Happy Holidays!

Well- the holiday season has come up very quickly!  My family was able to come to HI for a visit- and although my parents have returned to the chilly mid-Atlantic, my sister and her boyfriend were able to stay through Christmas.  A block of vacation came just in time as I spent one of the longest weekends yet working before my family arrived. 
I'll write more about our adventures soon- but just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas Hawaiian style- mele kalikimaka!
Here are some pictures to enjoy!


Outside the shaved ice shop on the North Shore.  Shaved Ice = snowcone.

Family at the biggest waterfall in Hawaii (according to "Hawaii for Dummy's")



It does snow in Hawaii!!!  This is a house down the street we saw today.

Trails and tales

As mentioned in my previous hiking posts...Hawaii has strange trails that are often unmarked or marked poorly as to the correct path to follow.  However- I've recently found a book that helps you navigate the most popular trails here by narrating the trail in more natural landscape features.  This is a super helpful book since the best trails on the island are only known by locals and not part of the state parks system.  The book is also pretty cool since it gives you some history or flora/fauna notes for each hike as well.  I admit- when I first red "pass the medium size cactus on your right, followed by a larger cactus on your left" - I thought this book was going to be useless.  But sure enough- the cacti are still there 10 years after publication and are big landmarks that you can see heading up the side of the cliff where no other trail markers exist.
Here are some pictures and stories from recent hikes, most before discovery of said book, one afterwards:

Kahana Valley- This hike was supposed to extend up to a shrine of some sort at the top of the mountain, but I clearly had lost whatever trail there was supposed to be and ended up hiking up a rain-washed crevasse along a cliff.  I finally gave up at a pretty high lookout point about 200yds from the top...will have to try again one day now that I have more guidance available.

Kahana Valley hike looking out over the Kahana bay and ocean

Pillbox hike that Leslie and I did one day- pretty straightforward and popular hike.  Plan to hike this one again on a full moon for some star gazing.

View from one of the pillboxes overlooking Lanikai below and one of two small islands just out from shore.

Byodo-In Temple- replica of an ancient Buddhist temple in Japan, it houses a nine foot tall statue of Buddha inside, the largest wooden Buddha carved in over 900 years.  It's also surrounded by this big reflecting pond full of huge koi.

Huge koi fish!!

This is Maunawili falls- a semi-disappointing trickle of water over some rocks for all the mud we hiked through to get here.  Unlike several trails- this one had signs along the way since it is a popular hike.  However- one of the last signs is clearly poorly placed with many footprints evident in the mud leading down a random footpath that dead ends on a muddy hillside another 1/4 mile down.  My footprints now join the others down this poorly marked path.

Hike with guide book up a couple of cliffs and down to the Makapu'u lighthouse.  The classic hike here is along this paved road up to the lighthouse, but the book described an alternate route that was much more exciting with some great views such as this one looking back up the east coast of Oahu.  You can see the three peaks of Olomana (featured in one my earliest posts) kind of in the center of the picture.  Didn't get lost here!

Pele's chair- believed to be where the goddess of fire and volcanoes- "Pele"- sat to look back over her creation of Oahu before moving southward to create the other islands.  You can see some lei's left on the chair to honor this traditional belief.

Makapu'u lighthouse- you can't hike down to the lighthouse itself, so just snapped a shot from the observation deck above.

Honoring tradition...

Well, I had pretty typical mainland Thanksgiving- except the sweet potatoes were purple (which is the norm here).  However, I did come across this story yesterday about a community on the Big Island that completed a big task in a pretty traditional way.  It was pretty cool to read about and I don't think you could actually get enough people together for this anywhere else in the states...

http://reconcilable-differences.com/2010/10/24/you-do-the-huki-puke-and-you-turn-yourself-around/

Enjoy and hope you all had a wonderful holiday!
~Katie

Waikiki

The Waikiki area is more touristy than the other areas I've explored.  Still- it offers beautiful beachs, lots of shops, the Honolulu Zoo surfboard rentals/lessons and lots of people for people watching =).  I've been over a few times now- the first for some surfing which I've already posted about.  The second time- I met up with a random group of people to play some sand volleyball.  The group is a based online, and the organizers moved here about 1.5 years ago, eventually drawing the same conclusion that I did - why aren't people playing sand volleyball all the time and all over this island???!!!  They decided to buy their own net/court set up and start a meet-up group after several months of looking for a group to join.  Thank goodness!  We had a great group and played 3v3 for several hours until it was too dark to see.  In addition to some great volleyball, another cool thing was that we all stopped playing to watch the sun set over the ocean.  Living on the east coast- I see the sun set on the mountains, so this was the first time I've seen it set on the ocean.  The other guys all live on the west coast, but still stopped to appreciate the beauty of where we are- sand, surf, coconut trees, blue water, orange/pink skies, sailboats and surfers outlined as the orange sun sank into the water.  Breath taking....
Towards the end of volleyball, a random Australian guy walked up and asked to play with us.  He trains as a semi-professional sand volleyball player down-under so was quite good as well as pretty good looking, complete with Australian accent.  However, I had to stifle a laugh when he introduced himself..."Hello!  My name's Bruce."  I've just seen Finding Nemo too many times, and wanted to say- "Hello, Bruce!  Tell me, do you eat fish?"
Third trip over to Wakiki was for Halloween!  Leslie and I met up with Jill and Tony to walk around the main strip and take in all the costumes.  The sidewalks, restaurants and bars were packed with people enjoying this random American holiday where we pretend to be something we are not.  Some of the best costumes (other than our own of course!!) included:
-a guy with a large piece of cardboard behind him tacked with bed sheets and a pillow behind his head- pretending to be sleeping while standing up
-an amazing dragon type costume w/ make-up - pretty scary!
-pippi-longstocking, complete with monkey
-fast-food characters (Jack, Ronald, Burger King, Wendy, Hamburgler)
-an amazing Dorothy and Scarecrow duo- looked straight from the movie
-guy dressed up as Heath Ledger's 'Joker' when he dressed up as a nurse in the movie- kind of double costume
-4 people with immaculate black and white costumes that were very theatrical- I think it's probably from a specific play or work of art as it seems familiar but can't place it...
-and one of my favorites, because I'm a nerd, was a stormtrooper from Star Wars walking around with a sign that said "Free Hugs"!  I got a hug, but forgot to get a picture to share!  Hilarious...

Stylish witch, gypsy and- you guessed it- manta ray!  Hard to see the tail in this picture...

Fast food wars

An untimely new favorite book...

Ever since finishing vet school, I've found myself reading more often than I did in the years prior to starting at Tufts.  Perhaps its because now I get to pick what I want to read rather than being forced to read on a certain topic.  Or maybe that I read so much on a weekly basis in school that my mind expects some sort of substitute now that that particular source of literature is no longer requisite.  Part of it certainly has stemmed from working strange hours, so that in my time off from work- no one else might be awake or off from work to engage in other 'normal' activities.  This is actually the case as I write this entry- it's midnight in Hawaii, I just finished a great book and am wide awake while the rest of Kailua is sleeping.  Well, there's probably a few people at the bar- but it's unlikely that they want to hear about the book I just read...so now you get to!
Probably another part of the influence in my reading more over the last 1.5 years is my former MD roomie, Alicia- who somehow manages to work full time, go to school for her master's degree, train for a marathon, volunteer at a counseling center and help lead various aspects of her local church as well.  These all come with various required or inspiring reading materials which she manages to plow through and still somehow read a new book for fun just about every week (obviously, the kindle was invented for her).  So just about once a week, I got a personalized book review from a very well read source who just so happens to have several similar tastes for life as I do.  You might as well tell me where to find the best ice cream in town...which so far in Hawaii- is the Kona coffee ice cream at the farmer's market by the way, in case you were on the fence about coming...

Anyhow, onto the book.

The book of feature is Bill Bryson's "A walk in the woods."  I finished the book in just over 1 week, which is probably the fastest I have ever read any book written for adults (I can generally get through Green Eggs and Ham a little faster...).  It is definitely in my top 5 favorite books, and at the moment I think it is only trumped by Douglas Adams' "Hitchhikers Guide" series.  I have seen the featured title in bookstores and libraries for the last few years, often in the sections of "Employee top picks" or something similar- but tend to generally discount these sections since it is often swayed by whatever is popular media at the time as well.  For instance- when they started filming for "The time traveller's wife" or when "Wicked" became a musical- only then did I see these books move to the front of stores and to the top of best seller lists, despite having read them years before.  As a side note- I recommend seeing the musical version of Wicked rather than reading the book, which is not often the case!

Part of me also probably avoided the book because of it's topic- hiking the Appalachian Trail.  Not because I have no interest in the topic, but more on the contrary that I have a great interest in the topic but neither the finances or time to undertake such a task at this time in my life.  Also because I wasn't sure how much one could write or therefore read about hiking, it's much more of a personal experience than what I could put into words.  How can you describe adequately how amazing it is to sit on a mountaintop in complete silence and see the earth stretch out for miles and miles below?  How can you relate how funny it was when you dropped the last part of your granola bar off a boulder and hit some hiker below you?  I didn't think you could- especially not a whole book or trail's worth, not even a picture can do these memories justice sometimes.  The good news is that Bryson generally doesn't try to do this, and when he does- he's fantastic at it!

So after just joining the local library branch last week, and searching for travel guide books for my new island home- I stumbled across this book about the east coast mountain range I just left.  And hence it strangely became the first book I checked out in Hawaii.  Most of the book is about the trials and tribulations of 2 middle-aged guys who randomly decide to hike the AT.  Basically, it's about how hard it is, the people you meet along the way and the changes in terrain and culture en route northward.  All this told from a sarcastic and well traveled British viewpoint, which sums up to be a hilarious adventure.

Perhaps others won't find this book quite as entertaining as I did for the reason that the book also visits several areas that I have visited or hiked in real life.  From hiking in the Smokey Mountains, through Shenandoah, upwards to the Berkshires and the White Mountains- I've always loved the Appalachians and it was neat to remember my journeys there in comparison to the authors.  The author also spends a good portion of the book recalling historical and current (in 1996) events along the trail-side towns.  This adds a cool element to the book as you begin to understand all that the AT was formed from and all that it has endured.  The journey from south to north along the AT also reflects my own journey- moving from southwest Virginia up to eastern Pennsylvania and then up to Massachusetts.  The author makes several observations about the changes in towns and culture along this route, most of which I've encountered in some variety or other.  Of course the untimely part of this all is that now I live several thousand miles away from the AT, and will have to wait a little longer to continue my own experiences there.

The AT

In short- if you enjoy hiking, sarcasm, history, live on the east coast or are just looking for a new book to read- I highly recommend this one.
Take a look, it's in a book, it's reading from the rainbow state...and now it's time for bed because that's just corny...

surfing and other aquatic adventures

We are surrounded, encased, hemmed in....by water.  In reality- every piece of land is, it's just more obvious on an island.  With that change however, comes the change in culture to one that is very integrated with the same water that surrounds us.  Driving down the road, about 1 in 5 cars has some sort of water faring equipment on them.  My favorite has become the obvious work trucks/vans loaded with ladders, paint, extension cords, and of course- their surfboard.  And when you see the crystal blue water here- it's no wonder people can't wait to jump in!
First for surfing, or attempts to at least =).  I've been out a couple times so far, neither very successful if you are picturing me standing up cruising along on a wave!  However, I am getting more comfortable on the board in terms of balance and paddling.  Unfortunately, my old shoulder injury is a little limiting in terms of paddling, and I wonder if this is part of why catching waves is so difficult.  But I'll keep trying for now!  Of course- there is an all surfing channel here, so inspiration is never far...

The cool thing about Kailua is that it's located on the 'windward' side of the island- so the town and beach parks are full of other water sports as well!  From stand-up paddling to wind surfing to kayaking - you can find some water sport that fits your interest and skill level.  I haven't been out on a SUP since leaving Annapolis, but plan to invest in a board soon - great sport if you haven't tried it!  I have been out kayaking several times though.  Our lake offers nice smooth water to paddle around on, or you can paddle up the canal to the beach and head out on the surf.  I had never been ocean kayaking before- but it's pretty fun!  Jill and I kayaked out to a small island a couple weeks ago.  The waves are certainly more challenging to paddle against, but you can sort of surf them on the way back in too. 

Kayaking with Amy L

On a different kayaking adventure, my friend Amy from LA (featured in the first post) came down to Oahu for a visit.  We ended up kayaking after dark which was a cool variation- it's amazing how quiet the lake is after the sun sets.  There are a ton of fish in our lake, and the intermittent fish jumps out of the water and splashes around.  However, when a fish jumps out of the water and into your kayak after dark, it's a little harder to see!!  The poor fish bounced off the side of the kayak and then essentially into me- at which point I'm trying somehow flip him back into the water without also flipping myself into the water.  All I can see is flashes of silver and of course you can't grab those slippery scales very well!  Eventually (probably about 10 seconds in real time), I got him back in the water without flipping my kayak.  Then Amy and I laughed for a solid 10 minutes on how random that was.  I could only think of the Sesame Street skit where Bert and Ernie are out fishing, and Ernie's solution was to call the fish into the boat ("Here fishy!").  Featured here if you never saw that one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFTjeaDlxDI
I also recently saw this extreme fishing video with a similar theme, although slightly more dangerous: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGWiaqGjQaU

In other water adventures- I got my first Hawaiian jellyfish stings- luckily not as bad as I expected.  Leslie (my new roommate) and I decided to swim out to a small island from the beach park.  About 3/4 of the way there, a slight stinging sensation between my fingers made me pause.  Attached was a long blue tentacle to a very small little jelly, apparently a Portuguese man of war.  Although his tentacle was super sticky, we got it detached and decided to head back in to shore.  Where there's one jelly, there's probably more.  I had always pictured the man of war jellies as these huge things, which they can grow to significant size.  Luckily, this guy was about the size of a quarter, although his tentacles were already about a foot long.  Easy to see how people get stung very badly even when the top part of the jelly is so far away.



Portuguese Man of War

So those are the aquatic adventures for now.  I wonder if the people who get so called 'island fever' perhaps don't embrace the water as part of life here, but maybe more as the boundary of their land life- making them feel trapped.  Hopefully, this syndrome won't take hold on me, or at least not for a while to come.  Next up- wind surfing!

New abode

I looked at a lot of places to live over the Internet prior to moving to Hawaii, as well as during the first week that I was here.  In general, if someone didn't post pictures of the place online, I didn't pursue it.  I also looked at a few places in person that were definitely not going to work out.  However, I read the description of my new place combined with the cost (more expensive than MD but not bad for HI) and decided to enquire further.  So one weekend morning, Jill and I biked over to this awesome sounding but picture lacking location in Kailua.  It was a little further from work than some of the other places I was considering, but once I saw this place- it pretty much fit.  I'm sure I was a little jaded by the free use of kayaks, surfboard and bikes that came with the house- but I also loved the layout of the house and the great breeze that flows through the house.  The location is pretty amazing- the back yard is right on the lake and has a great view of the mountains.  I also somehow lucked out again in the roommate situation- although that's always toss up in a blind situation.  I was initially looking for a place of my own- thinking that my good fortune with roommates over the past few years would surely expire soon.  We've already enjoyed some outdoors adventures together and I'm sure there are more to come!  Amazing that everything has come together so far to help contribute to a great couple of months in Kailua.  We still have one more piece to add to the puzzle in Miles (see the 'cats' post for more details), but I'm hoping for an amenable solution for everyone in some way.

So here is a quick $2 tour- but hope you get to check it out in person one day!



Guest bedroom...empty...waiting...




Front room- sitting area for TV + bigger dining table just starting at the bottom corner of the pic




Kitchen, small dining table/space, adjoining open room/second sitting room to the left




Pretty much the most amazing view you could ever ask for in the back yard- enchanted lake and to Ko'olau mountains....made even better by the presence of kayaks



Unique to Hawaii

Over the last month (hard to believe time has gone so quickly!), I've encountered several small things in Hawaii that I find pretty unique.  Some I've mentioned in passing on previous blogs, some I have questioned locals if this is normal and some I have just stored away as intriguing.  Here's a sampling for you!

1) Biking- Bikes are everywhere, daily. Apparently, in Kailua, it is legal to ride both on the street and on the sidewalk on your bike. My roommate has 'beach cruiser' bikes- which seem pretty popular here. They are the old school style- one speed and pedal backwards to brake.  I'm having a hard time adjusting to that coming from a 21 speed that I pedal backwards on to stretch my legs...doesn't work so well on this bike, although my legs keep trying. 
But the uniquely Hawaiian aspect is what people bike with- which is often surfboards.  How they carry a surfboard under one arm (which in my opinion is difficult to do even walking) and bike at the same time is beyond me.  They do have a neat contraption here to strap your surfboard onto the side of your bike- freeing both hands. However, I have not seen anyone actually use this yet.
The other day I saw a lady biking with her pet cockatoo on her shoulder...seemed like he was enjoying the breeze!
To top the surfboards, last week, I saw a guy biking and playing the ukulele at the same time.  While some might think- 'how dangerous!'...I could do nothing but laugh and say 'that is awesome!'  Sorry- no picture as I was driving and playing the harmonica when I saw him...

2) Ohana- this means family in Hawaiian.  And quite literally, you are treated like family here.  On my second day, I attended a small church group meeting with my friends Jill and Tony.  The music director and his 1.5yr old daughter were in attendance. When the girl came into the room- the director started pointing her towards other people who were asking her questions, etc. "Tell Auntie what color your shoes are" and "Go show uncle your dance". At first I was thinking that perhaps the guy was a distant relative of Jill's, the island's not that big after all. But no, each person from their group in turn was called Auntie or Uncle respectively when they were referenced to the girl.  Next, we met the guy from the volleyball court on the beach a couple weeks ago (see previous post)- who gave us food, invited us to a BBQ and even hugged/kissed on the cheek as we departed.  I discussed this sensation that everyone here seems to view and treat each other with a deeper emotion/connection with my roommate later.  She explained that it almost seems like an unspoken tradition here- when you meet someone new, they will go to great lengths to find a common thread in order induct you into their family.  Example: "Oh, you live in Kailua- what part? Oh yes, that's near such and such- right? My cousin has a friend who's father used to live there." And then you're in!
My own experience (outside of pre-existing friends) was during my second week on the job. A client with the thickest accent I've heard yet instructed her dog to 'go say hello to Auntie' after I greeted them both when walking in the room. Not that I haven't felt welcomed here all along, but that was a memorable part of settling in on Oahu.

Part of my ohana this past summer

3) Food stuffs- I previously wrote about all the classic laua food I enjoyed during my first week here. Since then, I've had a little bit more here and there.  Manapua for example- is a steamed (or baked) dough stuffed with any variety of things from meat to beans to pizza toppings.  The tops are marked with a color dot code for what's inside...but kind of fun as a surprise as well!  Pineapple is only 99 cents in the supermarket (fantastic!).  The farmer's markets are 60-75% food stands, and the rest is more fresh produce, jams, breads, etc.  I also recently enjoyed a large fruit called pomelo (or jabong)- kind of grapefruit like in nature, but yellow/green in color.  Taro is everywhere- you can get your hamburger on a taro bun, eat boiled taro like you would a potato, and apparently McDonald's has a taro pie here- but only during the summer months.  I just missed the taro pie experience this year, although we tried to convince the guy that it's always summer here so 'seasonal' should essentially be year round...

pomelo

4) Beach Parks- I wrote about this a little earlier, but now have experienced a few more sites that seem to be the same setup.  At each beach section that is deemed a 'park', there's actually a big grassy expanse on the other side of the dunes from the beach.  In reality, a good number of people sit on the grass here when at the beach...presumably to not get as sandy?  And there's not buildup of commercial buildings along these strips of beach as well.  All beach is public access, although parking is the more restricting factor...leading a big step into the aforementioned biking skills I imagine...



Stolen from the Internet, but good shot of what it looks like

 5) Chickens- Not sure who brought them here first, but everyone has apparently let them loose.  There are chickens in the parking lots, chickens on the beach, saw a couple chickens while hiking, etc.  As an equivalent, if you are a coastal dweller, chickens=seagulls.  For the city dwellers chickens = crows (because we have pigeons too...they're the same everywhere).  Kind of funny though... don't feed the chickens...

6) Shaka- The classic Hawaiian/surfer wave is the thumb and pinkie finger extended, other fingers folded in and slight oscillating motion in the wrist- called the 'shaka'.  I think it's perhaps a little overused in an attempt to emphasize true Hawaiian nature in advertising-- for instance, it is featured on just about every local commercial (restaurants, car dealerships, lawyers).  There was also a recent election here and the folks with signs trying to catch you attention while driving would symbol with a shaka vs a wave.  However, when used in everyday life, it's pretty cool.  I've seen people 'wave' to each other from afar using the shaka..'hey, what's up, things are good' kind of all in one.  Also had a guy signal with a shaka when driving the other day- I pulled over to let him through a narrow street first and was thanked with said symbol/wave.  This is opposed to the 2-3 finger wave in the mid-atlantic region where you barely lift your hand off the steering wheel (guilty).  Other regional waves include the full left arm and hand out the window wave of the south where you'd likely pull over and hold a conversation with the person as well, or the Boston one finger wave- where you wouldn't have let someone else go through first anyway, or at least not without pissing off everyone behind you.

Well, that's all for now....I'm sure there will be more things of note in future.  Enjoying my last day off before heading back to work tomorrow.  Hope you are all doing well!

Cats, as promised!

And now for the first cats portion of this blog- filled with cute cat pictures, because everyone loves those!
First and foremost is my own kitty, Miles, who is currently residing with his aunt in DC. 

DC has come to be a second home for him over the last year+ that he's been in our lives.  He definitely seems to settle right in there, although he undoubtedly misses the porch in Annapolis- where he spent countless hours watching squirrels, birds and the neighborhood dogs.  He is keeping himself occupied though from what I hear.  Miles enjoys playing Wii (grabbing the strap to the controls to help), likes to help cook (chases them into the kitchen where his food dish is whenever possible) and is a good source of entertainment in general.  He also likes helping to build up your respiratory muscles by resistance training (ie- laying all 15lbs on your chest).  However, he has already purchased his flight to Hawaii and I did receive this photo of him in preparation for the journey...


Aloha!


My new abode does come complete with kayaks, surfboard, bikes...and a resident cat.  Her name is Ivy and she is a pretty laid back, but definitely has a lot of personality!  However, if you've met Miles, you've undoubtedly heard his saga of strike outs with other cats.  First cat strike was 'Ciel'- an incident from which he obtained the nickname 'ass-biter' from my MA roommate, Danee.  Second strike was 'Holly' in Annapolis- a petite and declawed cat whom Miles would chase when given opportunity.  Only once did he inflict a wound on her, but she was good at hiding and making a lot of noise which I think both scared him and alerted us to what was going on.  Holly chipped in to get Miles a going away present at the end of the year. 

Ciel and Fred in Massachussetts

Holly in Annapolis

Now, Ivy seems to be a very independently minded, take no sass kind of cat, so hopefully she'll stand up to Miles if he tries to bully her around.  She is also older and has arthritis, so I don't think she'll run if he should have the opportunity to chase her- which will hopefully make him less interested in doing so.  The important thing is that the new housemate and I have a plan to seperate the house into living quarters should Miles acquire strike 3.  But here's hoping...



Ivy enjoying the outdoor breeze

 In the interim, there has been a temporary addition to the household- a 4 week old orange/white kitten!  She was found under the hood of a car at my roommate's job, who was then suckered into bringing her home to foster for a while.  It's not hard to see how she fell for it though- big blue eyes, crazy fur and a sad little 'mew' will do most people in.  The tricky part will be detaching enough to find her a home come 8 weeks.  She has really come out of her shell in personality here though, and is entertaining both of us for the time being.  She sustained some burn injuries to her paw pads, has some parasites that are being treated for, but is otherwise in pretty good health!  She came home with the name 'Chevy'- presumably the type of car she was pulled out of, although a few different names have been tried out since then as well.  She's also provided some clinical knowledge for me just in time to see my first group of kittens in an appointment.  Previously, any 4 week old kitten I had seen was likely close to dying, so experiencing how a 'normal' kitten acts, eats, etc has been kind of fun.

Chevy- free to a good home!

I do wonder how Miles would do with a kitten, might give him a cat that would play back vs run away, but might also become a small squeaky toy...

See? He can be peaceful....

Fame for the Chesapeake!

Apparently Tangier Island- a small island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay- has been made famous by ESPN3 as having the largest number of sports fans...per capita...all 507 of them...
Tangier is mainly accessible by the water (although the airport is new in recent years), has no cars on the island (everyone drives golf carts) and has a one room school house.  They are known for their continued use of old english double negatives in sentences as well as their seafood (mainly blue crabs).  This link is a good synopsis one, but lots of hilarious bonus footage as well.
Kudos to Kristen for finding these videos- I've been laughing all morning and thought I would share. Enjoy!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9HHfw9riHc&NR=1

Back to work!!

Last Wednesday was my final day of what has essentially been a prolonged vacation.  I have worked a little here and there since the internship ended June 30th, but have also been quite fortunate to enjoy a good bit of time off!  I moved into a new place on Wednesday that is right on a lake and about a 10 minute drive to work.  I'll take some pictures around here one day and make a post about the new digs.  I will say it was the easiest move I ever made...not far from Jill and Tony's house, and literally took about 5 minutes to unload the car.  My life currently fits into 2 duffel bags, 2 book bags and 9 flat rate boxes...crazy, but kind of cool at the same time!

Jill had the afternoon off on Wednesday, so we adventured on a hike up Moolani, which is a small ridge between Kailua and Ko'olau Mountains.  The trail went pretty much straight up the knife edge of this ridge, no switchbacks whatsoever...crazy Hawaiians....  Towards the top, there were several rocky areas that had ropes hanging down from them so you could half rope/half rock climb to the top.  The view from the top was pretty amazing though, so well worth the hike.  The trail had continually narrowed as we ascended, till eventually we were standing about 5 feet below the summit, solely because there was a little area where the trail widened to about 2 feet wide.  Anywhere below or above this was more like 1 foot wide, with very steep drop offs on either side, so we were both happy to stop there.  And now when I hear the phrase 'tipety top', this peak is what I will think of!  You could keep going along the ridge from this point, but the description of the trail said it got harder and narrower still...we both thought that the 1st peak was enough for that day =).

Climb on, Jill!

See that slightly rocky knife edge along the ridge?  Yah, that's the trail going up the third peak.. You can also see the Ko'olau Mountains in the background, they still amaze me to wake up to in the mornings!

View from the other side of the ridge, looking over Kailua and out to the ocean.  The lake at my right shoulder is actually where I live now!

I started at Feather and Fur on Thursday, working the swing shift and helping get the clinic ready for our new late hours of operation.  I totally struggled the first day, trying to remember where different vaccines go, learning a new computer system and trying to learn everyone's name.  The latter parts are improving daily, but there is still lots of general practice stuff that I'm pretty sure we didn't learn much of in school...or maybe I've just forgotten it after a year of emergency work.  I made my first surgery appointment for a mass removal -- something in the past year I would have said, "Please go see your regular vet"....now that's me!  The staff is very nice and work well together so far from what I've seen.  There is a huge difference in skill/responsibility level of the technicians here compared to the internship though- so definitely need to re-learn some things that I haven't had to think much about in the last year simply because our staff took care of it in Annapolis.  Here, it's not that they couldn't do the same thing with training, but just that it's not normally part of their job to do.  My guess is that this is more the norm for practicing hospitals, and we were a little spoiled during the internship and at school since they were bigger, referral hospitals to have such an advanced set-up.

Saturday before work, my new housemate and I headed to the beach park to see if we could catch her friends playing volleyball.  There, one of several similar Hawaiian type experiences occurred, something that I'm totally loving about this place.  We didn't find her friends, but ended up at a fully set up volleyball court with a guy sitting at a picnic table beside the court.  He said he sets up his net every weekend for people to play on, no charge or anything, just people having a good time.  We chatted with him for a bit, and then bumped the volleyball around for about 20 minutes or so as I would need to leave for work before enough others showed up to play a game.  When we left, it was to fond farewells, invites to join them again, offers of whatever food/snacks he had brought to share, etc.  Several small encounters have been similar in passing- such as my boss letting me borrow his extra car, no questions asked about my driving record, insurance, etc.  People just seem pretty up-front and nice to others in general.  I think it's all the sunshine...

Monday was Labor Day- and even though our hospital is now going 24/7, too many people had arranged time off in advance for labor day to stay open that day.  My suggestion for our new door sign- "Now open 24 hours, 7 days a week....most of the time...."
I checked in at the hospital that morning to look in on the last few patients that were to be discharged in the AM.  Then, I was fortunate enough not only to have the day off, but to be off when the rest of the world also had a day off!  Jill's parents were visiting from Maui for the weekend, so I was adopted for the day to tag along.  We played tennis for a couple of hours, followed by delicious snow cones to cool off from the hot sun!  The place we went to is now pretty popular because President Obama visited there on a recent trip to Oahu.  There's a picture of him on the front door with the sales clerks, all sporting their Aloha shirts.  After living so close to DC, it didn't really phase me that he had been there as we frequently would be in the same place of reference as the President and family.  Playing kickball in front of the White House, eating at his favorite burger joint, being stuck in traffic for the motorcade to go by or seeing Air Force One fly overhead, Michele Obama and kids eating at the restaurant you just ate at the night before they were there....but I can see how it would be such a cool thing, being so far from DC on the island.  And somehow, it also made me feel more at home- even though we are on a distant island, we're still part of the country, still close enough for a visit from the chief.
For the afternoon, we went on a hike through the botanical gardens, with a little inadvertent, off-trail adventuring to boot!  The whole family had a good sense of humor about the adventure though and we made it back to the car all in one piece save a few bug bites.  To top off such a great day, we all enjoyed a delicious Italian meal, followed by an evening of playing board and card games at Jill's place.
So although some things are different here, some things are much the same- reminding me of good times and friends from the years gone by.  This definitely helps in the adjustment phase of this new part of life, but I hope you all get to experience the uniquely Hawaiian aspects of island life for yourselves!

Oh, Oahu!

I've officially been in Oahu for 1 week now, time has passed quickly!
I arrived after dark in Honolulu and was met by my friends Jill and Tony, whose house I've been staying at since.  My first real visual of Oahu was the following morning, waking up in their hilltop Kailua house.  What an amazing view!!  Behind us lay the mountains that separate the two sides of the island essentially (Ko'olau Mountatins), and ahead is a spread of houses in Kailua, and then of course the beautiful blue water Hawaii is so famous for.  They have a great deck on the upper level of the house, and of course, a hammock hanging in the corner of this deck.  I made sure to spend some time in this hammock every day so far, you just can't beat the beautiful view and breeze you get up there!

Hammock!!

Weather wise- it's been in the 80's every day, which seems to be the norm.  I'm told I brought the rain with me, although that means that it rains everyday for about 20 minutes or so...then goes back to being sunny and beautiful.  We are on the windward side of the island, so there is typically a great breeze outside, even if it's hot in the sun.  Apparently there are two seasons in Hawaii...rainy and not rainy...the true rainy season will start in the fall I think.  If you haven't seen a Hawaiin weather forecast...I invite you to visit the following link...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-TfZslHKoo&feature=related

During the week- I learned the basic routes around Kailua and visited my new hospital a couple times to meet everyone, do the requisite paperwork, etc.  Everyone at work seems pretty nice and all have offered to help however possible in my transition.  My first visit to the beach was on a slightly more windy day it seemed- however it was still quite nice out I think.  The water was gorgeous- clear, blue, much warmer than I'm used to for ocean water- but apparently cold by Hawaii standards.  There were a ton of water sports going on- no surfing at this location, but kite boarding, wind surfing, SUPs, kayaks, etc.  As I was drying off from the water, the Kailua Canoe Club started launching boats into the water.  The boats held about 6 people and had the main hull with the extra skid attached on one side.  It was pretty cool to see- they essentially charged the waves at a full run to get past the breakers and then jumped in the boat one by one.  They paddle quite fast too with the force of 6 rowers in a boat!  Will have to see if it's easy to get involved with or not- seems like fun!

Kailua Canoe Club launching from the beach park (note the beautiful blue water!)

The neat thing about beaches on Oahu (at least on this side of the island) is that they are essentially in a residential area or accessed by a small park.  There's no massive buildup of stores and shops along the road, no crazy large parking lots, etc.  You either walk along a little path between houses, or over a small green lawn to the beach.  Was a little strange at first, since we associate the massive commercial buildup with the beach on the East coast, but I can definitely appreciate how much nicer it is not to have that at the same time.
In addition to house hunting and learning my way around a bit, we actually did quite a lot over the weekend to enjoy the great outdoors!  Saturday we visited a bay that is now a nature preserve, where you can go snorkeling or scuba diving over the coral reef.  Sadly, much of that reef has been destroyed from visitors (despite their attempts to educated people prior to going in the water), but there were still some awesome fish to watch.  It was a little tricky not to touch the reef- since there was only about a foot of water above the coral with the tide going out where we were.  Will likely try a different spot next time or go out a little further at least.

Hanaumu Bay- you can see the coral right through the water!

Didn't take any underwater pictures, but did see several cool fish including the state fish....dare you to say it three times fast...or even just one time for that matter =).

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a  = state fish

We then proceeded into "town" for dinner and church.  "Town", I've come to learn, means Honolulu- since it's the biggest town on the island and essentially has anything you could need shop wise.  We ate at a small restaurant that serves more traditional Hawaiin fare.  I felt obligated to get the combo plate and dive right in to all the crazy food here!  I actually didn't mind the 'poi'- which is a paste of ground taro root- although it doesn't really have a whole lot of flavor by itself.  'Salmon lomilomi' I had once before and enjoyed, although this particular variety was not that great.  It's a pickled salmon with salsa like garnishes.  There was also a raw swordfish sushi type dish called 'poke', which may have been my favorite on the plate.  Kalua pork is like a bbq pork- pretty tasty of course!  Then there was pork wrapped/cooked in ti leaves- the combo of which is called 'lau lau'.  Apparently the inner leaves are edible since they are cooked more thoroughly, and the meat is generally a mystery at the time of purchase- depends on what the vendor decided to put in there!  And of course, dessert was haupia- the coconut pudding/jello thing I had last week as well.

Top left clockwise- salmon lomi lomi, haupia, poke, kalua pork, lau lau and poi

Sunday was also a big day- there was a behind the scenes tour at the Honolulu Zoo for family and friends of the Honolulu Veterinary Society.  I'm not quite tied into all that yet, but Jill had already arranged everything for us!  Got to see most of the zoo, as well as a tour of their veterinary hospital at the zoo- which was apparently used in 'Lost' filming for all you Lost fans, although I don't know what season or scenes.  Still a cool zoo.  Also saw some cool trees at the zoo (I know- you are supposed to look at the animals...).  One is called a banyan tree- where the limbs will sprout new roots that grow straight down into the ground to help support their weight.  Crazy!  The other is a 'painted tree'- which is a type of eucalyptus.  They look like someone dripped different color paints all down the trunk of the tree...pretty cool when you see a bunch of them together- is a mix of art and nature all in one!

Tony and Tony...one's a tortoise

Banyan tree

Painted tree

I didn't see my old Philly Zoo buddy that day, who now works at the Honolulu Zoo, but should hopefully be able to get in touch with him soon!
Monday and Tuesday were spend with some training at work, paperwork (which is never ending of course), brushing up on some veterinary stuff and hanging out with Jill and Tony.  And of course...swinging in the hammock!

The westward journey...

Aloha! I figured this might be the best way to keep everyone posted on the new events in life, especially given the new time difference (t-6 hours).  Still expect phone calls and the requisite annual visit though- so don't use this as an excuse =).

So my journey to Hawaii was a somewhat roundabout route, but was a great trip for sure!
It all started with my 10 year high school reunion...can't believe it's been that long!  Was cool to see everyone and catch up a bit- wish we had had a better turnout in numbers, but got to see most of the folks I was closest to anyhow.
I then took about a week to visit friends and family in New England first.  With time constraints though- each visit was a bit abbreviated, but it was good to see everyone none the less.  Pit stops included the following:
1) Morning walk with Abbey and her new pup Orienne in Rhode Island
2) Bike exploration of Nantucket Island, then great dinner and hanging out with Shanna and Maia

Nantucket Island

3) Lunch burritos with Lindsey in Boston
4) Good food, town touring and hiking with Danee, Dave, Benedetta, Giacomo, Maddie and Chris in Portsmouth, NH (picture of walk along the shoreline below)

Portsmouth, NH

5) Over to the Albany, NY area for some family time!  We celebrated Caleb's 3rd birthday and Katherine's 7th birthday!  Crazy how old these kids are getting- was so glad to be there for both events!! 

I returned to Annapolis for a few days prior to my flight- just enough time to finish packing, get Miles all packed up for my sister's place and enjoy a couple nice dinner's with family and friends!  Finally got to experience Mexican Cafe- have been meaning to do so all year, and my roommate, Alicia, agreed that this was a requisite prior to leaving Annapolis.  I was also surprised at my last dinner in town (at the always delicious Main Ingredient) that my oldest niece had returned to Maryland with my parents- so I got to spend some more time with her before the big move!  I definitely wasn't sure about Annapolis initially when I moved here- not close to the mountains, traffic might be crazy because DC's so close, the entire town seemed to be full of polo shirts, khaki shorts and loafers, etc...but it turned out to be a great town and I enjoyed my time there! 

Overview of the Severn River and Naval Academy in Annapolis

Well, onward west- first stop was in Reno, NV to catch up with an old friend from Virginia Tech!  Jim had some friends in Tahoe we stayed with for the first night- beautiful area with Lake Tahoe and all the massive trees around!  Then we spent a long weekend in Yosemite National Park, which neither of us had been to before.  It's amazing how pristine and wild they've been able to keep most of the park- really a great job that other parks should take note of.  We did head into the more touristy area of the park though- in order to see the 'must see' sites and such for the first visit.  Next time- definitely need to backpack through the wilderness areas!
I was challenged by an amazing hike up the hardest day hike in the park- Half Dome.  We budgeted about 5 hours for this 7.2 mile, 5000+ ft elevation change hike.  Luckily- we hiked it in about 4.5 hours, also benefiting from the cool night temperature, and were able to catch the sunrise from the top of the rocks.  The craziest part was this steel cable climb at the end- 400 meters almost straight up the side of this thing, probably like a 75 degree incline- no joke.  We agreed that it was definitely worth the pain that was endured for such a climb, both that day and the next...

Picture of Half Dome from elsewhere in the park, Ansel Adams style

Sunrise from the top- can't really beat that, eh? Got to watch the whole valley light up...crazy...

Ummm...yah....

Next stop was Los Angeles, CA to visit Amy and Natasha from Tufts.  Luckily- I didn't have to walk much that day, as we just met up for a classic Japanese dinner just like in Westboro!  I also have the best map of LA ever, hand drawn by Amy and Natasha...awesome- full of everything you need to know about LA.  We chilled at Santa Monica beach, I enjoyed a churro, went out for a Lebanese dinner- which I hadn't yet experienced, and then over to Hollywood for the touristy things.  Apparently- they don't light up the Hollywood sign at night anymore- just in case you are out looking for it at night, look a little harder.  As pointed out by the kind gentleman who helped us find the sign- just look for the big letters on the side of the hill...kind of cool to see- couldn't get a picture though since it was so dark.  We then went to downtown Hollywood, saw parts of the walk of stars (which is apparently several blocks long), the hand/foot prints at the Chinese theatre and the Hollywood wax museum. 

LA crew

Dave H, that one's for you...=)

Will probably always be my hero (although this replica did him no favors...)

Well, those are the highlights of the trip west, I flew down to Honolulu the next day.  So the next post will be about arrival in Hawaii and my first week in what they say is paradise...looks pretty accurate so far....