasn't going to school, the nurse came to check the students. 2 other kids were sent home, and the teacher had it too. Then it was discovered in 3 or 4 other kindergarten classes, and a couple of other grades too. And then my friend told me she got a note home from her son's off-base preschool about it.

Long and grueling story as short as possible; got a rinse with the stuff in it that kills these buggers from the hospital pharmacy, did it, combed like mad, and nearly vomited several times. I bagged all of her stuffed animals in sealed bags not to be opened for two weeks. I threw away her pillow and washed ALL the clothing, towels, sheets, jackets, etc. in scalding hot water and dried for 50 minutes in the hot dryer.

The next day she went to school, the nurse checked her before she returned to class (good thing) and her teacher told me she had some nits (eggs) left. Nits are stuck to the strands of hair about 1/4" from the scalp. They're TEENY (1/2 of the head of a pin) and whitish/clear - read as "hard to see". The piece of crap plastic comb I got with the rinse does NOT remove the nits. My fingernails do. Still finding live bugs. ACK. Now I'm being told that this is a problem at the school (lots of kids have it) and I keep Mia home because the mamasans (Japanese women who clean the rooms at the school) aren't cleaning sufficiently and properly to eliminate a lice problem. I'll tell you right now - I'm NOT going through this again. My kid will sooner wear a swimming cap for the rest of the winter until this is over than I pick another nit.

Thursday; did the rinse again, still finding live bugs. Friday morning SERIOUSLY attacked her head. Have I mentioned how THRILLED I am that we cut her hair? That makes my job easier - but I kinda wish she were a boy because if this wasn't getting better I could consider shaving her head.

Today was a good day. She woke up and after breakfast I only found 3-5 eggs. Not bad. No live bugs. Exhaling - as there's a metal comb worth a crap on the way from my mother (THANK YOU) and a doctor friend who offered to get me a stronger shampoo to kill the bugs if they don't go away. Now I just have to get over the fear of sending her back to school because I don't feel that all the cleaning people and other parents are NEARLY as anal as I was about eradicating this! Also big thanks go out to Kaho - wonderful friend who speaks Japanese and helped me try to find a stronger shampoo & better comb at the pharmacy out in town. Everyone has been great, I'm so lucky.

So... it seems to be better on Mia's head now, thankfully, but the story is slightly to be continued.

In other news, because I was trapped inside dealing with this all week, I wanted to get OUT today (Saturday) and go to the Okinawa Prefecture Museum. (brand new - opened in November) It's raining and chilly - nothing new for the last six freaking weeks - and we drove down on great directions that we didn't follow properly and got all turned around; and by the time we figured it out it was 4pm and we bagged it. SIGH. Maybe tomorrow.

Lastly - the highlight of my week (considering the week I had, even something lame would be good, but it's not!). I went to Suwanee's photography reception today at the Foster Library and met a fan. Of little old me! What? I know! A fan of my photography & my blog! Talk about humbling - so HI there, K - and all your SAHM friends!! Please do comment sometime, I'd love it! I want to hear what you dig and what you don't - and what you want to read about or see that you aren't. I'm blown away that I've now met two prior strangers (once before at the commissary) who told me they know me because of my blog and photos. And that's to say nothing of the several comments I've received from other people I don't know who found me in a variety of ways.

Wow, minor MINOR celebrity status on Oki, but amazing and encouraging nonetheless! K - we will so get out and take some pictures, I'm down to help you practice and help you with some Elements when you upgrade! So great meeting you!

And a big hello and thanks SO much to anyone & everyone out there for reading and watching the adventures of lil' ol' me and my family - that's just such an added bonus to blogging. It was truly just to keep the friends & family back home aware of what's up out here, and I love doing it and it's taken a really interesting and fun direction now. Big fat warm fuzzies and love to you all.

Superbowl Monday

The Superbowl happened this morning here in Japan - on Monday, February 4th, kickoff was at 8:20 AM. Fantastic game, and I have to say I'm very proud of Eli & the Giants - they played an incredible game. (Wah wah, poor Patriots - guess what, you still had an undefeated season, and your daggone Sox took the series. Shaddap.)

Most military folks get the day off on Superbowl Monday - wouldn't it just be ridiculous the amount of people who'd take leave? Besides, having to work during the Superbowl is just un-American. The glitch - no commercials. Just the same old AFN PSAs. SUCKS.

Relax, I saw them online - of my favorites were the talking baby thing for E*Trade, Budweiser dalmation training the clydesdale, and Bud Lite wine & cheese party. Will Ferrel for Bud was pretty funny too (as the Semi-Pro guy).

Anyway... I digress. After a morning of breakfast food, coffee & champagne, Craig & I headed to Jusco for lunch and saw the Valentine's Day displays. Apparently the February holiday (in Japan) is for women to give men chocolates and other goodies - there's a separate day in March where the men reciprocate. You can imagine the elation when Craig thought it meant he didn't have to do squat while I showered him with gifts, and the disappointment when he found out he'd only have another month and then it was HIS turn.

There are tons of chocolates available for purchase - some of them really lovely (pink sakura-shaped chocolates, leaves made of green tea white chocolate, etc.). There were also cakes:
Is there really such thing as a "Gugelhupf"?? Anyone...? I certainly never thought I'd see a sachertorte for sale in Japan.

Also humorous (and we noticed this a while back and just forgot to bring our P&S that day) is this sign by the ice-cream-filled-crepe stand. Oh yeah, they are as delicious as they sound....
But I think "Hold it in your hand. Love it in your tummy." - that is just poetry right there. Or it's kinda... well.... my parents read this, people. Use your imagination.

Improv Everywhere

I follow this group because I think what they do is interesting and often very funny and fun. The latest project is a masterpiece; over 200 improv everywhere people froze in place at the same moment for 5 minutes at Grand Central Station's main terminal. 

BRILLIANT!

Click here to view the movie, story & stills.

Garbage - or Ice Cream?

I've been DYING to post this. There are a few things here that I want to post but can't seem to catch when I have my P&S handy (since it has a video camera). Today was the day.

Behold - the sounds of garbage collection day in Japan:



The regular trash truck is larger and looks like a white mini-version of an American garbage truck with a hibiscus flower painted on it. The engine is also almost silent, just the sounds of this same ice cream truck song. Imagine our disappointment when there were no bomb pops.

Last Night

Each school day, Mia brings home a library book of her choice. Part of her homework is to read said book, or sometimes if it's complicated, we help out. She tends to guess at words by looking at pictures instead of sounding them out. So a page with a big mouse on it that says he's going to the "movies" reads "going to the mmmmmmouse??"

It's frustrating because we KNOW she can do this reading thing, but she keeps guessing instead of just sounding out the word. So last night, Craig was having her read the book and I heard the same thing happening and made a decision. "Mia - we're going to find some kindergarten-level books with no pictures so that you will try to sound out the words and not guess what they are."

"Noooooooooo! I don't like books like that! I like the pictures! That's BORING!"

"What do you mean? I'm not saying we're never reading books with pictures, I'm saying we'll get a couple of simple books that will be easy for you to read - with a few challenging words to sound out. Just no pictures."

(Sarcastic tone ensues.)

"...what's the book gonna be called, 'The Blank Page'???"

Thanks, Mom. The curse you laid on me to have a child just like me, you'll be happy to know that worked.

Flickr Fiend

I've become a bit of a flickr.com hound recently. I started uploading there, and now folks can check out my stuff, and I can check out their stuff - and if you are a member (FREE) and an acknowledged friend or family member of mine in flickr, you can order prints of my stuff too.

So I've foregone all other viewing & print sites (uploading all these pictures was getting to be a pain - so no more Kodak, Shutterfly, .mac) and will be uploading the creme-de-la-creme to my flickr page. Find it HERE or search aviva.bowman on flickr.com. Even if you just wanna poke around what we've been doing. Family-related stuff (birthday gatherings, holiday pictures, etc.) I will still put on Kodak Gallery for folks to get prints.

IF you order prints on flickr and find them not to be great quality, or have a bunch of trouble, I will reconsider this. So keep me posted.

I'll still post some good ones here, sometimes from the point & shoot camera or sometimes pictures I don't post on flickr because they're not exactly show-worthy. Like these for example.... here is a "tree" made out of plants. I think it was for New Year's because the origami birds symbolize health and success for the future.

I know - blurry drive-by photo taking. But I love the Grateful Dead shirts here - totally Japanified. Should really read "Jerry Garcia is Everwhere" b/c it's copyrighted 10 years after his death....

Mia waiting for our food to come in a restaurant that has a double-decker BUS. We're sitting on the first floor of the double-decker here. Pretty neat.

Another drive-by photo - but this was on the road to Nago yesterday with the point & shoot (PS). I know, I cut off part of Nemo #2 there, but hi - how cute, lovey-dovey flower-covered Nemo & Nemo-ette!


We stopped by the pineapple park because it was on the way back anyway. Outside of the market, there's a guy who makes & sells these balancing dragonflies, they're made out of wood & painted really pretty. Here is the sweet man loading up each of Mia's fingers with dragonflies. (See the BIG one on her index finger?)

After he removed a couple from the kid, Craig got in on the fun.
This is the one we bought - he insisted she test it out.
More soon!

Sakura - Japan's National Flower

The Japanese gave a gift of cherry trees to Washington DC. They bloom every spring, much to the dismay of those with allergies. Cherry blossoms are a big deal in Japan, and Okinawa being sub-tropical - gets the first bunch of blooms. Yes, it's January - but they're in bloom here now.

We headed to Mount Yaedake (aka Mount Yae) for the festival yesterday. It was either raining or drizzling the whole time. Which bummed me out because the camera cannot be out in the rain without a jacket - which we do not have for it. Alas, using an umbrella, and early on "stepping between the raindrops" we got a few shots of the festival and the blossoms.

After we parked, this is the scene we approached; this was at the "base" of the mountain. There were booths with crafts, games, food, food, games... did I mention food?!

The wet blossoms.

Huge selection of fried and grilled ANYTHING (squid on a stick to pork ribs to yakisoba and takoyaki - basically octopus fritters), including soba (mmmm....soup) which I personally lunched on.

This tree had busy bees among its flowers, this is my favorite of the day - and trust me, there weren't many pictures.

I also love this lantern shot taken at the stand where we got lunch. The lanterns were lit and so warm & inviting on a chilly wet day.

As you drive up the mountain, the trees line the narrow windy street as it switchbacks up. The cars are often single-file to avoid hitting branches - and pedestrians with umbrellas!

More through the windshield. If it wasn't raining, I can't imagine how crowded it might've been!

Mount Yaedake is apparently the island’s second highest point at 453.4 meters (1487 feet), and has more than 4,000 Taiwan cherry trees. FYI, the Yaedake area is also the orchids capital of Okinawa. These cherry trees are different from the light pink blooms you see on mainland and in DC (as you can tell from the pictures). They're a darker pink, and they last longer - about a month. Along the streets on the way to and from the area, there are sakura for sale by the branch to put in vases at your home. There are also lots of mikan (tangerines) for sale since they're in season - DELICIOUS!

On the way back toward home (after frustration really ensued from having to take pictures from inside the car....) we promised to visit again on a clearer day, and also to visit Naha in February when the blooms moved south. We also stopped by the Nago City festival, but as it was raining pretty hard and the crowds were kind of crazy, we moved on. We'd had our festival fill for the day. Here's a shot of Nago City from a bridge above it where we definitely weren't allowed to stop. Suwanee rightfully stated a new mantra of mine - "It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission."