Whole Lotta Bangin' Goin' On!

Bang that drum!

This young lady was intense!  She could
make Gene Krupa sit up and take
notice!by 

by Pa Rock
Cultural Explorer

Last evening several of us from work met at a restaurant in Naha to honor one of our co-workers who has just finished her two-year tour here and is heading back to the states.  The honoree, Dr. Elizabeth Goodwin, a young  psychologist , came with her boyfriend John, a Marine “gunny” sergeant (E-7) who is stationed on the island and has completed five tours in the war zone.  Everyone else in attendance works at our office with the exception of little Maddy, the infant daughter of Stephanie, one of our airmen.

(I am still car-less, so Elizabeth and John kindly chauffeured me to the party - thank you very much!)

Our meal was at a place called En Okinawa which Elizabeth had read about in a local magazine.  The menu had several pages of Okinawan fare, with each entry accompanied by a photo.  I had baked salmon and rice along with iced tea.  It was excellent, but the only eating utensils were chopsticks – so it took me a while to re-master that art!

En Okinawa features an awesome Eisa drum show, my second exposure to Eisa drumming in one week.  Several drummers banged on several different types of drums for about an hour, and when I say “banged,” I really mean “beat the hell out of!”  The place was small, the drums were loud, Maddie cried and had to be taken outside to protect her little ears, and I jumped about a foot the first time one of the drummers hit the monster (size-wise) drum! 

An amazing drummer!

The show also included a large, fuzzy, red  creature who danced and led the audience in clapping to the drum beat, as well as a two-man dragon that somehow managed to perform some really great tumbling.  At one point the dragon came over to where I was sitting, opened his cavernous mouth, and placed it over my head.  I was told that would bring good luck, and I guess that it did, because today I found my perfect apartment and signed a lease!  (More on the apartment later.  I move this Friday.)

It was a nice evening, and we are all going to miss Elizabeth. (And Boone,  I am definitely getting us a big, red Eisa drum!