Thursday, August 12, 2010

Aloha


First let me apologize for the lack of interesting pictures in this post... hopefully my words alone will not be too boring for you.

I have good news and bad news… the good news is that I arrived at 1:25pm Hawaii Standard Time (5:25pm Mountain Time). The bad news is that I left my camera cord in Minnesota so it might be a while until I give you pictures, which is really too bad because it is BEAUTIFUL here! This truly is the opportunity of a lifetime and I feel incredibly blessed.

The flight was uneventful. I was sitting next to the perpetual sleeper so even though I had to go to the bathroom on hour number 2 of the flight, I was unable to go until hour number 5, when he woke up and actually went himself, which as you can imagine was a little uncomfortable. I got off the plane, got my bags, and was greeted by Brenda, Kari, and Sarah who gave me two leis they had made earlier that morning. I’m really sorry about the no pictures thing, but I’m sure it will not be the last lei I receive.

Hawai’i is 4 hours ahead of the mainland, which means I am experiencing jet lag, something I thought only existed if you were traveling out of the country (such as China, Europe, Russia, Tadzhikistan, etc…). As I am experienced in jet lag I knew that the best thing to do is to not take naps and go to bed and wake up at as normal hours as possible for where I am living. So last night I stayed up as late as I possibly could (which happened to be 9:30 HST or 1:30am Idaho time, which my roommates will tell you is a miracle for me). Because of the early bedtime I was wide awake this morning at 5am (8am Idaho time). I feel like I am in China again, probably because the only other time I have experienced jet lag is China. I will be sad when this jet lag departs. I really enjoy waking up early without an alarm, and since I will be leaving the house at 6:30am for my internship it would be nice to consistently wake up at 5am.

For those thinking this trip is just going to be a vacation and I will have all the time in the world to explore O’ahu, think again. I will be at my internship, Monday through Friday 8am-5pm. After which I will come home and watch Rita, the elderly lady who I am living with. I am so excited to get to know her, from the short time I’ve met her I can already tell she is going to be a blast!

Things have been a little crazy (but fun) in the Smith household. After August 25th there is just going to be me and Jerilyn (another girl from BYU-Idaho) until then there is Kari (my teacher who is here visiting her mom), Brenda (another care worker), Sarah (another care worker), Jerilyn, and myself.

For those wondering what the weather is like… it’s beautiful! It’s about 85 degreesish, slight breeze, and lots of humidity (I feel like I am in Changzhou again). The doors and windows are kept open constantly and because Rita’s backyard (refer to picture below) is the ocean that means the constant sound of waves rolling in and out.

Well I think that is enough of my ramblings. I just wanted to let you all know I have arrived safely and Hawai’i is really as beautiful as everyone says it is!

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