Thursday, March 17th

 Store front with a Pray for Japan Heart


Misawa Donations-Youtube video

Happy St. Patricks Day!  We swung by our local McDonald's to try to get a shamrock shake.  They weren't open like most of the businesses in Misawa.Which is okay since it was kind of cold and started to snow.  There are strict restrictions on energy usage. Most of all stores/ businesses are closed.  The town is dark.  Even the Pachinko Parlor right by our house is barely lit up. 


There is also restrictions on gas.  You can only get 10 gallons, and only if you have 1/4 a tank or less.  The lines have been crazy, and Gilbert was finally able to get some yesterday.  So, because of this most people are home bound and getting bored.  We went to the BX today, since I was getting a little stir crazy since I hadn't been out of the house except to a local store for 30 minutes.  We looked for some board games, but the selections are limited.  I guess I will have to learn to love Monopoly!  We also bought some much needed candles.  I was down to only tea lites.  So now we are set in that department.  There has been scheduled blackouts all over Japan to help conserve energy, but so far we have not been affected.  (For those wondering about the nuclear plants, we are about 230 miles away from that, we are in NO danger whatsoever)

Gilbert has been working at the school on base collecting donations of warm clothes and blankets.  They are sending these items off to Hachinohe and Sendai. They have been able to collect a lot of stuff, it feels good that our city is pulling together to help!  

We're still having a lot of aftershocks.  They are soo frequent that we always feel like we're moving.   (Sometimes they are just phantom quakes!)   Today we had 2 quakes that were 6.1.  Those shake us pretty good, but nothing is like that 8.9. I guess I feel lucky in the fact that Gilbert and I don't stress out.  There's not much you can do, mother nature will strike when she feels like it.  And we feel that experiencing the worst earthquake in Japan's recorded history (and 5th strongest in the world) that the worst has come and gone.   My glass is half full!!

We are in great spirits and looking forward to our weekend together.  :)


 Click these links...

Misawa Port area after the tsunami

Hachinohe Port area

Military begins voluntary evacuations-Misawa  This was announced a couple of hours ago.




Much love,
Kristina and Gilberto

9.0 Earthquake--March 11, 2011

I normally don't blog very much, but under Japans circumstances it's probably a good idea. First of all, we are fine. There weren't any reported injuries of anyone here in Misawa.



The earthquake happened at 2:46 pm on Friday. I was home only with the cats. We aren't strangers to earthquakes, we've had many in the past year and 8 months. This one knocked down various things in the house. Gilberts sword cases and other stuff broke. Lots of my kokeshi dolls fell, but are fine.

The whole house was shaking. The ceiling fans were swaying back and forth. This was the only earthquake that scared me so far. The cats were freaking out, poor things didn't understand what was going on. Gilbert tried calling me 45 times!! But no calls went through. I was relieved when he was home a couple of hours later.

Our house was temporary lodging for our friends, we had 9 people at our busiest. We all pulled together our resources of food and candles. We pulled out the grill and had some great food. Having a side burner really helped. Then were able to use our stove when we found out it was safe. That really helped to keep our house warm. after a day and a half the power kicked on as well as phone service.

The commissary was open on Saturday, but was crazy busy. Also, really long lines to get gas on base. We got some things that we needed yesterday. They put limits on water and bread. No candles were left.

They have power on base now, but no heat. They are limiting the power to family housing, so none for barracks and other buildings. Gilbert sponsored a newcomer to Misawa, Rose, she's been here 2 weeks. She stays in barracks,so we went to get her yesterday and she spent the night in our spare bedroom. We told her she was welcome anytime. Her and another newbie will be over later to do laundry.

Our Internet connection has been horrible the last few months, but has nothing to do with the earthquake. So, we still can't really use Skype to call our families yet. We have 3G Internet access on our phones. I will continue to update on this blog and of course on Facebook.

Thank you friends and family for your concern!! But please don't worry about us!! We're fine. :)

Much love,
Kristina and Gilberto


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