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Leaving Iwaki
Mar. 15th, 2011 10:17 pmSo, it's official. Half the ALTs left today and are either going home or to Tokyo or other parts of the country. The rest of us are leaving in the morning. I called my friend Aya and her family told me to come and stay with them. I'm hoping that I won't have to be gone long but it's looking like the best thing to do is to get out. So we are getting up early to get gas, as the stations are all closed by lunch and the lines are long! The highways are crowded with people heading out of Fukushima out to Tokyo and Niigata. More and more people are leaving the area. They've opened up the Iwaki Highway Junctions for people to leave, but no one is allowed to enter.
In other news. Sam and I got up early this morning and headed out tot he grocery store an hour before opening. There was already a line up and by the time the store opened the line was almost 3 blockes long. One thing that always impresses me is the way people here are so calm and organized. No looting, just people lining up and waiting their turn!
We were let into the store 10 people at a time and each person was handed 1 bottle of water. Sam and I had split our list so I ran for veggies and Sam ran for eggs and tofu and milk. We spent over $100 on food for the 14 of us at Peter's. Then we came home and were watching tv and saw on the news that today a 70 year old woman was pulled from the rubble after having been swept away by the tsunami. She lived! Spent four days burried. The worst thing we had to deal with was not having running water to shower and flush the toilet and stuff. wow
lunch and dinner were wonderful! All vegitarian food. We had Nabe (Japanese hot pot) with rice for lunch, and ten a stirfry with peanut butter sauce for dinner. So good! I'm going to miss the food when things go back to normal...going to have to hang out with these guys more often.
So the decision was made to leave. so we'll be getting up at 5 to get gas and then coming back to pack our things and then heading out.
I feel bad about bothering Aya's family about this because she's getting ready for her wedding in just over 2 weeks...and her new job. Peter keeps telling me not to worry about it. It's not an inconvenience because of the circumstances and that they won't feel that it is. I had asked my host mother to stay with them but they don't have much heat at night so it's not a good idea, but I am welcome to stay with them during the day.
I am definitely not happy about leaving my home, and this does feel like home, but it's safer to go. My pendulum said so lol. I'm thinking that Iwaki may be evacuated soon anyway and if we leave tomorrow we will avoid the worst of the traffic, and if it isn't evacuated then..good!
So that's my update. It's currently raining acid, so we can't go outside...so sleeping arrangements are going to be a bit crowded tonight as there are 7 people here instead of 5.
We have to be up in7 hours...so now is a good time to go to bed.
I'll post an update when I'm settles in at Aya's. First thing on the agenda at Aya's is to get a shower! I can't wait to have a shower!
Take care everyone!
Lisa
In other news. Sam and I got up early this morning and headed out tot he grocery store an hour before opening. There was already a line up and by the time the store opened the line was almost 3 blockes long. One thing that always impresses me is the way people here are so calm and organized. No looting, just people lining up and waiting their turn!
We were let into the store 10 people at a time and each person was handed 1 bottle of water. Sam and I had split our list so I ran for veggies and Sam ran for eggs and tofu and milk. We spent over $100 on food for the 14 of us at Peter's. Then we came home and were watching tv and saw on the news that today a 70 year old woman was pulled from the rubble after having been swept away by the tsunami. She lived! Spent four days burried. The worst thing we had to deal with was not having running water to shower and flush the toilet and stuff. wow
lunch and dinner were wonderful! All vegitarian food. We had Nabe (Japanese hot pot) with rice for lunch, and ten a stirfry with peanut butter sauce for dinner. So good! I'm going to miss the food when things go back to normal...going to have to hang out with these guys more often.
So the decision was made to leave. so we'll be getting up at 5 to get gas and then coming back to pack our things and then heading out.
I feel bad about bothering Aya's family about this because she's getting ready for her wedding in just over 2 weeks...and her new job. Peter keeps telling me not to worry about it. It's not an inconvenience because of the circumstances and that they won't feel that it is. I had asked my host mother to stay with them but they don't have much heat at night so it's not a good idea, but I am welcome to stay with them during the day.
I am definitely not happy about leaving my home, and this does feel like home, but it's safer to go. My pendulum said so lol. I'm thinking that Iwaki may be evacuated soon anyway and if we leave tomorrow we will avoid the worst of the traffic, and if it isn't evacuated then..good!
So that's my update. It's currently raining acid, so we can't go outside...so sleeping arrangements are going to be a bit crowded tonight as there are 7 people here instead of 5.
We have to be up in7 hours...so now is a good time to go to bed.
I'll post an update when I'm settles in at Aya's. First thing on the agenda at Aya's is to get a shower! I can't wait to have a shower!
Take care everyone!
Lisa
