Yesterday I got the chance to explore some places I’d never been. After Jeanie got off work at four, we went on a spontaneous drive out towards Hana to find a new place to hike. We ended up just going to Twin Falls, even though we’ve gone on a couple hikes there already, and found some sweet new trails that led to the hippies’ houses, which are these amazing tents and houses on stilts tucked back behind banana plants and palm trees. There are also old irrigation streams and tunnels, so we followed those for a while and imagined floating down them on tubes.
Then later that night, we went on an adventure with David and Brook to explore some old abandoned buildings around Paia in a ghost plantation town. There is this fantastic mill in the middle of a cane field that must have been left ages ago—not to be a total nerd, but it made me think of Cair Paravel when the kids come back to Narnia and years and years have passed. At first you can’t even tell it’s a building because it’s covered in vines and trees—oh yeah, and because it’s totally pitch black outside. Unfortunately, there was a car already there (“I think they’re doing it,” Brook said like a little kid, which made us laugh), so we took off as fast as we could on muddy dirt roads as someone yelled at us. We continued to drive down a creepy country road through the cane fields—where apparently serial killers like to take their victims—and stopped at a park to lie on the grass and look at stars. Then we went to another abandoned mill and explored it. SO creepy, especially the roof, which was falling in and made loud rattling noises in the wind. Hawaiians are superstitious, and there are certain parts of Maui that they say are haunted…and I believe it. But give me a thrill and a tiny hint of danger, and I’m happy.
We’ve made plans to surf with Brook maybe four times, and every time the weather/waves have been crappy. I don’t know what’ s up with winter here, but it is still crazy windy and rains quite a bit. I can’t wait for summer.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Irritating Biker Chick
Argh. There's this really, really annoying lady staying in a couple different places that we clean (by a couple different places I mean she's moved three times and always moves late and leaves stuff behind and makes us help her move) and she just came and disturbed me while I'm sitting at my computer listening to music on my ONE day off this week to tell me someone locked her out of her place (which is a couple blocks away) and demand in a way that indicated it was my fault that I come unlock it for her. She's training for the Iron Man, and I guess somehow that means she gets everything she wants.
This week has been tiring but I've been far less cranky about the work, for some reason. The only bad thing was last night, when Border's was open until past midnight because the Twilight DVD came out, so the cafe was INSANELY slammed by pre-teen girls for a solid two and a half hours. It was crazy and tiring, and my nine hour shift came after I had already worked four hours cleaning.
Otherwise I've had a lot of fun this past week. Maybe because of hanging out with new friends.
This week has been tiring but I've been far less cranky about the work, for some reason. The only bad thing was last night, when Border's was open until past midnight because the Twilight DVD came out, so the cafe was INSANELY slammed by pre-teen girls for a solid two and a half hours. It was crazy and tiring, and my nine hour shift came after I had already worked four hours cleaning.
Otherwise I've had a lot of fun this past week. Maybe because of hanging out with new friends.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Changes....
Phew, what a weekend! This last week has by far been the most eventful of any here on Maui…and unfortunately I can’t detail everything because, well, this is a blog. But I’ll just say that things in the romance department have picked up for both Jeanie and me—not that either of us are dating or even close to dating, we’ve just had multiple interesting experiences and both have crushes and pursuers.
So, Friday night Jeanie was kind enough to take my shift so I could go to church. It was good, as always, and I went out afterwards with the usual group (David, Loretta, Onassis, Jesse, Cari) to an Irish pub with really loud music.
Saturday morning Jeanie and I got up early and went on a hike with Brook, this guy we met at Hope Chapel last week, and a bunch of his friends. I was pretty intimidated to join a large group of people I didn’t know, but they were so welcoming I can hardly get over it. I have never felt so invited into a group—they do tons of stuff together and they made sure we were included in all the plans. What made it even better is that a lot of them (including Brook) are actually from here, so they know all the cool local places. The hike was at Twin Falls, an area I’ve been to a couple times but have never gone the route with all the jumping off waterfalls and swimming and stuff. It was sweet. We all got hotdogs (the best in Maui, apparently…and did you know they dye hotdogs red here?) at a little place in Haiku afterwards and then Jeanie and I had to get back so I could go to work.
This morning was early again (it sucks working late and getting up early! Though we’ve been fitting so much more into our days when we cut the nights to six hours). Brook came at seven to take us surfing (he is the first person to not only be eager to teach us but to suggest it himself—everyone else gets kind of possessive about their surfing abilities). Unfortunately, it was storming over the entire island and the water was really weird, so instead we went to this beach in Kaanapali and jumped off a really high lava rock into the ocean. We snuck into a hot tub at a resort and got all nice and warm, then drove back to our place and had mac and cheese. Jeanie and I went promptly to cleaning afterwards and then to Border’s.
I went on my “date” with Chas during my dinner break. It was perfect—and by that, I mean there was only one awkward silence, he didn’t try to plan a second date, and things were left friendly. What a relief.
And then we picked up our first hitchhiker (I feel a little guilty every time I don’t pick one up, so maybe it’s time to start being nice) on our way back from work. It was kind of cheating because we actually know him. His name’s Jose Z and he’s this cute little South American dude with a huge white beard and really tight bellbottom jeans who travels all over the world extracting healing oils from plants. He totally fits here. He gave me some little dried flowers today.
I’m feeling another shift in my relationship with Maui—I know it’s only been three months, but there’s already tension between a strong desire to move on to grad school and a strong love for this island lifestyle…. I know I couldn’t do what I’m doing now permanently, but I want an excuse to stay connected to Maui. It’s getting harder to imagine myself pulling out my baby roots. Then again, who knows? In three more months I might be ready to leave.
So, Friday night Jeanie was kind enough to take my shift so I could go to church. It was good, as always, and I went out afterwards with the usual group (David, Loretta, Onassis, Jesse, Cari) to an Irish pub with really loud music.
Saturday morning Jeanie and I got up early and went on a hike with Brook, this guy we met at Hope Chapel last week, and a bunch of his friends. I was pretty intimidated to join a large group of people I didn’t know, but they were so welcoming I can hardly get over it. I have never felt so invited into a group—they do tons of stuff together and they made sure we were included in all the plans. What made it even better is that a lot of them (including Brook) are actually from here, so they know all the cool local places. The hike was at Twin Falls, an area I’ve been to a couple times but have never gone the route with all the jumping off waterfalls and swimming and stuff. It was sweet. We all got hotdogs (the best in Maui, apparently…and did you know they dye hotdogs red here?) at a little place in Haiku afterwards and then Jeanie and I had to get back so I could go to work.
This morning was early again (it sucks working late and getting up early! Though we’ve been fitting so much more into our days when we cut the nights to six hours). Brook came at seven to take us surfing (he is the first person to not only be eager to teach us but to suggest it himself—everyone else gets kind of possessive about their surfing abilities). Unfortunately, it was storming over the entire island and the water was really weird, so instead we went to this beach in Kaanapali and jumped off a really high lava rock into the ocean. We snuck into a hot tub at a resort and got all nice and warm, then drove back to our place and had mac and cheese. Jeanie and I went promptly to cleaning afterwards and then to Border’s.
I went on my “date” with Chas during my dinner break. It was perfect—and by that, I mean there was only one awkward silence, he didn’t try to plan a second date, and things were left friendly. What a relief.
And then we picked up our first hitchhiker (I feel a little guilty every time I don’t pick one up, so maybe it’s time to start being nice) on our way back from work. It was kind of cheating because we actually know him. His name’s Jose Z and he’s this cute little South American dude with a huge white beard and really tight bellbottom jeans who travels all over the world extracting healing oils from plants. He totally fits here. He gave me some little dried flowers today.
I’m feeling another shift in my relationship with Maui—I know it’s only been three months, but there’s already tension between a strong desire to move on to grad school and a strong love for this island lifestyle…. I know I couldn’t do what I’m doing now permanently, but I want an excuse to stay connected to Maui. It’s getting harder to imagine myself pulling out my baby roots. Then again, who knows? In three more months I might be ready to leave.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Strange Week....
It has been an interesting week. Some ups and downs, learning about my own selfishness and about being a good friend.... I've been a little off recently. In some ways I like who I'm becoming in Hawaii and in other ways I don't. Julie leaves tomorrow and Jeanie and I move back to our place and back to routine. Hopefully that will mean eating healthier and spending less money.
Today was gloriously sunny, FINALLY, and we got up early and went snorkeling. The highlight was seeing two turtles!
In other news, I found out I have a secret admirer at Border's. The other night I found a letter to me on the drink serving board, and it was from one of our regular customers who I didn't actually remember but who apparently has a huge crush on me, and he also informed me of an entire unofficial Kristina fan club consisting of our male customers. It was incredibly flattering--in fact, I have probably been blushing for three days straight. Anyway, I agreed to go out for lunch with him on Sunday after I figured out who he was and after emailing a bit. I'm not super excited about it--in fact, I frequently regret agreeing--but I like free food and I need to get over my dating anxiety. Oh, and he seems like a really nice guy.
Julie and David are listening to Adventures in Odyssey right now and I am silently (or not so silently) teasing/mocking them. Oh, Focus on the Family....no comment.
Today was gloriously sunny, FINALLY, and we got up early and went snorkeling. The highlight was seeing two turtles!
In other news, I found out I have a secret admirer at Border's. The other night I found a letter to me on the drink serving board, and it was from one of our regular customers who I didn't actually remember but who apparently has a huge crush on me, and he also informed me of an entire unofficial Kristina fan club consisting of our male customers. It was incredibly flattering--in fact, I have probably been blushing for three days straight. Anyway, I agreed to go out for lunch with him on Sunday after I figured out who he was and after emailing a bit. I'm not super excited about it--in fact, I frequently regret agreeing--but I like free food and I need to get over my dating anxiety. Oh, and he seems like a really nice guy.
Julie and David are listening to Adventures in Odyssey right now and I am silently (or not so silently) teasing/mocking them. Oh, Focus on the Family....no comment.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Julie and Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain
It has been awesome having Julie here! I love friends. Friday night was amazing--we went to church and then to Sansei for sushi with David and Loretta afterwards. It was the first time since moving here that I felt like I wasn't just hanging out with people but was really having good, loud, crazy fun with real friends. They do karaoke at Sansei, and it was a lot of fun (even though no, I didn't sing--into a microphone anyway). The sushi was delicious! Hooray for raw fish.
Other than that, we went to Wailea one night and that's it. We've been working, obviously, and on top of that it has been raining nonstop, which is highly unusual for this late in the winter. Since last Wednesday when Julie got here, we have had literally twenty minutes of sun. Period. Twenty minutes in four days. OK, I realize that many people back home think I'm whiny for complaining about the weather here when it is negative thirty and snowing there...but keep in mind that I moved four thousand miles away from home just so that I could live in a warm, sunny place. So I get to be bummed when it's rainy and 60 degrees.
Tonight was nice. After Jeanie and I got off work, we all sat on the porch in the sprinkles and had pineapple wine and homemade chocolate chip banana bread. It was so romantic.
Other than that, we went to Wailea one night and that's it. We've been working, obviously, and on top of that it has been raining nonstop, which is highly unusual for this late in the winter. Since last Wednesday when Julie got here, we have had literally twenty minutes of sun. Period. Twenty minutes in four days. OK, I realize that many people back home think I'm whiny for complaining about the weather here when it is negative thirty and snowing there...but keep in mind that I moved four thousand miles away from home just so that I could live in a warm, sunny place. So I get to be bummed when it's rainy and 60 degrees.
Tonight was nice. After Jeanie and I got off work, we all sat on the porch in the sprinkles and had pineapple wine and homemade chocolate chip banana bread. It was so romantic.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
A Real House
Today is a good day. Julie is here! Her plane got in nice and early last night, so we hung out in Kahului for a bit, picked Jeanie up and work, and then chatted and laughed and caught up at our place 'til the wee hours of the morning. I forget how nice it is to have sleep-overs :) Jeanie and I had to clean this morning, and she just left to work at SBC, but I have the night off. We moved our stuff over to Retha's because we are house-sitting for the first week of the month she's gone, and it is unbelievably nice to be in a peaceful, real house. Everything is so clean and calm and not falling apart; I have completely forgotten what it's like to be in a house. I feel like I'm on vacation even though I know I have to work. And oh my word, I just realized she has a huge mango tree in her back yard!! Maybe some will be ripe enough to eat.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Schedule Crap and Happy Things
Julie's coming tomorrow!!!!! I'm so excited :) She'll be visiting for a week, during which she'll follow us around to work, because no matter how hard we try, we can't get days off...EXCEPT that I traded my Friday closing shift for an opening one, so I've got Friday night off, and Jeanie traded to get her Saturday night off, so that's pretty much amazing. I get to go to church for the first time in a month!!!! Who knew that could be so exciting? I'm frustrated beyond belief that over two weeks ago I requested Friday and Saturday off, and I didn't get them. And I asked our manager, Kris, if Jeanie and I could have a couple of the same shifts because we share a car (earlier on, she said she'd be flexible/open to our scheduling conflicts and transportation situation), and she said if it worked out, she would, but she didn't. I don't like her as much as I did when I first started working there :( Have I mentioned yet that Jeanie and I have only had one day off together in the last several weeks? We have exactly opposite schedules. Other than the fact that I hate how I am scheduled for both of my jobs, life is good right now. Julie's coming!!! And my parents are back in MN, so I can talk to them on the phone again :)
And I looked over my banking info and found out I'm only $400 short of what I came with. That's pretty amazing considering I bought half of a car and went more than a month in expensive Hawaii with no income.
And I looked over my banking info and found out I'm only $400 short of what I came with. That's pretty amazing considering I bought half of a car and went more than a month in expensive Hawaii with no income.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)