Once I finally regained consciousness and it stopped raining, I went out exploring. Nara Park is one of the main attractions in town due to its many temples and shrines but also for the thousands of deer that roam free on the grounds.
I entered the park and did my duty as a tourist: I forked over $1.50 for some shika-sembei (rice crackers) to feed the deer. These animals are shameless. They hang out right around the sembei vendors and hustle the tourists for food. I got a little nervous when one of them stuck it's big schnoz into my purse and started snuffling around.
Some of the bigger ones have antlers that have been sawed off in a strange event appropriately called "Deer Antler Cutting." It's sort of a cross between a rodeo and turkey shoot. All around Nara there are posters featuring a vengeful-looking buck who really, really deserves to be wrassled to the ground in front of a cheering crowd and having his head mutilated. (As horrifying as I think it is, I guess it would be worse to be gored by one of them while feeding them overpriced cookies). There was a huge line to get in, but I skipped it. 
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