Also at the Thanksgiving Dance someone told me I'd be good at flash mobs. I had no idea what that was. Tonight Makara told me about them:
So after my vigilant research, I am either good at taking off my clothes, synchronized dance movements, or singing in malls. I'm not sure how any of this came about at the dance, but I am going to take that as a compliment.
[title from soul meets body by death cab for cutie]
We went to Pounders Beach the other day. The waves were 8-10 feet. It was literally the scariest ocean encounter I've ever had, including the time Kaitlin and I were in the water with three nurse sharks on Jace's birthday three years ago. The water has so much power that I don't even realize. It was difficult to walk out through the shore break. The water wasn't even to my knees yet it had the power to rip my feet out from under me. The current going back out ripped my feet out from under me but the incoming wave slammed me on the ground and then pulled me out further. I wasn't thinking enough to be scared, but I fought the natural reaction to try and stand up. My dad taught me when I was little to just let the current take you, don't fight it. Just wait til it releases you to try and make it to the surface again. Living in Florida where the ocean has about as many waves as a lake, this didn't make a whole lot of sense. However, this was the day for application of a lesson. So Dad, if you're reading this, thanks for saving my life. (Scratch that. Mom, when you read this can you tell dad thanks? Thanks). The really dangerous part lasted about twenty feet out until the drop off where it got a little safer. The waves were big, but it was mostly because the water was so high. The waves weren't breaking on us, they were just rising up really high. It was so cool! If you caught the wave just right you could jump up on top of it and turn towards the shore. It looked like you were on top of a cliff way above the ground. You could look at the people you were with from four or five feet above them. It made my stomach drop a few times, but it was definitely an adrenaline rush.
(Yeah, those body boarders are most definitely NOT me. They were just some locals who ride the shore break all day like pros)
Another thing I learned about waves was how to dive under them. Again, I never needed to learn this skill before moving to Hawaii. I went to the beach when I first got here with the Kiwis and just got wasted wave after wave. I would just stay treading water until a monster wave broke over me, getting water in my mouth and up my nose, twisting me around and slamming me against the sand, leaving me disoriented and swimming to the ground thinking it was the surface. One person took pity on me and taught me to duck the break and that changed my life. The beach has always been a place of tranquility for me, but now the water was too. If you duck under the waves you can get just low enough to be safe while still feeling the power of the wave. It is probably the best feeling I know, to feel the strength of the water without it hurting you. Even better is when you can keep your heels above water as you dive through the bottom of a wave. The water rushes past your body, smoothing your hair back and you can feel it dragging past your fingers. Then it catches your heels and pulls you back just the tiniest bit. It is really indescribable how much power the ocean has, and how cool it is to be able to play with nature while still recognizing its power.
NOTE: All of the photos in this post were stolen, I did not take a single one.
I was just thinking about how this blog is going to be a huge part of how I remember things after I leave Hawaii and college and I was just thinking that I want to remember the night show. So here's a brief description. The night show, titled Ha: Breath of Life, takes places 6 nights a week and is put on by the wonderful students that I go to school with. It is the story of a boy named Mana and his life growing up and his beautiful wife. As he grows up he travels to each of the islands of Polynesia, so each island is represented with traditional costumes, song, and dance throughout the show.
All the performers are really good at ALWAYS smiling, through the ENTIRE show! It really has a huge effect. I get really excited whenever Alyssa and I go to night show....though come to think of it...it might have something to do with all the attractive, shirtless men...anyway. Here we go with the smiling faces:
This is from New Zealand (or Aotearoa as the Maori people call it):
This performance gives me goosebumps because they do a war chant and make terrifying expressions.
Beautiful Hawaii and it's hula:
Ehhhh I think this was Fiji...I can't remember. But the guy in the middle just got killed (these pictures are out of chronological order) and that is his spirit ascending to heaven. Just for the record. Ha.
This is Tahiti, the really fast hip shakers. This is also the scene where Mana marries his beautiful bride. It got me thinking about my wedding and how I want to wear a big head thing and be carried in on someone's shoulders. This is from Samoa, and the guys eat, play with, and sit on the fire. It's a pretty funny scene, (even though there aren't English words the whole show) and it's my second favorite part!
Apparently no one likes to take pictures of Tonga. But the guy in the colored skirt is from Tonga. They're at war with Fiji in this picture, which is why there are Fijian costumes in there.
This is my favorite part, the FIREKNIFE! So cool.
This is the finale, where all the dancers come out and sing the finale song (which is in english). This was the song that I could hear from my old room back in spring, so I had it memorized the first week I was here...breath of liiiiiiiiiiife....breath of loooooooove...yeah. It's better when the sing it, probably.
It is really such a cool production. I mean, how many shows have you seen that uses six languages?? Well I know one and I can watch it any night of the week! Love it!
[Title from From Cumorah's Hill by Steven Kapp Perry which I have been repeatedly listening to lately...no idea why]
Okay, well this post is pretty belated, but THE PROPHET CAME! It was a great day, and everyone was so excited. He came to visit the PCC just for an afternoon, and everyone came to see him!
There was a huge ceremony for when he arrived, which I wasn't expecting. They had the royal court of Hawaii represented:
and they had a decked out golf cart for him to ride :)
When he got out of the car they had every island represented with people. He was given leis and then given a seat (President Eyring and his wife were there as well) as the Hawaiians presented a chant and a dance prepared for him, as an honored guest.
Then he walked down the aisle to his little chariot. He has a bit of an angry expression in this picture, but he was just putting a serious face on. He was looking at a little kid, and right after that he started wiggling his ears. I was more delighted by this than the kid was, I must say.
And then President Eyring and his wife got on another cart behind them and off they went!
They went to the villages and I went to work, but during one of the slower minutes I ran over to the Samoan Village with one of the runners and we took pictures of them enjoying the show.
He went to the night show that night, as well as heaps of people from BYU, the PCC, and the locals. It was the most packed I've ever seen it. The performance was flawless, as I would expect it to be. I can't imagine what it must be like dancing for the Prophet! At the end of the show the cast came together and sang "Teach Me to Walk in the Light", and it was powerful!
He was so cute. He stood up for the duration of the song, then he waved and waved and said thank you, thank you.
It was an unforgettable day. It was so incredible to be in the presence of the Prophet and the spirit that is around him is amazing. It was a rare opportunity, and I couldn't help but think about all the events that have transpired so that I could be in this spot at this exact time. It was truly a blessing.
[Title from From Cumorah's Hill {again} by Steven Kapp Perry]
Tonight Alyssa and I played dead. Twice. The first time we went out to the field to play volleyball. Some lady came up to us and Alyssa (who's mom must have not taught her not to talk to strangers) started engaging in conversation. Stranger lady was from a first aid training program. She wanted us to pretend that we'd passed out from hazardous chemicals. So we did. We recruited another stranger named James. He laid on the floor of the girls bathroom with us. It was a bad idea to start off laughing. Because we pretty much laughed the whole time. The teams of men came in and assessed the situation, pointed out the fact that I was having fits of laughter even though I was unconscious, and determined that it was necessary to drag us out. I can't remember the last time I was carried out of the girls' bathroom by men. Oh wait this was a first. I was laughing. With my closed eyes and limp body. They did not ask us for our numbers and Stranger James ran away right after.
The second time was about ten minutes later. They drag us to the hall next to the old gym where open gym was going on. The people were playing volleyball and basketball. Their kids came outside and we were turned into dragons and demons and fire breathing moles. We played freeze tag, except the kids always forgot to freeze. I felt like I'd been put through a blender. And I looked like it, too.
For FHE I went to my boss' house. We ate some Mongolian and Filipino food and listened to an Austrian give a lesson on Thanksgiving and gratitude. All foreigners know about Thanksgiving is that we eat a lot. Hooray for typical American holidays. The night was awkward, as it was four married couples plus single me. Why do married couples cuddle so much? Yuck.
I met up with Alyssa later for the remainder of our FHE and then we met a couple new guys and got yelled at by security. It was a good day. This is a nice picture.
Last Saturday I surfed and slept while listening to island tunes. Tell me my life isn't fantastic. I still have to write about the prophet's visit, but I mostly love doing things in the wrong order. Yay.
I wrote the following bits a while ago and have just never posted him. So here they are.
Doing laundry takes a lot of planning ahead. The laundry system is basically run by people that want you to have dirty clothes. Yuck. You have to use a card to pay for laundry. The card costs $2, and you can only put money on the card in the form of $5, $10, or $20. And they have to be those specific bills, none of this five singles nonsense. It takes a lot of foresight; if you have enough to wash all your clothes but then your card runs down to $0.50, you will not be able to dry your clothes even if you have eight one dollar bills. (true story).
So basically, only do laundry when you're out of clean underwear. That, for me, was this morning. So I went down to the R.A. office to check the amount of money on my card. And the R.A. office (which is 'open all day') was closed. I was going to sit and wait for someone to open the door, but they could have taken a long time and (more importantly) they took the waiting chair away from the doorway, so no thank you. I thought I'd be clever and walk to the next hale and use their R.A. office to check my card. So I walked over and their R.A. office was closed. The sign on the door said "Lockouts knock on room 212 F and Laundry cards go to hale 3" (my hale). Excellent. I went back to my room and started doing other things until the office opened. I had $2.00. Excellent.
I also had a huge pile of quarters. I planned on using them for the one washer and dryer that was coin operated. I stuffed all my laundry into my basket and drug it to the other side of the building, down the stairs, out the door, and down to the laundry room. My first order of business was to take the coin operated machine before anyone else did. Come to find out there isn't a washer and a dryer, just two dryers. Surprise! Incredibly efficient. I eventually washed all my clothes and then put them through the...'extended' cycle that I have for clean clothes. This is how is goes. 1. Take clean clothes out of dryer 2. Spread clothes out so that they don't get wrinkled 3. Do some other things; see how long clothes can stay in that pile before losing all warmth (I've made it two days with some heat still trapped in the pile!) 4. Neatly move pile from bed to chair 5. Move back to bed when you need chair, etc. 6. Suck it up and fold laundry 7. Neatly stack folded clothes on bed 8. Fall asleep on neatly folded clothes 9. Move piles to floor after a few days, out of guilt 10. Step on clothes and throw other things on them 11. Straighten out clothes and put them away
I just want my mom to know that some things never change.
And a quote from someone excellent, about the people in Florida: "sometimes i think about all the people here and how i just wanna tie them up and saw their arms off" Don't worry, friend. People are like that everywhere.
So it's really hard to keep track of everything that happens, but I want to remember everything I do, all the time. Hence the blog. Here are some recent events:
-Fraternizing with Tongans. Alyssa's boss is a Tongan, and he pretty much feels like she's his daughter. Every night he and his other Tongan friends have a feast outside their house on the corner. The house is right across from campus so every time we go anywhere we always see them out there talking and laughing and eating. Boss, as Alyssa calls him, is always telling her to stop by and I persuaded her to actually stop by on the way home from something one day. It was a little awkward. There were just a ton of old Tongans sitting around staring at us. I felt like we were intruding, but of course Boss was SO happy to see Alyssa and they were all eager to give us TONS of food. We'd just eaten dinner so we didn't want any, but anyone who knows anything about Polynesians knows that they don't take no for an answer, especially when it comes to food. So we accepted plates of pork, shrimp, taro, cake, and potatoes. We wrapped them in foil to take back with us while we listened to the uncles talk to us. My favorite was a guy named Malaki or, in his words, MALAKI THE PROPHET. He was a little hard of hearing, so he talked REALLY LOUDLY. When he found out that Alyssa was from Indiana he almost jumped out of his chair in excitement, which was saying something since he's both big and old. It was really endearing to see a big 80 year old man spouting broken English with the excitement of a four year old. "I SEE COWBOY. HE COME TO TONGA. LIKE MOVIES. A REALLY COWBOY! WITH HAT AND DA BOOT AND DA HORSE! A REALLY COWBOY! WITH THE HAT!!!!" After much exciting conversation we took our plates and headed back to campus. Now we didn't know what to do with the food, because we were not going to eat it. Then we remembered that we happen to know and love about 100 hungry Polynesian boys. So we went over to the PCC to give some food to the boys as they were coming out of night show. It was probably 9.30 or so, so they all should have been leaving about then. But no one was leaving so we decided to just go in and see what was up. We didn't have our ids with us, so we had to get a little creative getting in. We walked past the security guard who didn't even look at us. We felt really daring and adventurous. We walked over to the theater and found out that they were staying late to practice because the prophet is coming! We found a couple hungry guys and talked to them for a while. It's really easy to make boys happy when you have food.
-Making midnight runs to Foodland This used to be a regular event for me back in spring/summer, when I was still using my new independence to do everything my mom said I shouldn't. But I've started sleeping since then. Anyway. Alyssa and I were really hungry one night. We wanted to order pizza, but since we live in the middle of nowhere all the pizza places close at 10. We decided to go to Foodland and buy stuff. It was about 11:40 when we decided this and Foodland closes at 12. So....yeah. We needed to find a spare bike to get there. We found a broken down bike in the hale that made a sick dragging sound every time the tires turned. This, of course, equated to me having fits of laughter the whole way there. By the time we found the bike and rode there it was about 11:54, so we were really cutting it close. I parked my bike in the back and locked it up and realized Alyssa had gone ahead. There's a bike rack and then there's a sidewalk that leads through the patio/eating area. She was just taking the bike with her through that area. The place was packed with kids from the school who were finishing their Taco Bell, Alyssa was running through with this noise machine of a bike, and I was running behind her barefoot with crazy hair bent over the whole time because I was laughing to hard to stand up. We ran inside and bought the oddest arrangement of food that we didn't even bother eating buy the time we got back home. But it was still an adventure.
-Decorating people's doors
The right side is Alyssa's door. I got all these pictures from the PCC because they get thrown away at the end of the night. I just thought she would appreciate having tacky tourists and shirtless men on her door. And I was correct. Then she and I decided Makara needed to be included. So we used fashion magazine pages. It turned into a mess.
-Ripping holes in my work dress. It was an accident. I got the pocket caught on a hook and it ripped all the way down the side. Embarrassing!
-Hangin out around campus I actually never really hang out on campus. I'm either in my room or Alyssa's room or off campus somewhere. But we went to the Aloha Center (yeah, you read that right) to work on her Spanish homework and I met a really attractive guy who was playing Math Blaster which I played as a kid. Which led us to talking about Reader Rabbit, Math Muncher, and Treasure Mountain/Treasure Cove. Thanks momma for buying me those games ;) We also went to a play on campus called Noises Off which was HILARIOUS. And then last night we went Latin dancing on campus. I am not very good at it, but a really attractive man taught me some really fun moves, and now I'm hooked! (On the dancing, not the men. Well....) Maybe I should go to these things more often. :)
-Eating pizza, watching movies, and doing face masks. I would put up pictures but they're all pretty gross. Also my creep of a room mate asked if she could peel the mask off of my face. Sometimes I think she's six instead of twenty one. Haha.
-Adventurin' in general Makara and I went to Haliewa for the day. We ate at Haliewa Eats (amazing thai food!!), walked around the shops, went to the harbor, saw a SEA TURTLE and some rabid cats, and hitch hiked home with some nice Indian guys.
This was my favorite picture of the day:
Some delicious food:
We saw two sea turtles! Oh man I love Hawaii.
I think everyone knows the treadmills music video by Ok Go. I'm not a huge fan of their music, but I think their videos are so creative. I have to thank my mother for introducing me to them (that's right, she brought them to me, not the other way around). These are my favorites:
I have more to write, but I get bored after writing for too long. And it is officially too long.
Also I love the smell of rain, especially when it's mixed with the beach smell. Which is how the air in my room smells right now. Because I live by the beach. And it's raining. I love this place.
Well the first thing I want to say is THE PROPHET IS COMING. HERE. Oh man oh man I am SO excited! Some people are already here (I'm assuming they're some apostles/general authorities). I was riding my bike around and I saw these two BYU shuttles with tinted windows being escorted by cops and they're staying by my dorm! And Thomas S. Monson is going to be HERE on THURSDAY! I can't wait. I probably won't get the opportunity to meet him, or even see him for that matter, but it's still so exciting! He'll be visiting the PCC and I'm so glad that he's going to see MY friends dance for him! Then this weekend is going to be HUGE. Saturday night is the Cultural Celebration, and then Sunday morning at 9:00 the Laie, Hawaii temple will be rededicated. I will be there waving my white Ukranian handkerchief. This is such an exciting time. I'm so happy to be here for it. The plants have been re-done, campus (which is already BEAUTIFUL) has been perfected in every way. Locals are participating in the cultural celebration and have been practicing for months. Almost all of the members on the island of Kauai are flying over, it's such a wonderful time. I had the opportunity to be an usher in the temple on Saturday and that was incredible. I was amazed by so much. First of all, I got to stand on the landing next to the chapel, in between the sealing room and the baptistery. That alone was amazing. I was just glad to be standing there all day, even if I didn't do anything else! The sealing room is BEAUTIFUL. It is literally heavenly. Well actually the whole temple is! Man, it was such a good day. It was astounding how many people were there, as well as how different they were. They were from different places, different cultures, and different walks of life. But they were all here feeling the same thing, even the tough-looking, tattooed thugs. It was fantastic.
Well that's just it for now. I have some other good weekend stories, but I'll save them for later :)
I need to go back and blog about Halloween weekend, but my birthday post was so long I think I'll put it off for a while.
Friday was sort of a continuation of my birthday. I went to work and was expecting them to not know/remember that it had been my birthday the day before. I almost got away with it. I was in anticipation from the beginning because they clearly remembered it. Kiki asked to 'borrow' my phone, which is code for 'hold it because they ARE going to get you'. It was raining a lot, so I thought maybe that would be a factor. I was sent to the kitchen (across the PCC, so tons of rain-time) but miraculously it let up just for those few minutes and I managed to stay dry. It was the end of the night and we had finished eating dinner and we were all headed to clock out. Ha. Anyway, we were headed to the kitchen to clock out and go home. I walked past Banyan Tree and glanced over and noticed someone crouched behind the wall. I just barely saw them and before I had time to process it Scott came up and asked me how my birthday was. I forgot about the creepin' person and was about to form a response when Cory grabbed me from behind and I got SOAKED with two buckets of ice water. SO. COLD. There was ice stuck in my dress that I couldn't get out, my hair was soaking wet and covering my face, and I was thrilled. The boys were so proud of themselves, especially since I'd screamed when they got me so passerby's were now commending them on a job well done.
Later that night Brad and Peja and I went to see Megamind, which is a new favorite! It was a pretty funny movie and I hadn't been to the movies in forever.
Yesterday was pretty much the longest day of work, ever. In addition to working the regular luau I worked an event in the morning. It was a luau for a birthday party. Guess how old the guest of honor was? One. Yep, he'd just turned one and over 150 people showed up and feaested at an event that individuals pay $88 each for. I have no idea how much this event cost the host family, but it must have been a lot. The Polynesian culture is similar to Hispanic culture in the celebration of babies. Babies didn't live very long in the olden days in those places so it's tradition to celebrate the first birthday. And that was true with this particular guy too. He was in the hospital for a big portion of the first year of his life, and now he's a healthy baby! I think that's reason enough to celebrate. It was incredible how many of the people there were family, and it made me miss mine. Everyone was warm and loving and you could tell they were a happy family. The best part was when the little kids got up on stage and did fire knife! It's crazy to me how they're so good at such a young age. The cutest part was when one of the little cousins with down syndrome got up on stage and twirled his around. I loved it!! Then the girl cousins did a routine to Baby by Justin Bieber which, to be honest, just didn't seem right. By the time we got everyone out and cleaned up we were already late setting up for the night luau. It was pretty hectic because we only had about ten workers for the event (we usually have close to 50 for the regular luau). It was a really tiring day, but it was well worth it!
Also, I'm not really a huge fan of this site, but this one post is just the story of my life.
And I just love seeing this on Facebook..I can pronounce all of these names! And they're all from different countries! I love it!!
Today Alyssa and I watched James and the Giant Peach as part of our weekly tradition. Every Sunday we watch a movie that we watched as kids. I forgot how creepy that movie is!! We both fell asleep in the middle of it, so I guess she felt the same way.
39 days until I go home for Christmas!!! So excited!!
The morning started way too early. I didn't go to sleep til about 2:30 the night before because I was writing a speech in Maori about my dorm room. So I woke up at 6:30 to Jai-Ho blaring from my speakers. My eyes were pretty much swollen shut as they always are when I don't get enough sleep. But I was so excited! IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY! Birthdays are the best. In some ways it's better than Christmas. I was just so excited. I was excited to brush my teeth. I was excited to go to breakfast. I was excited to get dressed. I was excited to ride my bike to class. My speech went really well. Everyone freaked out about the picture of my house with palm trees in my yard, and then I showed these pictures as well and it was really well received. At the end I sang a song in Maori for extra credit. It goes as follows:
E hara i te mea no inainaei te aroha no nga tupuna i tuku iho, i tuku iho
This is the best I can translate it:
Love is not of these times alone It is from our anscestors, handed down, handed down
Sweet, right? Well then someone in the class remembered it was my birthday and so they all sang happy birthday to me in Maori! It was excellent.
I headed back to my room and found this!
I love those girls! Oragami, pictures of me, all sorts of treasures. I had half an hour so I talked to some of my family. Then I had volleyball.
Let me tell you about volleyball. I don't think I am terrible at it. I'm naturally at least decent at sports, and I did play in high school. So I should be semi-competent. Right? Wrong. I'm really terrible. And it doesn't help that there's a really attractive guy who plays for the school team in my class. [Just a side note, WHY are you taking a beginning volleyball class? Are you really just out to embarrass me/make me feel uncoordinated? Because it's working] I don't usually feel too great about that class. However it was different yesterday because it was my birthday! Unfortunately I think the better my attitude is, the less skill I exhibit. I'm not sure why that is, but it was definitely the case yesterday. But I was happy. I was put on a team of all the best people in the class plus me. I pretty much ruined all the drills, but I was laughing at myself. I'm sure they were trying to be polite and not laugh at my ridiculous mishaps, but I wish they would have laughed at/with me. Because I'm sure I just looked like even MORE of a troubled soul...not only is she uncoordinated but she's giggling to herself like a psycho! Anyway, when it came time for the final scrimmages (Is that a volleyball term for practice game? Or does that only apply to soccer?) I was hesitant to play. I looked at my birthday watch and saw that there was only fifteen minutes left in class. So as soon as we rotated I stood very still..concentrating....then I BOOKED it out the door, laughing like a maniac the whole way. I felt everyone staring at me, and I LOVED it! I'm certain they think I should be committed to an asylum. But I had such a rush of energy. I sprinted all the way to the locker rooms, changed back into my clothes, took my gym clothes back to the desk (the guy working there knew it was my birthday...could this get any better??), and skipped out of the building. It was excellent. I was listening to The First Single by The Format and that song never fails to put me in a good mood. So here I was, sprinting out of volleyball, skipping around listening to my iPod and singing at the top of my lungs, happy as a clam. It was a great day. I had too much energy to sit in my room, so I walked to the mailroom, singing the whole way. Yes, I'm aware that I looked like a fool. But a happy fool. I got my mail (netflix, birthday cards/$$, and a letter from Lys!!) and then I went to Foodland to buy eggs for my birthday brownies, courtesy of my mother!
Then I rode my bike to Roth and Michael's house, ate some lunch, and made brownies!
Roth helped, but Micheal was pretty anti social.
After that I got to go to dance...which I promptly got kicked out. That's a story for another day.
Makara's birthday presents to her friends/family are raps about said person. It was probably the most anticipated present. I was excited. Here it is:
Then it was piñata time! My mom gave me this piñata when I was in Texas. I carried it around in a box not knowing what it was until I got home. I opened it and freaked out. I was so excited. I kind of hesitated to beat it up because it was so cool! But Alyssa and Makara were less hesitant and I realized I'd eventually be throwing it away. We had to get a little creative. I used a wire hanger to hang it from the door in the hallway. Then we found a broken piece of a sprinkler system and used that to beat it.
Our methods didn't last too well. It fell down multiple times. I particularly love this picture that Alyssa captured right as it was falling.
When we finally busted it open I was pleased to find that there was more than candy! There were some shoes, a lovely necklace, and a pair of sliders.
Oh yeah, these were exciting. Feminine hygiene from a foreign country. At least...I think that's what they were...
These were the sliders I got. There is, of course, a story. A few weeks ago I was looking for a pair of sliders on the Underarmour website. I found this one pair that I really liked, but the cost of shipping was twice the price of the shorts. Ridiculous! So for my birthday I just asked for a pair of brightly colored sliders (none of this black business), nothing specific at all and guess what! I got the exact pair I'd been looking at. So cool!
The festivities made a huge mess. We vacuumed it up and I collected all my newly acquired possessions. Then when I went to return the vacuum I talked to my favorite RA (read: only RA I can tolerate) for over an hour about a clothing drive we're setting up and the Christmas party and musical numbers and ways to make the world better.....etc. Then I went back to my room and slept. A really exciting thing to do, I know. But I was SO tired and I wanted to enjoy the rest of the day!
Ahh this is taking me forever to write. And I'm a little bit tired of writing. But I can't for the life of me remember anything about my birthday last year. And it's a little upsetting. So I'm going to document every detail of the day! Even if it kills me!
When I woke up I got ready for the first time that day [so glad I had the day off of work! That worked out well!] and then Makara and I rode our bikes to Subway and tried the new 5 ice cream. It is SO good! New favorite! It only has 5 ingredients and you can taste how clean it is. Mmmmmmm.
We ran into Jaymee at Foodland, lookin' beautiful as always. My face is kind of blurred here, but I love that you can see how long my hair is. My goal is at least to my ankles, but Rapunzel length would be prime.
We came back and I hung out with my wonderful roommate for a while and did some other things. I think. Then I was tricked into going to a surprise celebration (not party....they were very specific) hosted by my favorite Asians!
I got a lovely pair of tiny rose earrings, which I love! Then they took me down into the courtyard where they had ice cream and cookies and a banner and decorations written in the cutest handwriting ever. They taught me how to say "I am a crazy woman" which, phonetically, is ngo hai tin lo yan. Yeah that makes no sense. Except in my head. Which is why I'm writing it. Anyway. Then they had me close my eyes and make ten wishes. I was up to wish one and a half when the doused me with water!! It was sort of an extention of a work tradition...we always get soaked on our birthdays or our last day of work. Since it was my day off they wanted to make sure I didn't miss out.
Later that night I hung out with Jake for a while. On my way back to my hale I was passing the tennis courts and saw a patch of grass and for some reason I just felt like sitting down. It was a place where a lot of people walked by but I didn't really notice them. It was just such a pretty night. It was cool and breezy and I could see the palm trees in the moonlight and I was just so grateful that I was living in such a beautiful place.
After sitting there for a while a guy from work was waling by so he sat on the wall by me and we started talking. After about half an hour two other guys from work came and then later a third. We sat out there talking and taking pictures and goofing off. I laughed pretty hard. Which is something I always enjoy.
We eventually went back to our rooms and I went to sleep. It was, overall, an excellent day. :)
