Mopeds & Maunawili Falls...

My goodness, I have really been neglecting y'all, haven't I? The thing is, it's been raining and raining and raining here, so I've been having a very boring couple of days filled with lots of reading and starting to watch LOST. The good news is, I've done some pretty exciting things this weekend and today, so I have lots to tell y'all and lots of pretty pictures to share!

Friday: My roommates didn't have to work in observance of Kamehameha Day. That's pronounced ka-may-ha-may-ha, in case you were wondering. Straight from Wikipedia, Kamehameha Day "honors Kamehameha the Great, the monarch who first established the unified Kingdom of Hawai'i." The technical day was on Saturday, but I guess the schools went ahead and took Friday off anyway. Apparently, they celebrate lots of holidays in Hawaii. So, with our beautiful, sunny (for once!) day off, we took off for Lanikai Beach again. I have to say, while it was sunnier this time around, I think I preferred my first visit to Lanikai. Remember how I told y'all the sand there is like powder? Well, Friday it was VERY windy, thus, laying out was somewhat akin to getting sandblasted, as the wind can pick that very fine sand up very easily. I'm pretty sure sand was even coated to my scalp by the time we left. And unfortunately, for the first time since I've been here, I got a little sunburned on my shoulders. The sun must've been fierce that day, because Melissa S. even got sunburned, and she reapplied 3 times. Regardless, it's still an unbelievably beautiful beach & any day spent at the beach is a great day, right?

Moving on: Saturday. Saturday, Saturday, Saturday... What a day. Woke up and called the lady with the red moped I told y'all I was wanting, and we decided I would come look at it at 1. After looking up her address, I saw she lived pretty far away from me, and of course I was going to have to take TheBus, so I went ahead and left my house at 11:45. I didn't get to her house til 1:45. Encompassed in the two hours it took me to get there were one really long bus ride, then a super long wait at a bus stop during which it started blowing rain sideways into the little hut over the bench. Miserable. So, finally get there, the lady is super nice, she's showing me everything about the moped, which I loooove, because it's red & shiny, etc., etc. So, I take the moped for a little test drive, during which it dies on me once. I was like hmmm...but then it started right back up, and I rode it around some more, no problem. When I got back to the house, I told her how it had died on me, and she was like wow that's really strange, it's probably because I haven't ridden it in so long and it's been sitting up. So I decide that that's probably what it is & to go ahead and go for it. Got the price bumped down $50, and we exchanged monies and chit chatted for a while and everything. I just knew this moped and I were meant to be. I mean, come on, it was red, my favorite color, and she had a cover for it that she had written her initials on, but it didn't even matter because her initials were HB, too! How perfect, right? So we chit chat some more (super, super nice lady), and then it comes time for me to ride my shiny new moped home. So I ride off in absolute bliss. For about 3/10 of a mile. And then the moped dies again. Oh no. Are you kidding me? Ok, it started right back up, everything's fine. Oh, no, it's not. It would start, it would idle, but as soon as you gave it enough gas to get it moving, it would die. I call the lady back, she's super sorry and freaking out and can't believe this is happening, and tells me to come right back, so I end up pushing this huge, super heavy moped back to her house in the sweltering Hawaii heat of the day. She calls up the place that she bought it from - they don't work on mopeds, nor do they even sell that brand anymore. She calls the moped repair shop they recommend - they charge extra to work on that brand. Soooo very luckily, this woman was so nice & had integrity and insisted on giving my money right back. As my dad said when I told him later, I could have easily been told, "Sorry, you bought it. Your problem." Thankfully, that wasn't the case, and the lady was super apologetic, and even insisted that she drive me all the way home instead of me having to take TheBus back. So, after all this, I didn't make it back home til 4:30 - my Saturday mostly down the drain. Unfortunately, the pain and suffering of the day didn't end there.

So my roommate Melissa S. teaches Zumba classes at her church twice a week, which I've never been able to attend, for some reason or another. (Zumba is a "Latin inspired dance fitness program" - thanks again Wikipedia - for those of you who didn't know.) Saturday night, however, some of the best Zumba instructors on the island were having a fundraiser for them to be able to attend the National Zumba Conference or some hoopla, so Melissa S. decided we all needed to go. Mistake. Even bigger mistake if you have recently taken a month off from working out.

It was two hours long. TWO HOURS. Constant jumping, dancing, kicking, squatting, punching, shaking, shimmying madness. And the 4 teachers each only did 30 minute segments, so it wasn't like they were getting tired with us. Nope, they just kept bringing the heat, one after the other. Oh, and don't let me forget to mention that this was inside an UN-air-conditioned school cafeteria. To say that I was soaked in sweat would be an understatement. So after the 2 hour torture session, of course we needed to reward ourselves for the gazillion calories we just burned, so we went and undid all that calorie-burning, sweaty effort by stuffing ourselves to the brim with Greek food. But calories don't count when you earn them, right?

So, on to Sunday. Sunday, I was supposed to have orientation for Forever21, but I made the decision that there was no way once school starts that I will be able to do my classes and two jobs. I have to make decent grades for my classes to transfer back, so I need to make sure I have some downtime to study every now & then (I know some of you are laughing right now. Stop it. I am going to study). So, at most, I was going to be working at Forever21 for 2.5 weeks (school starts June 29th), because I would rather keep the restaurant job if one of them has to go, as it has more earning potential. And I would've been having to juggle my Forever schedule around my restaurant schedule, and it would've just been a headache and mess, so I decided to heck with that job. So, I'll just be having one job at the restaurant, which I have orientation for tomorrow at 3:00 PM. Exciting! I'm ready to start making some money.

So, Sunday afternoon was really exciting! I BOUGHT A MOPED! One that works! I found it on Craigslist Saturday night. A girl who goes to UH bought it 2 months ago when she moved here, but quickly thereafter decided she'd rather have a car, so the moped only had 287 miles on it. About as close to brand new in the world of used mopeds on Honolulu Craigslist as you can get. Unfortunately, the only picture I have of it is on my phone, and my phone is deader than a doornail right now. (I'm pretty sure my Blackberry is dying a slow and painful death these days, as it's been freezing, restarting on its own accord, most of the time not charging, and when it does actually charge, the charge doesn't hold like it should. This really upsets me, because I've been holding out for the iPhone 5 for ages now. Hopefully, the crapberry can hang on 'til then. Cross your fingers.) So, I'll just describe it for you. It looks like a brand new moped with sweet matte black paint. And it's clearly a Chinese-made moped (read: the fit and finish - not quite the best). That's about all I can tell you. I promise I will post a picture of it ASAP. I will also humor y'all and post a picture of me in my helmet on it. Let me just say, it's not my best look. In fact, I look like a complete d-bag wearing the helmet, but there's no way I'm not wearing one. You don't have to wear a helmet while riding a moped in Hawaii, but I think that anyone who doesn't is a complete idiot. For those of you who were with me in email spirit on my first trip to Costa Rica back in 2006, I still have VIVID memories of skidding along a wet Costa Rican highway face first. For those of you who don't know the story, I had a pretty horrific wreck on a rented moped when I was in Costa Rica in 2006. Was going about 30 kph down a hill in a light rainshower, tapped my brakes (which locked up), and the moped laid out from under me, it careening sideways off the highway into an embankment, leaving me skidding along my stomach on the highway. Thankfully, I had on jean capris that day, which saved my legs from horrific road rash, but my elbow was bruised and scraped, my knees were bruised, I had holes ripped in my shirt and jeans, and I had road rash on my ribs and stomach. My toenail polish was even scraped off. I have no idea how I wasn't hurt a lot worse. Of course, I got back on it and rode it home, because I wasn't about to develop some stupid mopedaphobia, but I think I did about 5 mph the whole way back!

So, all that to say, I am being VERY careful riding this moped. I didn't really realize how nervous being back on a moped made me until I realized my hands were sweating when I was riding it around Sunday afternoon, and my hands never sweat. I mean, you're just perched up on this seat, doing 25-30 mph, with cars whizzing all around you. Luckily, around town and all the places I have to go, the speed limit is 25 or 30, so it's not like cars are blowing you off the road, but it's still not the most relaxing experience. I have NO idea how so many people buzz around town without helmets. Like I said - they're idiots. The whole time I'm riding it, I can just hear Mad Eye Moody yelling, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" in my head. (If you don't understand what I just said, you do not read Harry Potter or, much worse, haven't even watched the movies, and in that case I really don't understand how we even got to be friends and why you would even be reading this blog. KIDDING. Kind of. Seriously, who doesn't love Harry Potter?!) Regardless of how slightly scary riding the moped is, can I just say all I wanted to do was yell "FREEEEEEDOMMMMMM!" Braveheart-style while riding around?! So liberating to be able to go wherever I want, whenever I want. In typical Hannah fashion, my first trip was to Walmart.

Oh, I've got to insert a scary side note here for anyone who knows my dad very well. When I first got it home, before I went to Walmart, I noticed it had a little mud splattered up on it, so I promptly got a wet rag and made sure it was perfectly clean before I took it out for a spin. I am truly my father's daughter. Frightening. (Daddy, do you have any extra of those special rags you could send me so I could keep one under the seat at all times in case any minutely teeny speck of dirt gets on my moped? Hahaha.)

In the two days I've had my moped, I've already discovered some pros and cons to moped ownership. Here they are.

Pros:

- Transportation other than TheBus (super, ginormous pro)

- Fun to ride

- Mine is a 2-stroke, so it's a pretty fast, zippy little thing as soon as you give it gas

- Cool in the "I really wish I could have a motorcycle, but this is kind of close" sense

- Holds 1.2 gallons of gas, so cheap fill-ups

- Gets a gazillion miles to the gallon (really about 80-100, but still!)

Cons:

- I've done about a million things more fun than riding a moped in the pouring rain at night & getting soaking wet when you just busted your tail in the gym and all you want to do is get home and go to sleep, but instead you're getting stuck at every freaking red light in downtown Honolulu in said pouring rain

- Sometimes hard to find a place to park it, because you have to (read: don't have to, but definitely should) chain it up

- Chaining it up is a complete pain in the you know what, because the chain is pretty short, so you have to get the wheel justttt right & close enough to whatever you're chaining it to, and then the chain lock mechanism itself is a pain in the you know what to lock and unlock & whatnot

- You smell like gasoline after you ride it, especially your hands

- You will probably have a black mark somewhere on you after chaining it up

- I'm terrified it's going to get stolen all the time (not exactly a justified fear, but I have it just the same - it does happen here occasionally)

- Chaining it up (Yeah, I know I already said it, but it really is such a pain, it deserves another tick mark. If I wasn't terrified of it getting stolen, I would NEVER chain it up.)

- Having to carry your helmet around with you when you go places because it doesn't fit under the seat

Ok, I know I put more cons than pros, but really I'm so ecstatic to have transportation that I'll put up with the cons all day. I love my little moped!

So, today! Today was wonderful! My roommates have a friend named Jake who is a youth pastor at a Nazarene church on the Windward side of the island who has hung out with us a couple times. Today, Jake was taking some of the teens from his church to Moanawili Falls & asked if I wanted to go. (I have told anyone I've met that if they're ever doing anything Hawaii-cool, to let me know, because I want to see and experience as much as possible while I'm here.) So, Jake, a van-ful of teenagers, and I all set off for the hike and falls. Y'all. It was so fantastic. It involved the great outdoors, mud, and waterfalls, which are three of my very favorite things. We hiked barefoot, which was so fun. It's been so long since I've had mud squishing between my toes! Time for pictures! I actually took the pictures of the hiking trail on the way back, but for the sake of the story & illustration, I'm going to start with them:

The official Moanawili Falls hike starts way far down and involves a ton of stairs. But if you drive up into this neighborhood, park on the side of the street, walk up these people's driveway and squeeze through the space to the right of the gate, you can cut the hike in about half, and save yourself a ton of stairs. So, of course, being the locals we are & knowing these kinds of things, that's exactly what we did. The front of the sign that you can only see the back of naturally says "Keep Out":

Doesn't that tree on the right look like something from The Lion King aka Africa?

Now it starts getting good:

The water was so clear!

And finally we get to the falls! This is the view opposite from the falls, so pretty:

And the falls!

This is a terrible picture of the little fall up to the left, but it is absolutely beautiful. Tons of ittle, tee-tiny streams of water streaming down. Looks like tinsel or something in real life.

Where you swim over to, to start climbing up the falls, kind of looks like a water slide at the bottom, doesn't it?

Hopefully, I didn't pick up any leptospirosis bacteria today:

Pretty little waterfall under the leptospirosis warning sign:

The falls again:

Leptospirosis be danged, I'm climbing that waterfall and jumping off it! (I'm that girl up there.)

So everything was well & good in the picture above. I kept climbing up the wet slippery rocks over the waterfall to get to that tiny ledge in the top right corner of the picture. When I was above and to the right of the waterfall (you can't see where it was in the picture), I had a little touch & go moment. I took a step, my foot slipped, and then it was just like a movie. I was skidding/sliding down the rocks, scrambling for something to grab onto. You know how in the movies how someone always grabs the falling person's hand or arm? Yeah, in real life, it didn't quite work that way. Jake was up there and instead of my hand or arm, he could only grab my hair. Luckily, he grabbed my hair about the time my fingertips finally barely latched onto some rocks, so it didn't hurt too badly. I wouldn't have cared if he had ripped half my hair out; it was a scary fall. I only have a few scrapes and two tiny bruises down my left leg, thankfully. So, after almost falling down a waterfall, naturally I kept climbing higher to jump off the ledge. Here I am in the top right corner, about to jump:

(I do not know who all the ripped guys are in the bottom part of the picture, sorry ladies.)

I got up there, made sure the teenager who I gave my camera to was ready, counted to 3 for her, and jumped. It's common knowledge that you don't jump off high places into water flailing with your arms out because it will hurt like heck when they hit the water, and same thing with your legs, and it's also common knowledge that it is very easy for girls' tops to come off when they do such things, so I decided to jump with my arms tucked up to my sides, fists under my chin, in order to stay aerodynamic and clothed. Unfortunately, I was a gymnast for way too long, so jumping straight turned into jumping hollowed:

which somewhere in flight turned into me hitting the water basically butt first. Let me tell you, it is a fierce and unique pain, such a situation. But the jump was totally worth it, of course. I love jumping off cliffs. It's funny what things scare people and what things don't. When I climbed out of the water, some of those boys said something like, "Well, you sure didn't play around with that, you just got right up there and jumped!" To which I thought, "Well, yeah, I didn't climb up there and risk death in doing so just to get up there and stand there. The jumping part's the fun part!" But then I know there are people who would get up there and freak out, or not even climb up there in the first place. And it's funny that I can jump off a huge cliff fearlessly, but yet it once took about 10-15 minutes straight of begging, pleading, and goading by my friends in a restaurant for me to try a bite of rare filet mignon. I was terrified of it, it was all bleeding and stuff at me. (I will admit that it did taste pretty good once I finally tried it.)

After I jumped off the big cliff, some of those boys were doing flips and dives off the lower part of the falls, so of course I couldn't let them show me up, even though it was super slippery & probably dangerous to be doing so.

Tuck:

Layout (looks to be a little piked, but give me a break, it was off a tiny, slippery ledge of rock):

So, after all the jumping & flipping fun, we hiked back out of the falls. Muddy toes are happy toes!

Then, we drove into Kailua, got 2 huge pizzas, and ate them on the beach. It was so pretty. Then, Jake dropped all the kids & me off, only for me to discover that I had locked myself out of the house. Good job, Hannah. The best thing to do when you're locked out of the house is to go down to McDonald's and get a caramel sundae while you wait for one of your roommates to get home, which is exactly what I did. And I've probably never looked so homeless in my life. There I was sitting in McDonald's, devouring my caramel sundae, with no makeup, wet, straggly hair, damp cutoff workout t-shirt, damp shorts, and my legs and toes looking like this:

Luckily, Melissa S. came home pretty soon. And now, here I am, back at McDonald's (showered & mud-free, I promise), writing to y'all, inundating y'all with tons of pictures, and staring at my moped out of the window, making sure no one steals it. I think I've given y'all enough to read & look at for one blog post, so it's time to go back to the house & keep making my way through the first season of LOST. (Melissa S. owns all 6 seasons, and since it was filmed entirely on location on the island of Oahu, I feel like I need to get in tune with the island & watch it, since I never have.) Wish me luck with my restaurant orientation tomorrow! I love & miss y'all terribly! Write me, comment me, facebook me, tweet me!