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.
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
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