A new month

Time sure is flying by.  I can't believe it is already June and I have been in Hawai'i for about 10 months now.

Lots has happened, a Maui trip this past weekend in particular, and I saw Drag Me To Hell tonight.  Crazy movie, very Sam Raimi, left me pretty exhausted emotionally.  It is a stressful movie, but in a good way, as strange as that may sound.  Just see it, you'll see what I mean.

The trip to Maui was pretty amazing - I have to admit, I was kind of excited about just taking the trip, but I had no idea what a blast it would turn out to be.

We watched the sun rise out at Haleakala, got sunned out at Ka'anapali Beach in incredibly hot weather, and had the most fun drunk night ever.  Oh beer pong, how I had missed you.

Some pictures to share!

The sunrise went from this:

To this:

And finally to this:

It was pretty breathtaking to watch, and I think the most fun thing was just being with all of these great people.  Yes, we drove out there ridic early and slept in the car til 4:30 am to watch this, but really, so worth it.

Yeah, I know, the finger.  But it's such a great group picture.  As for the night, one picture pretty much sums it all up.

Let's just say: alcohol, temporary tattoos, and way too much fun.  I'll leave the rest to your imagination.  I still laugh when I think about some of these pictures we took that night.  You can see the rest of the trip here.  On facebook, though.

Am done with the Kaimuki kids, we finished off our class with an amazing experience participating in the Lantern Floating Festival that happens every Memorial Day, out at Ala Moana Beach Park.  Here are a few pics:

Above, my students with the lanterns they had made on a previous day.  There are candles inside to be lit.  Each lantern has names of people previously passed, written onto them by various folks and families.  I put the names of my paternal grandparents on one of thousands of lanterns that were floated that night.

I know its a blurry picture, but it was really the best one of my students could take before my camera battery died.  Bummer, but as you can imagine the spectacle was really beautiful.  That, and it was a great last bonding experience with the kids.  I'll miss it it later I know, but I like to be able to remember it positively like this.  It was an unexpected learning experience for sure, being their teacher, and I am so appreciative to have had the opportunity to do it.

Anyhow, that's all I've got for now.  Life here right now is just so wonderful, and I know I'm going to miss it all so badly when I have to move back home in March.  Living it up, while I can!  Yays.