Hiking and Hired...

Can I just say that I just did a little dance in my chair in the second floor of McDonald's when I logged on here & saw that I had THIRTEEN(!!!) followers?! I feel so loved!

So, where to begin? The past two days have been so great. We'll go chronologically, shall we?

Day before yesterday was fantastic. There is an artist on the North Shore named Heather Brown who makes the cutest paintings. Sierra (Melissa E.'s friend), wanted to get one of her prints before she goes home, so we went down to an art gallery in Waikiki. Just my luck, they had just gotten a huge shipment of her prints in, and, typical me, I couldn't resist getting one as well. This is the one I got:

"Surf Girl"

Isn't it awesome?! I think so at least, and that's really all that matters, yeah? (Hawaiians add "yeah?" to the end of every sentence. I'm trying my hand at picking up the local lingo.) It's now spicing up my sad little room quite a bit. My parents and many who know me won't be surprised to hear that somehow, someway, in but one short week, my sad little room already looks like a bomb went off in it. I don't know how I do it.

I digress. After we bought our Heather Brown prints, we walked a ways down Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki, drooling at all the shop windows. (It blows my mind that on an island this small, there are multiple Fendi, Prada, Chanel, and other extremely expensive designer stores.) Here are some pics from along the stroll:

This is a statue of Duke Kahanamoku, the Father of Surfing. People hang leis on the statue to pay homage.

Waikiki Beach:

Awesome banyan tree:

Pretty waterfall & plumeria tree scenic setup along the Waikiki beach:

We walked down to Teddy's Bigger Burgers for lunch, where we waited in an extremely long line, but it was so worth it. Delicious. I think they're only in Hawaii, Seattle, and Las Vegas right now, but if you're ever in any of those places you should eat there. So messy & so good.

After lunch, it was time to frolick on the beaches of Waikiki. Everyone else was playing in the ocean most of the time, but I was completely engrossed in my library book, Pearl Harbor, by Newt Gingrich & William Forstchen. It's really eerie and heavy reading a book about Pearl Harbor while being here on Oahu. Especially when there was a black and white picture from 1933 of Waikiki and Diamond Head with a battleship out in the bay, and I could pinpoint exactly where I was laying on the beach in the present day in the picture. I'm waiting to visit Pearl Harbor until my whole family hopefully comes out here to visit, or at least my sister. I'm dying to see it, though. Time for more pics.

Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head:

Life as I saw it day before yesterday:

After beaching for a while, we took a sailboat cruise around Diamond Head. It was AWESOME for the first half of the ride. They had a net on the front you could sit on out over the water, where we all sat, and sometimes you'd get splashed by the waves. It was like riding a rollercoaster, too, which I love. Then, about halfway through, Sierra and I were like, you know...we don't feel so hot. Seasick. Ugh. I was so ashamed of myself! Luckily, neither of us puked, but we spent the rest of the sailboat ride in the middle of the boat, chewing ice, staring at land, and wishing we were off that danged boat. C'est la vie. Pics from the boat ride:

Melissa E. and a Russian girl on the net in the front of the boat:

Diamond Head from the sailboat perspective:

Sailboat sails. We called our boat the Gryffindor boat :)

Diamond Head & myself on the sailboat. I thought I might have to puke in the blue trashcan, but luckily kept my cookies.

After the sailboat ride, it was farewell Waikiki and hello home & shower. Then, off to dinner at a Mexican restaurant followed by salsa dancing! Unfortunately, I don't know how to salsa dance, and I was feeling tired & antisocial so I didn't really try. But it was really fun watching everyone else. There was one girl there who was helping promote the salsa night, and she was amazzzzing. I could've watched her dance all night. Ironically enough, the Honolulu Groupon for that day was 10 salsa lessons for $40. Melissa S., Molly, and I all bought it, so we are going to be salsa superstars in no time. I'm excited. As most of you know, I loooove to dance.

Moving on. Yesterday. We all went to church at the Nazarene church affiliated with the school Melissa E. and Melissa S. teach at. ("at which Melissa E. and Melissa S. teach." Too pompous. Even being the grammar nazi that I am, I prefer to end my sentences with a preposition. Although, I have been throwing out some big words in general conversation lately, in an attempt to curb my overzealous use of the word "like." It's a work in progress.) They had a potluck after, which was a cool experience, because I got to try a lot of local food. Chili and rice was really good, as was some kind of sausage in a sweet and sour tasting sauce. Asian-style chicken, some different take on spaghetti, etc, etc. My dinner plate and my dessert plate were piled high. Probably the most unique thing I ate was a poi donut. It's bright purple inside! Check out the link below to see what it looks like. Pretty weird looking, but tastes like cotton candy.

Poi Donut

After church was nap & reading time, then it was off to do an amazing hike! My friend & neighbor in Memphis, Will, has a friend, Kyle, that lives here with whom he put me in touch. So Kyle asked if I wanted to go hiking this weekend, and of course I said yes, because I love all kinds of outdoorsy things (except when snakes get involved, which is why Hawaii is my perfect place to live, as there are no snakes here!). So Kyle picked up Sierra and I at 5 and off we went. We drove around to Hawaii Kai, on the south side of the island to hike a place called Mariner's Ridge. I've already posted the pics I took on my phone to facebook, but here are some of the ones I took with my camera. The view was absolutely breathtaking, and completely worth sweating to death to hike up there. You could see both the western and eastern shores of Oahu, and the breeze felt phenomenal.

The hike ranged from looking like a desert to looking like a jungle to looking like a forest like this:

Views from the top:

So, needless to say, I plan on doing many, many more hikes, because it was completely addicting.

After we got home & showered, some of Melissa E. and Melissa S.'s friends came over and we played Know It or Blow It, a trivia game, and Buzz Word. Hadn't ever played either of those games, but they were really fun. Then, I finally had my first true Hannah night in Hawaii - I stayed up til 3 AM finishing my Pearl Harbor book, and slept in til almost 11 this morning.

On the job front, the news is great! Forever21 offered me a job Friday night, which I accepted. I could've started orientation yesterday, but they had to have my social security card, so my mom has put that in transit for me, and I'll start there this coming Sunday! Yay for being employed! Although, if you know me, you know I am absolutely DREADING the thought of having to dress up & look cute every day. Why on earth I didn't pursue a career in the healthcare field where I could wear scrubs every day is beyond me. Oh well, a job's a job, and money's money, so dress up I shall.

On the moped front, I'm about to email someone about a Schwinn moped on Craigslist, so let's hope that works out, a.) because it's one of the only non-Chinese mopeds I've seen listed on there, b.) because it has super low miles, and c.) most importantly, because it's red, which is my favorite color :) (just kidding Daddy, I know you're rolling your eyes.)

This afternoon, we're going over to Lanikai Beach on the Windward side of the island (read: eastern side), which, when you're here, seems so far away, but is actually only about 11 miles. Supposedly, it's an amazing beach where the sand is like powder. I'm excited. Pictures will come in the next post, I'm sure.

Ok, it is time I fiiiiinally quit forgetting to say why I'm even in Hawaii, because apparently many of you don't know! I am participating in the Hawai'i Summer Law Program at the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law June 29th-August 3rd, where I'll be taking 2 classes, International Environmental Law and Media Law. When I was making preparations for housing and such, it was much easier to find a place to sublease for the entire summer, rather than just for July. And hey, if you're going to spend July in paradise, you might as well spend June there, too, yeah? (Getting better and better at my Hawaiian slang already.) It's also easier to find a job when you can work for the entire summer rather than just one month (but maybe I've been slightly forgetting to say I'm only here for the summer?). So here I am, living in paradise for the entire summer and loving life.

Well, I'm tired of being in McDonald's (although my time here this morning has been completely devoid of homeless people...a first), and we're going to the beach at 1! Love and miss y'all!