I was literally about ten seconds from falling asleep before I realized that I forgot to blog, so -- not wanting to break my promise -- I pulled myself out of bed to type a few sentences.
I spent most of the day helping Shikinah and Ryan move into their new apartment. Shikinah and Abby (her sister) and I spent all morning deep cleaning the new place: scrubbing down baseboards, walls, and cupboards... bleaching stuff... vacuuming... etc. Then we moved five carloads of stuff (three in my car, two in Ryan's) from the old apartment to the new. We got all the shelving units installed and organized the kitchen, master bathroom, and part of the office. For being 7 months pregnant, Shikinah held up amazingly well all day!
I have to say, after spending a long work-week staring at a computer screen for 8+ hours a day, it is so refreshing to actually WORK and sweat and get dirty. Especially with good friends for company. Free meals don't hurt either. :)
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Oh My God.
It's strange.
When I lived in Ohio, I remember thinking, "I can't imagine leaving this place." Not that I didn't want to ever leave or thought that I would stay there forever... but I just couldn't picture what my life would look like without my family close by, without the friends I'd had for years, and without Damascus Friends Church. It was a strange feeling knowing that I wouldn't be there forever but being unable to fathom a life absent of those very, very good and wonderful things.
And being in essentially the same position now feels stranger still. In another few weeks it will be a year since I first moved to Kauai... and I can't imagine leaving this place. I had planned to live here no longer than a year and to remain unattached, but it's been impossible not to become attached. To my incredible friends, to North Shore Christian Church, to the mountains and the ocean. I have a very full life here, and when I think about leaving, I get stuck. Mentally blocked. I can't picture leaving and saying goodbye to this life. What would come next? International travel? U.S. road trip? Mission work? Hibernation for book-writing purposes? A family, at some point? Spiritual retreat? Grad school? All of the above?
Boy, it's confusing. Lately I've felt pressed to be thinking about the next step, mostly because I feel like I'm not living a life full of Christian service and sacrifice. It's not that I'm trapped in a guilt trip or anything... this is something more complex and internal. Something to do with higher goals and purpose and the meaning of life and all that. Something to do with eternity. Something to do with Jesus.
Please, listen to this song: "Oh My God" by Jars of Clay. If there will ever be a song that radically changes my life, it will be this one. Perhaps it's already begun to. Every time I listen to it, by the end my heart is pounding and I can barely breathe. Seriously, I mean EVERY time. It hasn't lost its power even with years of repeated listenings. Here's a video with the song, but I would recommend listening to it without watching the video. Shut your eyes, don't move a muscle, and absorb the lyrics. The last few minutes of the song are... wow. Even if you're not a Christian, I'm willing to bet that you can sympathize with the depiction of a broken world crying out for answers.
Somehow, whether in Kauai or Ohio or some third world country, I need to more effectively engage this broken world.
If you can't watch the video, here's the YouTube url:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqeyisb688
Polihale and Bon Dance
In June, some friends and I went to Polihale and a Bon Dance; I'm just now getting around to posting pictures. First are some shots from Polihale, which is a wide, deep, silky beach at the very end of the road on the west side. The last couple miles of the road require four-wheel drive, so Chris rented a truck for the night and we plowed along the pitted road to this glorious destination to watch the sunset. If you blow up the picture you can get a good idea of the size of the mountain by comparing it to the teeny tiny people at its base:
Chris (a local) taking a picture of Gabriela (from Poland):
Chris and Gabriela watching the sunset while I play paparazzi:
Watching a kite surfer wrestle down his kite and fold it up:
Gabriela:
Tako poke (octopus) for dinner... yum! If you click on the picture to enlarge it you can see the suckers:
And the breathtaking sunset, of which I still managed to get a couple good shots without my tripod:
After the sun had set, we went to a Bon Dance in Hanapepe where we met up with our friends Jenni (who is now back in Germany until January, sadly) and Daniel. A Bon Dance is a Japanese Buddhist festival held in honor of the dead. In the middle of the festival was an oval-shaped arena in which the kimono-adorned performers danced circles around a center podium, where drummers struck a mesmerizing beat. I believe the podium (more like a scaffold) is called a yagura. The lanterns in the pictures have something to do with the dead spirits of loved ones -- to lead them home, I think?
Aloha!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Pretty Pastels...
I was too lazy to dig out my tripod to get a super clear shot, but check out tonight's sunset (photo taken from my lanai.) I thought it was so unusual for the blue layer to be nearest the bottom -- and look how rich the hue is! I never get sick of these sunsets...
Monday, September 5, 2011
Luau!
This entry will finish the recap of Stacey's visit to Kauai. Monday night we went to the Smith Family Luau (pictures below), and Tuesday we packed in quite a bit before heading to the airport for her flight home. In the morning we shopped in Hanalei, laid on the beach for while, and then kayaked down Hanalei river and into the bay, dragged the kayak onshore to sun and swim, and paddled back across the bay and up the river. After stopping home to shower and for Stacey to finish the last of her packing, we went to Kalapaki Joe's for dinner (calamari appetizer... mmmm) and then to the airport. At the risk of speaking for both of us, I'd say Stacey had a good trip! :) And now, pictures from the luau.
Some random scenery in the beautiful gardens where we wandered about before the imu ceremony at dusk:
An alligator stump:
Stacey and I:
There were peacocks eeeeeverywhere:
The imu pit before the kalua pig was unearthed:
The unearthing of the pig:
I love the crowd in this photo:
After the imu ceremony, we had a feast of kalua pork, sweet and sour mahi mahi, teriyaki beef, some sort of chicken, rice, mashed potatoes, Hawaiian sweet potatoes, salad, poi, rice pudding, fresh fruit, and mai tais. Yum yum yum. Following the feast was the actual performance, which featured lots of cultural dance and costume, and ended with a fire twirler. There was no flash photography allowed during the show, but I snapped one dark shot of a hula dancer before I got completely engrossed in the show and forgot all about my camera.
Aloha!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Mmmm... veggies!
I've been thinking for a while now that I would like to educate myself on nutrition because I literally know nothing (nothing!) about it. Now is the perfect time for me to start eating healthy for two specific reasons:
1) Kauai seems to be an organic hub. So so so many people eat all natural, unprocessed foods and are acutely knowledgeable about healthy eating. What little I know about nutrition I've picked up from the people here. I was introduced to quinoa, which is a superfood cooked as a grain (gluten-free, full of protein, contains all 9 amino acids), and I LOVE it. It's relatively easy to prepare, can be eaten with a variety of different foods, and is filling. I eat it in place of rice. Mmmm. I've also developed a liking for vegetables, which I thought would NEVER happen. I used to be revolted by tomatoes, but lately I've been buying them every time I go to the store.
2) I'm young! If I pay attention to my diet now, it will hopefully develop into a more healthy lifestyle that will stick with me through the years. I've been very blessed with a high metabolism for most of my life and haven't ever had to worry about gaining weight (in fact, there were a few years when I was frustrated at not being able to gain weight)... but just in the last year or so I've been aware of my body changing, and I've gained a few pounds. It's nothing I'm concerned about, but it is a sign that I need to be more intentional with the sort of foods I eat, the amount of snacking I do, and my exercise level.
So, I've just bought a well-reviewed nutrition book on Amazon and will begin my self-education as soon as it arrives. In the meantime (and thereafter) I'm going to recommence running every morning at the break of dawn, which sounds just awful but is something I really enjoy once I'm in the routine of it. It gives me a great burst of energy to begin the day and sets a pace of productivity. I also plan to restart my push-up routine (I have tiny arms, but somehow I'm a beast at pushups/pullups) and perhaps start doing some amateur yoga.
I used to say -- and am somewhat still of this mind -- that perfect health and fitness aren't all that important to me because life (and thus, this body) is so very temporary and short. In the great scheme of things that really matter, having a toned tummy is pretty trivial. Perhaps it's even vain. But I suppose I'd like to at least feel good while I'm on this earth, and being in shape and healthy will give me the freedom of physical activity. So, since I'm actually interested in nutrition for once, I'm going to take advantage of my curiosity and learn something new. Besides, I know from other people's lives that health is very easy to take for granted; you don't realize how important it is until you lose it.
1) Kauai seems to be an organic hub. So so so many people eat all natural, unprocessed foods and are acutely knowledgeable about healthy eating. What little I know about nutrition I've picked up from the people here. I was introduced to quinoa, which is a superfood cooked as a grain (gluten-free, full of protein, contains all 9 amino acids), and I LOVE it. It's relatively easy to prepare, can be eaten with a variety of different foods, and is filling. I eat it in place of rice. Mmmm. I've also developed a liking for vegetables, which I thought would NEVER happen. I used to be revolted by tomatoes, but lately I've been buying them every time I go to the store.
2) I'm young! If I pay attention to my diet now, it will hopefully develop into a more healthy lifestyle that will stick with me through the years. I've been very blessed with a high metabolism for most of my life and haven't ever had to worry about gaining weight (in fact, there were a few years when I was frustrated at not being able to gain weight)... but just in the last year or so I've been aware of my body changing, and I've gained a few pounds. It's nothing I'm concerned about, but it is a sign that I need to be more intentional with the sort of foods I eat, the amount of snacking I do, and my exercise level.
So, I've just bought a well-reviewed nutrition book on Amazon and will begin my self-education as soon as it arrives. In the meantime (and thereafter) I'm going to recommence running every morning at the break of dawn, which sounds just awful but is something I really enjoy once I'm in the routine of it. It gives me a great burst of energy to begin the day and sets a pace of productivity. I also plan to restart my push-up routine (I have tiny arms, but somehow I'm a beast at pushups/pullups) and perhaps start doing some amateur yoga.
I used to say -- and am somewhat still of this mind -- that perfect health and fitness aren't all that important to me because life (and thus, this body) is so very temporary and short. In the great scheme of things that really matter, having a toned tummy is pretty trivial. Perhaps it's even vain. But I suppose I'd like to at least feel good while I'm on this earth, and being in shape and healthy will give me the freedom of physical activity. So, since I'm actually interested in nutrition for once, I'm going to take advantage of my curiosity and learn something new. Besides, I know from other people's lives that health is very easy to take for granted; you don't realize how important it is until you lose it.
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