Tsunami

If you checked any news source today, I am sure you heard about our Tsunamis. I have not been able to check the news myself, because I was evacuated.

My neighbor came downstairs at about 6 am to wake me up and tell me that a Tsunami was predicted to arrive at about 11am. We live about one block from the shore, so it didn't take me more than a few minutes to snap awake start to panic.

A few minutes after that, civil defense sirens began to go off, and they went off several times after that (about once an hour or more) for the next 5 or 6 hours. I could hear them all the way inside of the valley and on top of a mountain.

At the sound of the sirens, I panicked...as in, the screaming, sweating kind of panic you see in movies when people are getting attacked by aliens from outer space. I was genuinely afraid. I did not know that the first siren was simply to wake people up so they knew to get to an evacuation area soon.

I got me and my neighbors up to the IAO Valley. Two of us decided to hike to the top, another meandered off and did his own thing. The hike was nice,  but super hot...and in my panic I forgot to bring sunscreen, so the greatest injury I incurred today was sunburn. Otherwise, I am alive and well.

After the state of emergency was declared in the clear, I came back down from my high place and headed home...but police would still not let those of us who lived lower into our homes for another  hour. Roads were blocked. From where I was on the mountain, I could at one point see that the water was sinking away from the shore before a wave hit. It was kind of odd, and a little hard to believe that I was really witnessing it. The waves, however, came in fast but were small. From what I have overheard and been told, there is some damage in Kahului Harbor. The upper part of my neighborhood is undamaged.

I have not even glanced at the houses down the hill and by the water, but I imagine they are suffering minimal damage, if any.

Isaac is on Kauai, but has been in touch and I know that he is safe. Despite being apart from me, he was still a strong head of our household, keeping me on the phone all morning to keep me calm and help me determine the safest and fastest route to safety. I am thankful that in just a month or two, there will be far fewer chances that we'll be separated during an emergency.

Thanks for the concerned calls, texts and etc. I am still off facebook, so if you sent me a message that way I won't read it until after Easter. If it happens again, I plan to do what I did this time (minus the panicking): hike to the top of a mountain. I was surprised to see only 3 other people up there. I kind of expected to see a crowd.

Aloha, Pete!

As I wrote earlier this week, Isaac's brother, Pete has been in town visiting us. We've spent hours every day at the beach, but Pete also got to go do some early morning whale watching, and go on a few adventurous hikes with us.

Isaac loves to be in the water

Isaac and Peter at the beach after body surfing for a few hours.

Humpback waving aloha?

Showin' some tail.

Jumping!

Ike & Pete on one of the bridges on the "Swinging Bridges" hike.

Me and Pete posing next to a bamboo grove.

Not sure if he knew his picture was being taken...

Isaac and Pete taking a minute to pose while swimming and playing under a waterfall.

Da News, Brah

I talked on the phone to one of my dear friends last night who said that she was disappointed that there weren't any recent updates on my blog. I thought I was doing pretty good, but since she said something...

We have a house guest right now. Isaac's brother is in town. I am loving his company. Nothing like a teenager to make you realize how old you're getting. Lots of beach time. He seems to have the same love of boogie boarding I do.

Isaac and I went on a whale-watching tour a few weeks ago. Did I already blog about that? I think I did. See a previous post (I don't remember which).

I love Maui. It is beautiful. No wonder so many people come to visit here...although I'm not a fan of outsiders acting like this place exists solely for them and having no regard for those of us who live here. No wonder the locals are so hostile to outsiders and newbies.

As for the island... I feel like I have seen most of it. I don't feel quite at home, although I do have one grocery store I particularly love, and one sandwich deli I especially love. Both places are the only places I can go and feel recognized. Perhaps that's just a testament to my love of tasty food. Despite my access to delicious goods, I haven't gained much weight. I haven't weighed myself either, but everything fits the same.

The aforementioned sandwich deli made me realize that even I, a former pork hater, can love pork. It was a euphoric awakening. The Southern Squealer = life changing. Unfortunately, I still don't particularly love pork in most of its other forms. The semi-inconvenient wait for the kitchen cooks to make it is totally worth it.

Um... what else? The wedding countdown has hit the 5 month mark. It seems like we just got engaged yesterday. In reality it was August. Where has the time gone?! Soooo much to do!

I am hoping to have Dax here no later than April. Gee willakers, I miss that pup. He is my sunshine when skies are gray.

Most new news: I have given up facebook. Cold turkey for 40 days. If that goes well, I may suspend my account FOR-EV-ER. I waste too much time on it. Same as TV for some people. Just uses up time you could have spent doing something you'll actually remember one day. I needed to cut myself off. Long overdue. Feel free to check in on me and make sure I'm sticking with it.

That's all for now. I guess I'll be using this to post pictures for the next few weeks. So stay posted!

A Double Dose of Happiness!

Earlier this week, Isaac's sister, Alicia, gave birth to twins! She stuck to her guns in the delivery room and birthed both babies naturally, without an epidural or any medication. Word has it, she's the talk of the hospital!

Welcome to the world, Claire and Gwynne! We can't wait to meet our wonderful little nieces!

Newbies

Well I've been getting into shape again. It's about time! I think I am going to do a half-marathon in the Fall, so I want to be in shape for it once it's time to start training. Which is soon. I think the marathon last year was a little much for me to make a respectable time goal, so I'm going to backtrack and work harder.

I have been surfing! I got up a few weeks ago, under Isaac's instruction. Actually getting up and riding a board down the wave was exhilarating. I screamed, quite loudly, "I'm doing it!! I'm DOIIINNNNG IIITTT!" which subsequently made me seem like a huge dorky haole. Oh well. It felt amazing, and made all of the soreness in my arms and neck from paddling worth it. The other people out in the surf with us were super friendly. The kind of people who act like they've always known you, despite not knowing your name. They'd help me out a lot "Paddle paddle paddle! You can catch this wave, go go go girl!" and "Ah, that's ok that you fell, you'll get up next time." The less competitive surfers are friendly and I like them. (But it'll be years before I attempt introducing myself on the North shore, which is much less friendly to people who aren't as good at surfing).

Did some whale watching last week. A video of a few clips of the whales we saw is up on my facebook. Why is it that we feel a need to connect with animals in a completely different world? Is it good or bad? I don't know, but the entire time, I wanted nothing but to put on a snorkel mask and fins, and jump in and introduce myself. Maybe I was a whale in a past life.

We have new neighbors! They're pretty cool. One of them kinda reminds me of some of the folks back in Chinle. They are new, and I love not being the newest kid on the block now. I have been sharing with them all the things I didn't pick up on quickly enough when we first got here, trying to be helpful of. (And hopefully being more helpful than annoying). Taking them to one of my favorite beaches today.

New friends? Let's hope. Make new friends, keep the old, one is silver, the others need to get out here and visit.

:-)

Aloha!

Missing My Boy

Work!

I work now. It's what I do. I'm employed. So gleeful am I, to have an income and a simple purpose every day.

I realized that when you don't have a designated "job" that you do, you can only give yourself hobby-centric goals for so long before you start to feel as though you lack a purpose in life. Waking up before the sun rose to shower because there was a reason to be up and getting ready felt sort of liberating the first time I did it this week. No more wasted time. No more failing to set an alarm because I feel I have no need to be up for anything.

Even if I am selling produce and getting to know the local grub and the local farm economy, I'm pleased as punch to be doing it. It doesn't hurt that I love food, and spend my day eyeballing all the treats available while I fantasize about what I'd concoct with them...

But anyway, I have a job. I'm making a little bit of money. My boss(es) are super nice, and even listen to my ideas.

Oh, and I get to be outside all the time. In Maui. Under the shade of a big ole tree. Spectacular.

Ciao!

There's our new bebe! A Vespa Piaggio PX150. Italians sure know how to make a sweet ride.

The fun part is that even though we got a second vehicle so that I'd have something to commute to a job with, Isaac really loves it. When he's done riding, he has a smile that could span the Great Wall of China.  I have a feeling he'll be on it a lot more than he initially thought.

                                                  

Since it's got 150cc's I have to get a motorcycle license to drive it legally. And since I have to learn to shift and balance, I'll be enrolling in motorcycle safety class this week. Hopefully I get it all worked out before I start work. Two job interviews tomorrow...pretty excited!!

Getting Visual!

Finally! The iMac made it, all in one piece and workin' just groovy. Which means...pictures! From our activities and our home.

We've done some snorkeling...

Lots of hiking, this bamboo one was a particular favorite.

We've swam and jumped off waterfalls, both high and low.

Spent a few hours almost every day at one beach or another,

and have been kayaking in Kauai.

After living in Utah and Chinle, we don't take water for granted anymore.

We've been introduced to new, exotic foods like cherimoya. So yummy.

Now, for some pics of our place. Sorry they're not great shots, but I like how colorful we made everything. Still need to buy some art and put some pictures up...

Green bedroom

Living room

Kitchen and our little two-person table.

Mango colored bathroom. Didn't get a full pic b/c I haven't finished one last detail of painting.

Blue office. We have a desk now but can't do anything else with it. The rest of the furniture in there belongs to the previous tenants, I think, so we're not sure what to do with it before we can get our own stuff in.

Partial back-yard view. Put up those flags...they remind me of Chinle, actually. Thanks for the big ones, Julie! :-)

That's all for now. There are some more on facebook. Aloha!

A Very New Year!

New Years is a very big deal in Hawaii, and the merriment of our neighbors--who are all still strangers-- filled our home.

Our house is on a hill near the ocean in what seems like a crowded area. Some houses are huge and brightly painted (and filled with several generations of people), some small and less noticable, some are in between or behind other houses.

Anyway, there was music, the smell of Hawaiian-style bar-b-que, fried foods, and the smell of beer in the air, older people talking and laughing, teenagers running around playing with fireworks and being just mischievous enough to be fun to watch, children screaming and playing, cheering for passing of the New Year in every time zone, and hours and hours of fireworks that could be seen and heard from every window.

I woke up this morning to the smell of fried fish and the sight of some Philipino parents and children de-feathering a chicken and preparing it for what I assume would be lunch. It made me laugh, though I'm not sure why.

Chickens are to Hawai'i what dogs are to Chinle. We have chickens and roosters in our yard, walking the sides of the road, in parking lots, in the jungle, at the beach... and they never let an early morning go by without a loud alarm. I never noticed them when I was just a tourist, but now that I live here I see them everywhere I look. I see them so much I'm starting to notice what I think are different breeds, as well as breed mixes.

Anyway, enjoy the next chicken you eat, and Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

P.S. Every package has arrived now except for our computer. But I have a good feeling about this week...