beach and more beach

I have a few pictures to post, but not a lot to report from this weekend. Friday night was spent at Barnes and Noble, as the venerable US Postal Service failed pretty miserably in delivering a large portion of my book collection on time. Wait until they find out that I know Audrey Miller.

Saturday? Exploring the neighborhood more and hanging out at the beaches near my house. Attached is a picture of that beach, the park by my house (you can sort of see the Waikiki Shell in the middle. For Bostonians, it's sort of like the Hatch Shell, except a little bit bigger and most shows here charge admission). There are also community gardens (again for the MA crowd, much like the Fenway gardens on a much smaller scale (and perhaps without the surreptitious nighttime activities we've all heard about there)).

Oh, speaking of the Waikiki Shell. A note on music here. Don't get me wrong, we do get current bands to play concerts here, and it seems like there may be a pretty fantastic local music scene, but I have to say, this week I've felt like I am in a time warp and a half. I have heard nothing promoted so heavily until this week's Huey Louis and the News concert. And a close second? The following week's appearance by... Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. Now, I realize I am in no position to judge. Did I twirl baton in the 5th grade talent show to a Lisa Lisa song? Yes. Yes, I did. I can admit this freely because no matter how bad it was, it wasn't nearly as memorable as Monica's lip synch rendition of Whitney's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody." Needless to say, participation in the talent show was mandatory. I think some of us still have nightmares 20 years later. Thanks, Mrs. Bariffe.

Sunday I spent the entire afternoon at Kailua Beach, which is stunning. The trades there are amazing, so I managed to read three quarters of a book while watching the windsurfers and evaluating if that's something I would want to do (I ultimately settled on yes). On the way home I stopped at the Pali Lookout, part of a state park that has a great view from the Koolau Mountains. It was so windy that it felt downright cold up there (in actuality, it was probably all of 75 degrees). All in all, a really nice day. Even with all of my newfound free time, I continue to not be bored and not be lonely. I'm pretty content, in fact. No complaints at all.

Finally, my apologies for gloating to my old DC colleagues, but on all three days of activities I described? I was also on first call. No lie.

Kapi'olani Park

community gardens

Kailua Beach

more Kailua Beach

Pali Lookout

Shirt flying up from the wind, covered in sunscreen and sand...and yet never been happier.

I was much less concerned with this sign than the one that read "Danger: bees."

on Hawaiian wildlife and libraries

I have no pictures for you from this weekend. It was an uneventful week, and because I was on call all weekend, I couldn't explore the far reaches of the island for fear of being called into work. That being said, I could (and did) take call from the beach, so I'm not complaining. A few (brief?) anecdotes from the past week.

While on the beach today, a woman approached me after about 45 minutes to inquire as to whether I was wearing sunscreen. I confirmed that I wear lots. While I thought that would satisfy her, she continued. "Because you're really white." Yes, I know. "I mean... reaaallly white." Thanks, lady. I wanted to tell her that as far as I'm concerned, after a month here, I'm downright tan, but I had a feeling she wouldn't agree. Eventually she laid off the mocking and actually talked to me for a long time. I got a review of the best burger place, chicken and pesto club sandwich, dentist, bar, beach, and tennis courts in the neighborhood. I also got an invitation to her 4th of July party and a reminder that this is a very small island, so I'm not to do anything that I wouldn't want everyone to know about. Good tip. Oh, I almost forgot my favorite part. She told me that after moving here, I will never want to leave, particularly now that we're getting a Target store sometime next year. It's like she knows me. Send a Chipotle and a Kabob Palace this way and I promise to stay forever.

Also this week, I made my first sojourn to Don Quijote, affectionately described to me as 'Asian WalMart.' True enough, they sell a bit of everything, and there is no rhyme or reason to the store's organization. (You can get liquor, a hair dryer, and fresh produce in the same aisle, I swear). For the life of me, I also cannot get anyone to explain why a Japanese company names its store 'Don Quijote.' Seriously, people. This one's keeping me up at night.

I also went to get my library card (my geekiness has not subsided just because I live in paradise). After jumping through a million hoops to prove residency so I didn't have to pay, the librarian asks if I'm there for "internet or DVDs." Um, how about books? "Oh." It's like no one has asked about those contraptions before. Needless to say, other than the fantastic selection of guidebooks about the islands (no wonder they charge the tourists), the selection pretty much sucked.

Finally, the promised note on wildlife. I have a bright green gecko that lives on my patio that I have adopted as my pet. He's cute as all get out. He's kind of camera shy, but I did my best. He is always on the same spot, no matter the time of day. I was told by a colleague here that geckos are very territorial, and that you can throw it across the parking lot and it will always find its way back to the same spot (what kind of childhood must she have had to come to this conclusion?). I'm not going to try that.

He's the good aspect of Hawaiian life. The bad? What, when I was in school in NC, were referred to as palmetto bugs, but here are called cockroaches. They're the size of my head. I had been told that no matter how clean you are, you will get them on occasion. Still, I convinced myself that my brand of cleanliness was different than that of everyone else, so there was no way it would happen to me. Not so much. I've only had two, but they're disgusting (and fly, by the way). I'm still calling them 'palmettos.' There's no way I can use the 'c' word to describe something that can find its way into my home.

My new pet.

Looking at the camera. Seriously. He's very smart.

Not even close to actual size. Bleh.

Happy Kamehameha Day

I lucked into moving here just in time for holiday weekends galore. In additional to Memorial Day, I'm sure you all know that Monday is Kamehameha Day, so I'm off for that too. The plan is to spend as much of it outside as possible.

So yesterday was my "hike" on Diamond Head. I say "hike" because I'm not so sure it counts as a true hike if it's less than a mile each way and if the beginning of the path is paved. That being said, it's a fantastic view and there are enough stairs that I've decided it counts as a workout.

I live at the base of Diamond Head, so theoretically, I could do this all the time. Still, I had been warned that it's often extremely crowded, so it's not exactly a peaceful walk in the woods. They tell you to go in the morning because of the heat, so I decided to go around lunchtime to avoid the crowds. It was hot, but not unbearably so for such a short time, and while there were a fair amount of people, there weren't lines up the stairs as I hear there can be during peak times.

After my Diamond Head trip, I took the car to explore more of the coast, and ended up hanging out at Waimanalo Beach for the rest of the afternoon. Nice waves allowing the water to be fun without fear of death, a trashy magazine, and all of ten people on the stretch of beach that I had claimed. It was a really nice afternoon.

Getting started...

Looking down on the trail behind me

The first set of stairs

the tunnel

second set of (steeper) stairs

Almost there...

Views from the top

Pictures don't really do it justice

My neighborhood at the very bottom of the picture

Also, a few pictures from Waimanalo Beach:

Life so far

So here's the quick review on what's gone down here so far. I've been here for 26 days. I'm not sure if the first 14 or so even count as far as exploring when I used all my time to find a place to live, a car to drive, and food to eat. I have, however, explored the Windward, East, and South Shore areas of the island pretty thoroughly (keep in mind in takes fewer than 3 hours to drive around the whole thing, so that's not saying that much).

The adjustment to the island lifestyle has come pretty quickly. My main problem is (and remains) complete inability to pronounce cities and street names, but Honolulu has helped ease my mind in that they choose not to mark 30% of streets in this town anyway. I've learned that shave ice is not the glorified midwestern snow cone that I expected, as it's not just ice and syrup, oh no. You choose toppings that include anything and everything including condensed milk, chocolate, ice cream, mochi balls, and, to my complete disgust, sweet corn. The people here have been very friendly. I know there's a slang term for 'whitey newcomer' in the local language, but I haven't heard it enough to commit to memory, so that's saying something. And there's a parade here at least every weekend without fail.

Let's get to some pictures before I start recounting each individual day's events. There are several things I saw that wish I had pictures of (Kailua Beach during my first week here, the hangliders I've seen jump off the mountains, the Pride parade through Waikiki, etc.), but got a late start on photography.

On Memorial Day, I went to the Lantern Floating, where they release hundreds of lanterns into the bay at sunset as a memorial. You have the option to release once of your own if you so choose. It's a big event - thousands of people, stage with music and hula dancers, local celebrities (I took their word for it). Below are a few of my pictures. Here's the website if you'd like to see the prettier, professionally done photos.

http://www.lanternfloatinghawaii.com/pages/event.html

The harbor at the park where the lanterns were released

Killing time, waiting for sunset

Glow in the dark (I swear) boats releasing the lanterns

After most of the lanterns have been released

Don't get too excited

For all of you who requested a blog upon my move to paradise (and by "all" I mean "Scott McBroom"), this is it... sort of. I have had multiple requests for pictures, and while I've been failing miserably in taking them, I decided I wanted some sort of forum to get them out once I actually take some fun pictures. Also, since we all know my personal philosophies include "why say it in 100 words when you can use 1,000" as well as "I suck at emailing," this seemed a great way to provide some commentary on what I've been doing and what I've seen without making myself sit down and email every last one of you. I hope you enjoy. Let's begin....