Tower town

One of our favorite places to go right now is this place called Danba. It's really so pretty, and the leaves turn in the fall and it's been sunny every day except one that we've been there, so it's pretty much charmed its way into our hearts. The best thing about DB is that the houses there have these really cool towers that come out of the houses--it's kinda medieval looking, and we think it would be so cool to have kids in a house like that. Can you imagine being a girl growing up in the tower room? Anyway, welike it there.

So, when the road collapsed and they made u

s close the guesthouse, we took an overnight trip to DB. We drove our friend there as a favor to him, and we also stayed in a hotel and took a much needed shower, and just enjoyed being in the sunshine. When we were getting out of our car (we had been there less than a minute), we met some really cool folks who were in their early 20s, and they saw us getting out of the car, saw the white boys, and then took about a bazillion pictures of the boys (totally common). We were chitchatting with them and found out they are dancers, and that they dance sometimes in the hotel where we stay. So, me being a big lover of dance performances, we asked if we could see them dance sometime. Coincidentally, they WERE dancing that night, so we made plans to see the

m. We were excited to have a contact in this place that we really like!

Next we walked around and talked to pretty much everyone in town, it seemed like, as we looked for a place to eat a late lunch/early dinner. We were invited to sit down with some older ladies all dressed in their really cool garb, so we sat and talked and ate popsicles.

After we ate, we went back to the hotel to get ready for the big dance show (we were thinking something kinda like a nightclub performance or the like). Then, both boys bathed, full, and ready to go, we traipsed down to

meet our dancer friends. They took us upstairs to a theater/stage that looked really professional and told us to wait a few minutes. So, we're having to totally adjust our thoughts of what this performance will be like.

About an hour and a half later, the dancing starts...and it's this really awesome show (see the picture to the left). We were so excited about it, we pulled out our video camera to try to record the show for everyone to see. And here's where our cultural experience starts. See, we weren't the only ones invited to the show--there were also some guys who are probably really important who were sitting in the first row. And they came in late and really drunk, and as soon as the show started, they wanted to stand up and start talking and taking video right in front of Johnny as he was videoing. After a few songs, they decided to join the dancers right on stage and dance with them and laugh and have a great time. We were really uncomfortable with the whole experience and left early, but we do hope to see our new friends soon!!

We get to experience new experiences every day, almost, but this was something that we'd never experienced before, and may never experience again. It was a really fun, beautiful trip, and we hope to get to go back in early October during the big national holiday here...