Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Me and the AHHA team.

Well, I'm FINALLY over my cold. Damn, it was killing me there for awhile. And I still have a lingering cough, but it's nothing fatal. :-P I'm so tired from it still, though. So hopefully when I go home tonight I can get some sleep.

Things have been OK. Over Christmas, I went to my roommate's mom's house, and that was quiet but nice. At least I got a full, nice meal, and didn't have to be alone. Never want to be alone like that, you know? It's only now that I'm really feeling homesick. I have a client that has been to Lincoln City in the past, and I helped a guy get a plane ticket home to Portland today... so now, I feel kind of sad. Every time I go by the airport, I get sad.

I have started to notice racism today. On the bus, no one will sit next to me unless they're white, too. And everyone just calls me pale, and the "H" word here which is tantmount to calling someone the "N" word. I've been sworn at a lot. It's so unnerving. I've never had any racism pointed at me at all. And everyone uses generalizations all the time. "Oh, don't trust the Fillipinos, they do ______" or "Oh, you know, all the Hawaiians are like ________." It drives me INSANE. Every anthropological bone in my body screams against it. And at the same time, I'm intrigued.

I'm hoping to get out more. I only know my coworkers and my roommate, so I feel like I need to branch out and meet new folks. It's boring otherwise!!!

More later. I love you all, and wish I could be with you over the holidays. Call me or email me, it really brightens my day, and when I get internet access, I'll write you back. :-)

Update 12/18

Still really sick. I feel a little better, though my cough and congestion make me sound worse than ever. At least my sore throat is gone.

Things still going well, with the exception of my cold. We're getting kicked out of our Haleiwa site unless we can come up with more money, so that's a problem... but it'll work itself out. We have until the end of January to come up with a solution.

Other than that... just plugging along. Getting used to the island, meeting a few new people... it's lonely, but I'm working through it. I miss you guys!!! Hope to hear from you, whether via email, Twitter, or whatever. Love you!!!

Update- Sick

I'm sick. Like, feeling horrfyingly bad, can't breathe, coughing all over the place. I don't even know who to blame... my roommate, her kid, AND my boss are all sick, so it could have been any or all of them. I've been exhausted and unhappy the last few days, just wanting to feel better.

But, last night I went to a parade in Kapulei, a nice little town that reminds me of the nice parts of LA. When asked what the town I lived in reminds me of, I said "Another part of LA." I mean, my bus stop is near a strip club. So.... Yeah. But it's not as bad as it sounds, at least so far.

Giving a presentation at work tomorrow about Twitter. Going out on outreach on Wednesday with a whole battalion of army men. I'm very excited... A few things going on, in any case.

Had my first new client the other day, it was horribly stressful. But I got through it, and that's all that matters. I'm learning. It's not going to be overnight.

Other than that... yep. Just sick. I'm doing OK, though. Still doesn't feel like Christmas time, more like Christmas in July. :-P Flowers still blooming everywhere... it's odd.

Love you all!!! More soon.

I miss hugs

The cat that drives me insane. Argh!!!! She likes to jump on me when I'm typing, or drink out of my glasses of water, or lick me, or lay on me when I'm trying to read. I've honestly never been more annoyed at a cat in my life. Her name is Sammy, but mostly I just call her "STOP!"

The view from my apartment. The mountains are really beautiful in the morning, and at sunset. I'm always glad when the sun goes down, because it gets really hot in here!!!
Today I had "cultural understanding training." I'm sorry, I could have taught the class myself after a semester of Cultural Anthropology 102 freshman year of college. It was really redundant for me to be there, plus I had to pay $5 out of pocket... grrrr. But it was in Honolulu on a beautiful day, so at least that was good. Plus, we went to Kailua to check out the other center site... it's a lot nicer than ours. In that they have full electricity and computers and desks and paper and space...

I work at the Church of Restoration, which is an Assembly of God thing, and the minister is INSANE... and not just because he's AoG, but just because I think he'd be that way anyway. But I really love my coworkers. It's working really well with them, I think I'm a good fit with the team. My boss Catherine likes me a lot, I think, and I know my other coworkers do, too.

Even though people keep telling me my living situation is "bad", I don't think so. For the most part, I'm comfortable here, and while I could stand to be a little better neighborhood, I'm not living in the hood or anything. I'll move when the time comes, when something better comes along, and I have all my coworkers helping me (since housing is sort of their specialty), so it'll all be OK in the end.

Still getting used to the temperature and pace of life here. The bus drivers get off at stops to buy coffee and cigarettes, leaving the bus in the middle of the road. On Tuesday it was crazy trying to get to work because there were 90 people on the bus trying to get to the 50-foot waves... I went to a parade in downtown Wahiawa, and everyone moved into the street so that there was only one lane for the parade to go down. People pretty much do what they want here, and for them, it works. I always think "This would never happen on the mainland..."

That being said, with the exception of my coworkers who seem fascinated with where I come from, most people say "Mainland" like it's a dirty word. Sometimes I don't feel welcome here because I'm pale and an outsider. Hopefully that will change, but from what I heard at the "cultural understanding training," I don't think that will happen unless I stay here for 10 years. Most of the people at the training definitely needed it.

I'm still dealing with spotty internet, so I'm doing the best I can, and hopefully I can get hooked up soon. I got recommended to one company today, so I'm going to check into it. :-)

I love you guys, and I'll try to update soon!!!

A few pictures

Across the street from where I work.

In Haleiwa, near where I work.
Me and Diamond Head.

Update

Things are going well… still fighting a battle with finding internet, so this is going to be quick… Work is going good, loving my coworkers, I’ll download pictures as soon as I can, and the housing thing isn’t great, but it’s not horrible either, I really like my roommate. Love you all!!! :-D

P.S. It's really hot here, and I hear it's cold in OR... I'd say I'm jealous, but at those temps, I'm really not. It's like a summer night here. ;-)

Better Days Are Here

So, a few days have gone by, and I can report to you that I’m happier already. Yay!

My second day was spent mostly in my hostel and trying to find a grocery store. The part of Honolulu I was staying in doesn’t have a lot of stores around, so that was an adventure in and of itself. But I did get to see a lot of the town that most visitors don’t see. Then, that evening, a friend of mine from high school who lives and works in Waikiki met up with me and we went to Thai and to a local Tiki bar. That was really fun.

Dustin, my friend from HS, works on a “booze cruise” of sorts on a catamaran, and he offered to let me go out for free, so the next day I got to go out on a boat that goes straight off of Waikiki beach, and around Diamond Head and back. It was a lot of fun, and I swear, the drunkest guy on board was a Kennedy. Kid you not, totally had the whole Martha’s Vineyard thing going on.

Then on Monday, I had a meeting at “corporate,” which is funny because our organization is anything but a corporation. It’s in a sketch part of town, but that’s cool. Closer to the people we’ll work with on a daily basis. And it wasn’t as bad as everyone at the hostel made it out to be. Met everyone from all the different centers around the island, and really like them a lot so far. A “motley crew” as they kept telling me, and I’m definitely the youngest by about 5 years or so, though most are in their 30s up to their 70s.

In Haleiwa, I’ll be working with Catherine, Yolanda, “Uncle” Willy, Skye, “Miss Catherine,” and “Auntie.” Catherine is the supervisor, Yolanda the substance abuse counselor, Willy and Auntie are married, in their 70s and Filipino, and Skye is like 30-something and has a 16 year old daughter but looks my age. I’m the only white girl. Hehe.

Haleiwa is amazing. I’m hoping to go to the beach tomorrow… The famous ginormous beaches are having their famous swells and competitions right about now, so I hope to go check that out even though I’m about the last person to be hanging out with surfers usually. The center is in a church, and I encounter my first cockroach there in the bathroom. Eww.

We had a lot of clients today… I’m not sure how many new, but I think we helped like 40 people today, so clearly the need is great. Everyone calls each other “Auntie” and “Uncle,” and it’s very casual and laid back. Most of the clients are really cool, some have really deep issues, and we had to have someone call the police already… But it’s a safe environment and I didn’t feel threatened at any time. And, apparently part of the time I’ll be working in the town I now live in, Wahiawa, so I don’t have to go far. Yay!

I am now an official tenant of an apartment. My roommate is named Michelle, who’s 20, and she has a son, Jared, who is 19 months old. He’s adorable, and at the babbling stage where the only word out of his mouth I understand is “ball.” They also have a cat which is crazy. I really think this will be a good arrangement for us. I’m close to my work site, near a bus stop, etc, and she has someone reliable to live with. Hehe. I'll post pictures when I get a chance to take them.

So that’s all for me right now. I’m tired! Still not used to Hawaii Time, I guess. I love you all and miss you a lot! But I’m doing better and I’m a lot happier, so that’s good. J

Day One

So, I'm here in Honolulu. The flight was shorter than I expected, and though I sat next to a guy who was pretty smelly, it wasn't too bad. I was so tired from yesterday I just passed out and slept most of the way. Got to the airport, got my uber embarrassing lei courtesy of Mom... and had to get a taxi because they wouldn't let me get onto the bus with my luggage. Which leaves me wondering how I'm going to get to Haleiwa or wherever I end up living............ I have a few friends from home who live on Oahu now, so maybe they know someone with a car...

The hostel is nice, but I don't want to stay here long. In fact, at this moment, I don't want to stay anywhere too long. Meaning the island. Already ready to go home. I've never had a one-way ticket to anywhere before, and I don't think I quite like it yet...

I have heard a few things from a few Craigslist people... which makes me nervous, but what doesn't these days????? I cry every five seconds, my stomach hurts constantly, and I'm sweating like a pig, it's so hot here.

Trouble in paradise? Paradise my ass.