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!