I went snorkeling today..at a new spot! We saw lots of whales spout.. that was really neat. Here is one (the splash way out in the distance) but I missed it spouting, so its only the after effects of the splash!



This is the spot we were snorkeling in.. there were some pretty big rocks I kept thinking were turtles, so I was afraid to step anywhere. But, we never did see any turtles the whole afternoon.. next time!


Me & Alexa with some cool scenery.


Welcome to Hawaii!


Yet another cool tree on the island!

Sailing!

 

 

 

Today we went sailing out on Hilo Bay.. ! It was so much fun, but I still didn't have the guts to go out by myself -- I probably would have capsized... Definitely would have. The last picture is a bunch of the girls that came today..

Guess the Vegetable!!

Guess what veggies these are!! First one to guess the right ones gets a postcard!

I peeled this one a little just to show the inside:


A Close up of a different one:

Exploring in Hilo

This week I went exploring in Hilo a little more...
Here's a couple of my friends - we walked a little over 5 miles around that day.. It was good to get some exercise!



On the way, a few things caught my eye --

Everyone from work can tell Johnnie that I found his relative named Chi Chi here:




And.. a little different menu @ McDonald's than you would see in North America.. SPAM... mmm....(and when I say mmm.. I'm lying.) But Spam is sold by the trailerful here.. everyone is just in love with it. I say.. eww.

Snorkeling and Beach!

Well.. school started this week in Hilo! The campus is pretty much all outdoors (but covered incase of rain), except for the classrooms, they are indoor of course.
Friday was a snorkeling day in Puna! It was really cool - there were little ponds all connected to each other with shallow water (you can see one in the pic below). And I saw an eel! It was really scary so I just swam really fast out of that pond. They aren't supposed to bite unless you get up in their business, but I didn't care - I wasn't risking it.



And another spot we stopped to look there were a whole bunch of black crabs climbing up and down the wall - I thought they were scorpions at first but then i realized I'd never seen a scorpion and didn't know what they looked like. Apparently they were crabs...all the same to me - they both bite.



Yesterday I went to Hapuna Beach with a trip that the University put free for students! There were about 60 students all piled on buses and then headed off to the beach. It was super hot all day, but the good news is I stayed burn free, and the best part - some beach volleyball!

New set of wheels!

Well, my transportation has been upgraded! Thank heavens. Biking wasn't bad, but when it is pouring and I'm going 2 miles up hill all the way, not fun. No licence required and it only costs like $4 to fill up!! Here's the new set of wheels!



My first day riding and of course it pours like cats and dogs on me.



Here's a little visitor waiting outside the window. He made his way into my room later.... let's just say I was not impressed.

My little orchid.

 

This is my newest addition to my home decor.. I bought it at the farmers market the other day. Orchids are so cheap down here, too bad I can't bring it home!

Trees trees trees!

I can't believe the crazy trees around here.. they are incredible and extremely huge!! Here's one on the campus (that little blue thing in the tree is me!!):



This is a waterfall called Rainbow Falls right on the outside of town. There hasn't been rain for quite a few days so its pretty dry right now. But regardless, it is such a pretty spot.



I went with Kristen, my friend from California, to the waterfall, this is right beside the look out spot (again, crazy trees!)


It was getting pretty cloudy on this day, but still didn't rain, yay! Hilo is treating me pretty well so far for having the most rain in all of U.S..!

Lu'au

For the orientation at the school - we got to have a Lu'au! It was really cool.

There were Samoan dancers there that performed for us, amazing food, and some other entertainment.



A vid of the Samoan dancers:

Over to Kona

Yesterday was another adventurous day!! The couple I'm staying with took me down to Kona. On the way - we stopped at a few beaches and some sight seeing spots.
It was A - MAZING! Here is the first stop we went to called Laupahoehoe. It was gorgeous - the colors of the ocean were awesome.






Hang loose!


We also stopped for malasada's on the way there. DEE LISH!! It's like a donut with no hole - but has filling inside of it and served warm. So goood!



I hope these instill a yearning to come visit down here!!

Coconut Island Jump!

What a busy couple of first days! So, I met a bunch of the other exchange students and we decided to go exploring around the town. So we ended up at a nice little place called Coconut Island Park. There were signs up everywhere to watch for falling coconuts - kind of funny!

So here are some of the locals belly flopping off of a 20 ft. jump..! They are crazy! They go in kind of a crawling position just near the water. They said it didn't hurt, but I didn't believe them. So here is one of them jumping:


Alexa and me - another girl I met on exchange from New Jersey.



And here's us jumping!! And also - my first time in salt water!! Can I just say that my throat and nose were burning ?? Not a pleasant experience, although the jumping part was a blast...!

Hawaii living!

So, my first few days in Hawaii have gone and past..! I got a little tour of the town, but can't really remember where everything is - it might take a while, especially with no car of my own..! Here is a little taste of my place here --



My bedroom which is completely PURPLE. Bed, walls, everything. I like purple and all but seriously.. all purple..?? Haha.. ok, I'm sure I'll be fine.



This is my living room... ! (Yay, no purple.)



A view from my window to the back of the house - which, I might add, also consists of a lemon and orange tree!


This is just a snapshot of UHH campus -- soo nice..!

It has been a very testing experience so far, even in these past few days..! It is very laid back here, and the culture is very different...
Stay tuned - more to come!