July 5, 2009
Everyday just keeps getting better.
Yesterday was the fourth of july. My cousin Suzie and her husband Dudley hosted a barbeque! We got to meet all the neighbors, and eat island food. Can I just tell you, I had some of the BEST food I’ve ever eaten last night! SO good. The barbeque wasn’t the typical haole mainland food, but instead we got to eat some real Hawaiian flavors. We had poke on wonton chips, with avocado and the Japanese fish cakes that are in udon with furikake. NOM NOM NOM! We also had lychee stuffed with cream cheese and macadamia nuts, huli huli chicken, homemade California rolls, and more. I was in HEAVEN. I’ve been loving the food out here. I love tropical fruits, so I’ve been able to eat a lot of that—and SO fresh! I was stuffed.
After eating and mingling, we lit fireworks! Apparently it’s legal over here, so they have boxes full of the stuff. I’d never lit one off before, so it was quite exciting & scary at the same time. Haha. I had so much fun though!
I think the thing that has impacted me the most thus far is the strong sense of family and community here in Hawaii. All the neighbors are like one big family, and within that the family unit is even closer. Everyone looks out for one another, and genuinely cares for each other. So different from California! In California, it seems to me that people generally look out for themselves and their own family. Nobody greets you randomly on the streets, nobody cares. I’m truly struck by the love these people have for each other here.
Last night was also an amazing experience, because Rebecca and I made our first friends. Suzie and Dudley have some next door neighbors with kids our age! A guy named Matt and a girl named Nicole (or Nicky too!). Nicole is in the same grade as me, and matt is just 17th months older—just like my brother and I. How ironic. Anyway, it was really nice to talk to people our age. Matt even goes to UHM, so it was nice to be able to relate on that level. They were so kind to us—and they had just met us! It was really refreshing to meet such nice people. We all exchanged numbers last night, which leads me to today…
We weren’t sure what we were going to do today, but Matt followed up and gave us a call. Rebecca and I ended up walking down to Puck’s Alley—a neighboring area with food and shops and such. It was pretty cool, and not too far of a walk. We met Matt there and he picked us up to take us to the Ala Moana mall. One of my favorites. :) We had lunch at Genki Sushi, where they had sushi on conveyer belts! It was SO cheap. I think I had 4 plates, and it only totaled out to be $12. I’m hoping to go back there again soon. Matt even said that this place was expensive compared to others. We then proceeded to go to our much desired destination: the beach. Matt was kind enough to bring along some surf boards for us too!
Rebecca wasn’t feeling so well, so I ended up learning how to surf with Matt. Although I didn’t exactly get to catch any waves since they were too small, I did learn a lot about paddling, sitting, and turtling! Haha. It was really nice being out there and just drifting in the waves. We went out REALLY far. The furthest I’d ever been! Paddling was exhausting. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be sore tomorrow. We spent several hours out there—the water was perfect. After our trip to the beach, Matt kindly took us to get some shave ice! Wai’ola shave ice is SO good. We had had some yesterday, but it’s so cheap you could have it everyday.
Tonight I’ll be meeting up with my friend Nina, who is out here on summer project! I’m really excited. We actually live very close to each other :) Just down the way! Should be fun. I think we’re gunna go get some yogurtland..mm, nom nom nom.
Hopefully these entries aren’t too long, but I’ve had a lot of experiences and a lot to say in the past few days! Hope all is well at home on the mainland. I’m pau [don’t’ know if this is correct grammatically, but I learned pau means finished in pidgin!]
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