Did I mention stay off the roads?
In the United States, frequently-driven roads are made from tar or some kind of cement. I'm not into construction so I can't list exactly what tar is made of but I can say that it isn't too slippery when it rains right when it first rains and there is still some oil on the road.
Since Okinawa is a relatively small island, the highways are made out of a pavement substance but instead of rocks or pebbles or whatever it contains lage amounts of crushed coral. Any divers out there? Anyone familiar with coral? It is slippery when wet! So when it rains out here, 3 things come together that make me want to stay off the roads if at all possible:
1. The rain makes the coral slippery like black ice almost.
2. The water on these surfaces causes any and all light to reflect off the pavement and right into
your eyes and the roads do not use reflective paint or other such markings, so all you see is black.
3. All of this blackness yet there are barely any street lights, which causes almost complete darkness so you have to pray when making turns so not to go into the oncoming lanes on accident.
It is not fun.
Since Okinawa is a relatively small island, the highways are made out of a pavement substance but instead of rocks or pebbles or whatever it contains lage amounts of crushed coral. Any divers out there? Anyone familiar with coral? It is slippery when wet! So when it rains out here, 3 things come together that make me want to stay off the roads if at all possible:
1. The rain makes the coral slippery like black ice almost.
2. The water on these surfaces causes any and all light to reflect off the pavement and right into
your eyes and the roads do not use reflective paint or other such markings, so all you see is black.
3. All of this blackness yet there are barely any street lights, which causes almost complete darkness so you have to pray when making turns so not to go into the oncoming lanes on accident.
It is not fun.
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