Friday, March 18 – Tangerines, flashlights and more

Morning

Yesterday, Yasue was able to inventory the items she received from her cousin’s company. Just as we suspected, it was much better than Christmas. The four boxes she received were filled with:

Fruit – 8 Tangerines, 4 Apples, 4 bananas
Dried Food – 6 packages of soba noodles, 12 packs of miso soup mix, 2 boxes of instant soup, 14 packages of rice, 6 packages of ramen noodles,
Boxed Meals – 2 packages of curry, 1 package of gratin.
Canned Goods – 16 cans of mostly protein like tuna, clams, sardines, meat, etc.
Water – 2 large 2-liter bottles and 8 small 500ml bottles.
Other – 2 flashlights, 2 packs of 3A batteries, vinyl gloves, wet wipes, tin foil, plastic wrap, hand towels, face masks.

For the first time, we discussed the unfolding tragedy at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The plant is perilously close to Sendai, about 60 miles to the south. That’s only about 10 miles outside the 50-mile evacuation zone the U.S. Embassy is recommending. The U.S. Embassy has arranged for buses to take Americans and their dependents to Tokyo for evacuation and they depart Sendai today. Yasue reiterated she needs to stay with her mom in Sendai and that “there is nothing I can do about the plant in Fukushima.”