24

Its hard to encompass all the experiences of a vacation (or a week in general) in retrospect (though, in retrospect, everything except what is happening right now is that way). So, I am making it my aspiration to try to write about things nightly rather than on my return to the states when I am sure I will be exhausted from returning to work, packing, moving, and unpacking. So, lets commence with the blogging.

Our flight was unremarkable. Which is exactly what you want a flight to be. You know they will be cramped, overlong, and largely uncomfortable.........but that is no surprise to anyone who has traveled. Remarkable is now almost exclusively falls into the domain of the horrifying and awful in regards to air travel now, and thankfully we were wholly bereft of that. Plus, our bags arrived with us. Double bonus.

My first impression was that Hawaii is VERY different than I thought it would be. In fact, it is overwhelmingly akin to south Florida. Or, at least the area we are in is that way. If you took away the mountains, replaced the Hawaiian people with Cubans, and put some consonants on the road signs, I don't know if I could tell the difference. The weather is the same. The lush tropical plants are the same. Even the architecture (and general era) of the homes is the same. I don't know what I expected it to look like here, but I didn't expect the overwhelming sense of deja vu.

Other things that have stood out: Zippy's restaurant (the island version of Denny's and absolutely the only thing open past 10 on a Sunday night), is terrible. Poor Tia and her theoretically safe order of spaghetti that turned out to somehow be inferior to Chef Boy-R-Dee in every way except price and was served with the leavings of a can of Veg All (the only mixed vegetables that dare try to toss in lima bean). I had a far superior meal in every way, and that is only backhandedly complimentary. However, I guessed enough to at least order the national side dish (macaroni salad) which was quite good.

Lizard poop: Lizards poop here. A lot. They are also quite indiscriminate as to where. nuff said.

Smoothie meals: Yum! Take a smoothie and dump it into a bowl with an assortment of fruit, toss some granola, a sliced up banana, and some almond slivers on top. Coat with honey. Breakfast in a bowl that is far more filling than you can imagine and you don't feel guilty about eating it.

Mixed plates: These are yummy and evidently a staple of the cuisine here. WE finally found a place to eat this evening (they are not common away from the city.......bizarrely rare actually, to the point you wonder where people eat out at ever) and had our first mixed plate. Basically it includes: 2 scoops white rice, one scoop of macaroni salad, and any combination of meats you can think of. Quite good, even if the combo of white rice with another carb is a bit odd.

Other than, we saw some surfers, walked some beaches, and drove half the island. Perhaps some touristy stuff tomorrow.