Fruit bats, muriatic acid and mini-vans, oh my!

Last night we were out in the parking lot and our first fruit bat came flying by. I can't let that go without the proper description so, again, after consulting Wikipedia I came up with this...

Don't let the name "fruit bat" fool you. Ordinarily, when you hear "fruit bat" you think tiny. Well, there's another name for this little cutie...it's called a "flying fox" or, more specifically...Ryukyu Flying Foxes of Kuchinoerabu. That should give you a pretty good idea about the size. Yep. He's a big 'un! They have wingspans of up to 35 inches. When it locates food, the flying fox "crashes" into foliage and grabs for it. It may also attempt to catch hold of small children with its hind feet, then swing them upside down — once attached and hanging, the fox draws food to its mouth with one of its hind feet or with the clawed thumbs at the top of its wings. After a bit of problem-solving I decided to super glue 5lb. weights in Jenna's sandals so the bats won't carry her off. Just a bit of dramatic license for the readers. Truthfully, Wikipedia says they catch hold of branches but...I thought that would be too boring.

I wish I would've had the camera last night. It was amazing! I mean what do you do when you see something coming at you the size of the Navy's newest strike fighter and it whizzes past your ear? Well...you gotta respect that.

Orientation today was LONG. The bus picked us up at 0600 and we got back at 1830. It was a 12 1/2 hour day. Unbearable. Painful. Torturous! So much so, I liken it to the pain one would feel when pouring muriatic acid directly on one's eyeballs. Anybody and Everybody spoke. Things would've gone faster had Nobody spoke. At least it was only one day.

Tomorrow we should have a...I can't say it...don't make me...ugh!...a MINI-VAN!! I'm going to be a MINI-VAN mama...two times over! We're looking at another one. If we get both of them it will be less than $4,000...total...for BOTH. Can't beat it! One is a Toyota Lucida and the other one is also something else you've never heard of. Tomorrow we also pick up our Japanese driver's licenses. We took the test yesterday and it was in Japanese! Boy was it tough reading all of those Kanjis! Nah...it was in English. It was easier than expected. Now, having passed the test, that makes us "professional drivers". Isn't that what those Formula One guys are? Could I drive one of them there fancy VEE-hickles now?