Irish Hawaiians in Chinatown

OMG, I love being a teacher...wait, I mean I love the perks of having a week off for spring break!! We made it to Hawaii on Sunday after 17.5 hours of traveling. We had to get up at 1:30 a.m. to drive to Memphis to catch our flight...however, it was 2:30 p.m. and sunny when we arrived in Honolulu. Basically, I love this place...I love that fact that I am seeing the REAL Hawaii staying with my friend versus being in a resort or hotel. Mind you...this post will ONLY be about my vacay, and mostly just so I can remember what I did each day...if you know me at all you'll know I'm mildly loosing my mind this year ;)

Sunday: picked up at the airport...went straight to pick up one of Maggie's friend and then down to Waikiki. We did some shopping, had a couple of lava flow drinks at a pink hotel on the beach and ate puka dogs (the greatest/strangest fashion of making a hotdog but so wonderful). The best part? It was the Honolulu Festival and I SAW A PARADE. Love.it! After a long day downtown and other random errands, I showered and was in bed around 10...25 hours after I got up (with the time change it was 3 a.m. in MN).

Monday: woke up bright and early at 7 a.m. Hawaii time (noon in Minnesota). Maggie was at school...so went for a jog (and heard goats in the mountain I was running along), checked out the pools at her apartment complex, ate some breakfast and plopped my butt on the beach a mile down the road for 3+ hours. I came back, took a dip in the pool and had a sun-successful first day in Hawaii! Maggie took me to a little cove in her town that is notorious for having sea turtles. It didn't disappoint, there were 3 HUGE sea turtles just hanging out on shore. You can get as close as you want (without touching them--it's illegal, they are protected by Hawaiian law) and they don't even move. Then we went for a hike on the very west-edge of the island almost to Mokuleia. We saw whales within 10 minutes of our hike. We also found one lone seal trying to maneuver through the rocks, he was sooo cute. A little further down, we saw more whales just having a DAY. They were flapping their tails over and over and we even watched one jump half way out of the water and splash himself down sideways. You DON'T get this in Ruleville. WOW! To end the day, Maggie and I went to Ko Olina resort (the place where pro bowl football players stay...wicked amazing) and went hot tubing and swimming...sssshhhh, no one knew we weren't staying there!

Tuesday: Maggie took the day off so we headed across the island to Kailua, particularly the BEAUTIFUL beach called Lanikai. My friend Ambjor is also in Hawaii this week and she "attempted" figuring out the bus system and after a couple of tries, got on a bus to meet us in Kailua. Thank goodness for the GPS on her blackberry, which told her when she should get off! The drive to the east edge of the island was INCREDIBLE. The mountains are jagged and the jungle covers EVERYTHING. Besides the road, there is no sign of human life within the greenery. We spent the day on a WICKED gorgeous beach with white sand, clear blue water, and many asian tourists. Although it was semi-overcast we got plenty of sun! Don't worry Grandma, Maggie is a nag about making sure we all wear sunscreen! Then we headed into "town" (Honolulu) and met Ambjor's friend Beth who we stayed with. We got ready, made dinner, had some drinks and headed down for a St. Patty's Day block party a couple of blocks away. I can now cross off: partying on St. Patrick's Day in Chinatown with a bunch of Irish Hawaiians from my to-do list of life. It was pure madness and LOTS of people (even met up with Tony Roeloffs briefly!). Lucky for us, we were late getting down there and the block party cleared out at 10. We were able to hang out with Cody (also from the Delta) and his friends for a bit before crashing like old/lame people. Saw some "interesting" people on our walk back to the hotel though!

Wednesday: Today we took our time getting up (go fig) and finally made our way toward the North Shore to be beached for the day. The North Shore is where professional surfing competitions are held, Lost is filmed, wealth ensues, you know...we went to a GREAT beach and parked it for 4 hours. My friend Brianne from summer institute also took the day off and we had a great girls-day at Waialua. It was also my first experience with shave ice...holy amazing. Although we each got smalls, I'd be a little nervous to see what a large might be! Tonight, our crispy-selves ate dinner in a COLD restaurant in Beth's building and are laying low for the rest of the night. Those teacher-folk headed back to Waianae because they are actually teaching tomorrow ;)

Now I'm caught up, phew. I'm sure you're bored, but it's good for me to remember what we actually did. The scenery is A-MAZING and changes drastically as you cross to different parts of the island. The traffic is mildly out of control...too many people in a little space will do that. I'm staying with Ambjor and Beth again tonight and tomorrow we're headed to Pearl Harbor, Waikiki and some shopping. AHHHH, I LOVE it here...so natural and full of culture. About to pass out down with sun burnt eyelids....

Aloha.