Waterfalls, caves, new friends and lots of Aloha!!

So this is me..alone in the airport. 22 hour day...
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This was my first email~~

“Welcome to the Jungle! We’ve got fun and games!...”

Monday, August 13th 2007

Aloha from luscious Hawaii! This is officially my first update, whoo!! Well, so I flew in on Saturday night, after 19 hours of traveling! Luckily I met two awesome girls at the orientation in June, Kendra and Kaytlin who also went to the U. SOoo I got to stay with them the first night ( and every night after so far ) because the campus didn’t open until Sunday. Actually, Ken and Kay had some “troubles” with their apartment AKA… bug infested! So they cancelled their lease right away. Oh, and the bugs here are king. Cockroaches, and gnats and termites! Oh and HUGE frogs, which totally rock!

Kedra and Kay and I at a cute little outdoor breakfast spot on the first morning
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Anyhow, on Sunday we got up and walked into Hilo; about a mile away from campus. We checked out the farmers market which was really great. It was full of tropical fruits galore! Have you ever heard of lychee, jackfruit, or lilikoi? Yum, yum, and papayas and MANGOES!!!! Kat, Kendra and I then grabbed a nice breakfast at a cute little café with an open air seating area. (This whole time the weather was B.E.A.utiful). After breakfast we milled around at a few shops and met a few locals. This one guy named Toe-moss (that’s how you’d pronounce it!) He said he was traveling and called himself a gypsy… He was a total nomad, but cool, lol. He told us a bit about the beaches and how to get to them. Also some hints about the town and really just randomness! Imagine a blond guy wearing way too thin wind-pants, a fanny pack (…yep) and a totally blistered and burnt nose (ouch!) THEN we found the beach! Actually, it was just across the street. Black sand beach! And surprisingly soft too. Unfortunately, as Hilo weather will have it, the weather changed within minutes and we had to run and take cover! Wind and rain! Actually, the weather here is quite peculiar. It rains at least twice a day, but only for about an hour or two. Usually you wake up and it’s sunny, but it overcasts in an hour or so, then it pours! Then around noon it gets sunny again. Around four thirty or so… rain! But it’s actually pretty nice. You get hot, and then you get a free shower! NO, lol, actually, you have to shower often here... it’s pretty sticky. My hair isn’t quite sure of itself yet either. Lets see… what else… We’re 5 hours behind you here, so we’ve been waking up at 6:30 on the dot every day so far. Then when 11pm rolls around… pass out!

Dicovering the beach...where is the sun? See this is before we found out we were going to be in a hurricane!!
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Speaking of passing out, my dorm room is pretty nice! It’s one divided room with closets, desks, beds, mirrors, and dressers.. pretty standard. My roommate’s name is Kristina and she is from Kauai, one of the Hawaiian islands. She is tiny, and quiet, but I have a feeling she’ll open up. I really like her so far.

We have our first field trip next weekend to Kona, the other side of the island. We’re going to a big beach to chill for the day and do whatever. We’ve been hanging out with the guys and girls soccer team, and they’re all really cool. It’s actually amazing how many people we’ve met from different states! At the U it’s, Minnesota, or Wisconsin. Here, Hawaii, California, Arizona, Sweden, Utah, Oregon, Florida, Maine, Delaware...

But we didn't care.. who were we kidding!
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Sunday, August 19th 2007

So it's been a week, and like the weather here, things have changed so much from the beginning. On Monday I considered exploring the farmers market and having nice breakfast in town an experience. However, in this last week, I probably explored more than i ever have in my life! I actually like to call it "adventuring." It all started when i met a group of guys who asked if us girls wanted to go to "Rainbow Falls" with a group of people. The two other girls weren't so into it, but i thought it sounded great. We headed out around noon and hiked up to these waterfalls about two miles out of town. Here we hiked through this forest of Banyan trees up to these pools of water at the top of the waterfall. The view from the top was amazing! And then, we got right in! We swam through a pool to another rock structure which we climbed to the top of. When we got to the top, some of the guys tested the depth of the water so we could cliff jump (probably a 20ft drop.) For about an hour we all hung out and jumped and rope swung. It was seriously like something you would see in a movie. I was like on a high. So fun.

We decided to make good use of all the rain..Slip and slide anyone?
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The next day, the same group of us guys and girls decided to hike up to the Kumana caves. The caves were old lava tubes! The hike was 10 miles round trip, but so worth it! We explored way into the caves and tested our claustrophobia. The hike there and back was so cool too, like i was in a foreign country. So lush and exotic.

One day, another group of us decided to embrace the "Hurricane" ..Flossie. We went out to the baseball fields where there is this huge hill and went slip and sliding in the rain! Soap and all, it was ridiculous.

Discovering the Kumana caves..unguided!! They are old lava tubes! This was quite the adventure. WE went in about a quarter of a mile, then our clausterphobia got the best of us!
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On Thursday we took a school-lead trip to see the volcanoes. We went to the top of Mt.Kilauea and saw the summit and crater of Mauna Loa. It was a two mile long hole in the ground formed from the result of the volcano collapsing in. We witnessed a ceremony that the locals do for the deity "Pele" which is essentially the volcano goddess. After, we took a walk through the lush forests surrounding the lava fields and I felt like I was walking through Jurassic Park!

On Friday a group of girls went to explore a place called Coconut Island, which is just past the town of Hilo. Coconut Island is like a little peninsula with pools to swim in, picnic tables, a bit of snorkeling, and a big rock that the locals like to jump off into the water. That night was a school dance...way too much fun!

Looking out from inside the beginning of the cave. At times we had to crouch into a 3foot in diameter wide hole to get into the next passage. Creepy! But awesome
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On Saturday, with school, we went to go paddling in the bay. We got bussed to Hilo Bayfront, black sand beach, and went Hawaiian-style paddling. We also went kayaking and played some volleyball. We were able to walk into town as well for the market. On Wednesdays and Saturdays the market is HUGE! Vendors are selling crafts, art, jewelry, clothes, surf boards, fruit, and veggies. There was also a cultural fair going on, so it was pretty hopping that morning. I bough some great handmade jewelry and of course fruit! (which my room is delightfully fragranced with.) When i got home, i got a call and went out running. Turns out running lead to jogging through the rain forest! It was so much fun.

Me not willing to go any further.. seeing all the falled lava rock was a bit much for me..
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And today is Sunday, H-Games day! H-Games is a competition between the dorms for the chance at the H-Games trophy. So that should be fun. Throughout the next few weeks housing has planned trips us. We get to go to Kona, the other side of the island, and hang out on 'white sand beaches,' and we're going on a glass submarine trip soon. I think I want to buy a mountain bike because our group wants to start taking weekend trips around the island, biking and camping, touring!

So these have been the highlights thus far. In the beginning I was SO homesick, it was not a fun feeling. But keeping busy really helps. I know I’m going to miss the U. Here, things are different. People are so laid back, which is 95% awesome, 5% bad when you need something done. But I think I will take a lot out of this experience, mainly, to slow down a bit, and to enjoy, and be content with things running a little slower.

My hiking buddies. This is on our way back. The treck to the caves and back was over 10 miles. 4.5 miles Up the mountain.. then 4.5 miles down.
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But i miss you all! Take a look at some of these pictures, even though some of them don't give the place justice! Ha!

I'll keep in touch! And write back :)

Love, Andrea

Aloha!