Three Day Weekend

We had a national holiday on Friday, so Scott and I had a three day weekend. On Friday we went to Aga (a neighboring city) and had lunch with Scott's supervisor. She cooked us some traditional Japanese foods. There was way too much food, but it was all so good! That day Aga was having their holiday festival so after lunch we went to the shrine. There were lots of men carrying huge drums and alternating drummers. Children followed all dressed up in costumes. Other men and women also followed the drums playing flutes. The drums were huge. They were maybe 4 1/2 feet tall and wide. I can't imagine how much they weighed! The men who played the drums would beat them so hard their hands would start bleeding. All the drums were splattered with blood, it was gross. But the guys thought they were being very manly. The men carry and play these drums all day long. They carry them around the city, to the shrine, and back down through the city. It was quite the sight. We also got to look at all the food and game stands. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so the only pictures we have are on Scott's cell phone.
On Saturday, we went to the Hiroshima Carp's baseball game. We had heard it was an experience and people weren't lying. I would compare it to a college football game in terms of the crowd hype. There was a band, cheerleaders, and people who lead the crowd in a never ending series of cheers. The crowd cheered through the whole game, there wasn't one quite moment. They also have a Carp theme song which is sung at the beginning of the game, during the seventh inning stretch, and if the team wins at the end. The fans also buy long balloons which they blow up and wave during the seventh inning stretch and then when they are done singing their theme song everyone lets them go and the balloons whistle and fly all over the place. The ground crew runs around and picks up the ones on the field of play. Fans also do this at the end if the team wins. I took lots of pictures and a video of everyone letting the balloons go. The game was a lot of fun. However, it was 29 degrees Celsius, so it was VERY hot and humid. It finally started to cool down by the ninth inning. We stayed for the whole game, but the Carps lost 3-6. Oh, well, it was still a lot of fun.
Then Sunday we went to church and met the priest from Spain. His English is so good and we enjoyed hearing a sermon instead of just readings. We had Japanese lesson that night and the rest of the day we spent relaxing. So we had a full, but very exciting, three day weekend.