ABC Catch-up Part 1

A is for Asakusa, home of the Sensoji Temple (628 AD) and Asakusa Shrine in Tokyo. Well, this first picture is just the gate to the temple, the second is actually the temple itself. The gate, Kaminarimon or "Thunder Gate," has a huge paper lantern that says "thunder," as well as twin statues of the gods of thunder and lightning and of the wind.






If you can see it, smack dab in the middle of the road before the temple, there's a small kiosk type roof with several people gathered around. That is the incense burner whose smoke is said to have restorative properties when wafted over ailing bodies. I can't refute or corroborate fully, but I can say that my knees didn't hurt for several days after I paused here. :)


But what's a temple without a little shopping? Since the temple was first built hundreds of years ago, it has been a place for tourists and pilgrims. Any self-respecting merchant would thus put up shop near the temple to cater to these out-of-towners. Nakamise-dori is the name of the street that leads from Gate #1 to Gate #2 of the temple complex and it is slammed packed with vendor stalls. Everything from food to kimonos, from doggie clothes to cell phone charms, from weapons to wood block prints. (I actually got several calligraphy and wood block prints here. They are super nice. And I tried some nasty Japanese pastry.)



On my first night out of jet-lag, some of the people staying in my guesthouse invited me to "a little street festival down in Asakusa." On the way there, I was talking with one of the few English-speakers, and he explained that the Sanja Matsuri was one of the largest and oldest festivals pretty much anywhere in Japan! Definitely not the Pungo Strawberry Festival (though the food's better in Pungo). It was a fun way to start my time overseas.


B is for boots... of all shapes and sizes. Whether they be stilettos or steel toes, I love 'em!
'Nuff said.




C is for (the) College of William and Mary, alma mater of me, my sister, and my boyfriend (well, I had to meet him somewhere, didn't I?) Oddly enough, neither Lara nor I got scholarships for having parents named William and Mary. There should totally be a scholarship sponsored by the history department for people who have William and Mary parents. I mean, legacy kids get money and their parents only went to W&M; my parents are W&M.


Class of 2007, BA in Psychology and Sociology (which means I am looking for work! :P)
Tribe Pride!

C is also for caving! I got started back in middle school with the Girl Scout program, and I was hooked. Mom, Lara, and I all now are adults with the Scouting program (well, not so much Lara now that she's out in California). We take the girls twice yearly to West VA for a long weekend to go caving.



Each January, we put on a workshop for younger girls called Cracks, Crevices, and Crawlways. There they get to learn about caving through relays, obstacle courses, and slide shows. We stay up all night building the cardboard and plywood caves that the kids get to crawl around in; tiring, but worth it! The girls always say they have so much fun.

Lara and I also joined up with some other caving buddies and we formed the Grapevine Grotto. Grottoes are local chapters of the National Speleological Society- essentially, a bunch of people who get together and go caving. What more do you need?




... apparently, I have a lot of C's