Laundromats

When I was in college and had to do my own laundry (which was a rarity!) I went to the nearest laundromat. It had the usual collection of randomly aged washers and dryers, really comfortable orange couches, a tv, plants. It was nice. It was a nice way to spend a few hours.

My experience here has not been so rosy. The laundromat has banks of washers and dryers of course, no seating except outside where the smokers and terribly off-key hippies pollute any semblance of relaxations with yuck. It is not enjoyable. Plus, we live in a rainforest so it rains at least for a few seconds every time we're in there so it makes sitting outside even less enjoyable. Today, the hippies singing Bob-Dylan off-key and their kids whose teeth were rotting out of their mounts was more than I could handle!

some flowers

Toxoplasmosis

I also learned yesterday at the doctor's office that I have toxoplasmosis, albeit at low levels. I can't understand this because I've been paranoid about getting it and have avoided the cats completely. But it turns out that the disease can even be airborne - I never had a chance. Hope the baby isn't screwed up, though the nurse assured me it wouldn't be? What's the point? Why do they get pregnant women all worked up about cats anyway?

Rh-

Raph and I went to my doctor's appointment yesterday and found out that his blood type is Rh- which is awesome I think because that means I don't have to have those wierd shots they give you. The doctor was shocked and said that in all the years he's been practicing he's only had a handful of couples who are both Rh-. He told me I had picked the right guy!

Pam Berry

So we had dinner at our friend Dan's last night. He lives in a pavilion, not a house at all as there are no walls, just a roof. Needless to say eating there after sundown is a mosquito-ridden affair, plus the bees as they have their hives 25 feet from the pavilion. Anyhow, Dan joined us for Thanksgiving, where he was introduced to the greatest of all games - celebrity. He insisted on playing three times in fact, until finally I drew the line and said I'm going to bed. Well, he made sure there would be four of us there last night so that celebrity could continue. He invited another teacher, Pam Berry, a 50-some year old lady with the thickest Georgia accent I have ever heard. Pam has had a tough life, left several abusive men, suffered through a terrible divorce which precipitated a random move with her son from chilly Georgia to sunny Hawaii. Pam likes to drink and smoke and swear and she was very entertaining thoughout the night, particularly as the white zinfandel dwindled in the bottle. She promised to throw a baby luau for our unborn child (this is a Hawaii tradition and a big deal here!) And called everyone a bitch about 47 times while playing celebrity. She did a fairly hilarious charade of the indian chief, Sitting Bull. Anyway, my thoughts dwell on her so I thought I share.

vitamins

So, I've officially given up on the prescribed vitamins for pregnant ladies. After I puked the pill up a few times it dawned on me - how can this possibly be good for me if I am puking it up? Can it really be that good if my body is rejecting it? Don't worry, I've been taking Flinstones instead which seem to have enough of all the important stuff without over-doing it. I felt guilty for a minute like doctors must know what my baby needs, but alas I've decided that's a farce. My body knows better than any doctor what it needs and I'm going to listen to it.

kitty portrait

This is our stupid cute kitty who kills all the mice and I won't allow in the house because I'm afraid of toxoplasmosis. Oh well.

camping with kids

A few weeks ago we went camping with another teacher, our friend Dan, and a half dozen 7-9th grade boys. For one thing, I forget what boys are like at that age, without girls around. Or maybe I never knew. In any case, we slept in our car, while the boys raged all night long, fueled by mountain dew and freedom. They toilet-papered eachothers' tents, pulled pranks, climbed trees and threw bark at eachother, scaled coconut trees, etc. Being pregnant, they exhausted me. I laid in the car, amused but aware of how different boys and girls are. Our friend Dan is a saint for volunteering his time (four days, three nights) to take those boys out for camping and bodyboarding. Here is a shot of him body boarding at dead trees, a notorious Big Island surf spot, where screwing up can give you "tattoos" - or scars from where the lava rock claws you. Looked fun when he was doing it.

some Thanksgiving pics.

Raph and Isaac wrestling coconuts out of the tree. And Raph cooking Thanksgiving delights, while Isaac stares at the ceiling.

new digs

coming clean

I haven't been blogging for a while now because there was so much going on in my life. You may remember we were about to buy a new house when last I blogged. Well, no longer. Instead we're having a baby! And have moved off the grid into a fabulous house with incredible views and great mana (Hawaiian for good energy!) Here's a picture. Whew...now that that is out, I can start blogging again. End of June - a baby - hard to believe.

My Parents are Criminals

My parents have recently discovered ebay. They've been buying stuff from ebay forever, but recently they discovered selling on ebay. They're thinking of selling their house in a few years and recognize that it will be will take at least a few years to get rid of everything in it. So in earnest they've been selling. Unfortunately, they don't always ask me before they start selling things. They put some chairs up for sale that I wanted. There were two auctions of the chairs, so I ended up having to outbid everyone so that I won because we didn't know how to stop an auction.

Yeah, well on ebay that's illegal. It's called shill bidding and my parents infant company got shut down. We're cut off of ebay. MY mother is horrified. She called me at midnight her time (8:00 is her normal bed time) because she was so upset about it she couldn't sleep. She is really embaressed! I think it is actually pretty funny. Everytime I call and they're not home, I tell her I assume the cops have come to get her!

parent conferences

Today was the first of three days of parent conferences. Not in the vein you might be thinking of but instead a cafeteria full of teachers with no real organization and only about half with name tages. Parents could come in and pick up report cards with or without their students, then go around and speak to teachers. I have about 75 students. Five parents came to talk to me today. We'll see how many tomorrow.

The highlight of this event was when the ladies over at the ESL table shrieked and screamed in an unbelievably loud tone. A RAT! Nothing better than a rat running through the cafeteria at a parent-teacher conference. That was pretty much the funniest thing, in a sad and embarressing sort of way, that has occurred in some time.

nenes and silence

Raph and I took a hike today (sorry we forgot the camera) in a part of the national park we'd never been to, down Hilina Pali Road. It was foggy and drizzling, and the Ohia trees were sparse among the native grasses and shrubs. We walked for not too long about an hour, over crumbling lava, grassy fields and gnarled trees. It was lovely. I commented to Raph that the silence was so nice. And I'm not sure what about this place seemed silent. I guess that is a funny thing to say, but I feel like we are often by ourselves and often in the woods or by the water, but it just doesn't seem as silent as it was today. I even felt like our presence was quiet. A wierd feeling sort of. Anyway it was lovely. We saw two nene geese, which are endangered, though we used to see lots of them on Maui. They only live in Hawaii so it isn't too suprising that they're endangered. The feathers on their necks had been clumped, as though by running water, like sand. They made low mooing cow sounds at us as they plucked grasses to eat. It was really pleasant.

Earthquake

First: for any one that is wondering, we are fine.

Second: for anyone that is wondering, it did scare the crap out of me, never having been in an earthquake before. When I was completing my blog last night, I was thinking, what the hell am I am going to write about tomorrow. Well I got the answer early this morning. I had been up for over an hour, getting all of our paper-work in order and opening mail. Piles of papers were all over the table and I was running back and forth looking for ones I needed. The glass door to my right made a funny sound, like someone had thrown something against it. I looked up expecting to see a bird laying on the ground and as I did, the floor under me began to shake more and more. It didn't take long - a few seconds - for it to dawn on me that this was an earthquake. Raph was still in bed and I ran to him, screaming the whole way. I was scared. He was getting out of bed when I ran in, and I screamed that he had to get into the doorway - that's what you need to do in an earthquake. (Where the hell did I learn this?) He laughed at my fear. And then it ended. And I took a giant breath.

sleeping in cars (without boys)

I had training in Kona for the last three days. I have officially missed a quarter of the schools days for the first quarter! I heard it through the grape vine that I get a daily stipend of 80 bucs whether I spend it or not. So I think to myself immediately, "I'm sleeping in my car." It's amazing how freaked out people get about sleeping in your car. The truth is I love it. I don't know what it is about sleeping in my car I like so much - maybe it is the river guide in me. I love curling up in my car on a deadend street. Towels stuck in the windshield to block out strong lights. Listening for the first minutes to every sound wondering if someone is coming to tell me to move. Waking up at first light, before all the residents are up. I really do like it.

But noone else I work with or attended training with seemed to think this was wise. Another teacher at training offered me the extra bed in her hotel room and made such a stink about it, I finally accepted. It was a terrible hotel, which I might have excused, if it hadn't have been for the teachers ripping roaring snoring. An hour of laying in the bed waiting, wishing to fall asleep was enough, before I retreated to my comfy rental car. And slept wonderfully, sweetly. Un underrated activity I say.

more front yard

If you look closely at the second picture, you can see a fisherman on the point. Gives you perspective I think.

on our new front lawn

Our new favorite pasttime is sitting in these white chairs we bought at a garage sale and watching the ocean. Raph saw dolphins the other day while I was on a walk. Damn him. But every time we see turtles and crabs, and sometimes schools of fish in the shallow water. It's pretty much awesome. Even if a tsunami knocks my house down, I'll have been able to sit by the water, and watch sunrises most days!

the crash

Raph will tell you if you ask. I cry a lot. I don't think it is that much, but compared to him I do cry a lot (not a difficult feat considering I haven't ever seen him cry.) My departure from Pittsburgh was like removing one of those really sticky bandaids and I cried a lot, for leaving my home with permanence, knowing that this time I wouldn't be coming back.

But after the 18 hours of travel, my tears had dried and I was excited about a new adventure. I did pretty well. No bouts of crazy emotions. No tearful episodes about how I miss my mother. I did miss my mother. But I didn't cry about it. Not for months. And then they came. My parents. Unobtrusively, without imposing, which is their way.

Boy was I glad to see them. They took US on vacation even though they were visiting us. We spend days at the Puako beaches on the other side of the island, sunning ourselves, watching turtles and fish, playing bridge. And when we'd had our sun limit, we returned to rainy magical Puna, and shared the stars above Mauna Kea, the tide pools at Kapoho, the red road, quaint Hilo, and of course our new house. Then we shopped for furniture and played more bridge. Raph even was dealt 32 points in one hand. We ate well, and laughed a lot. And then they left.

And that little cut under the sticky bandaid resurfaced and I haven't stopped crying since.

parents visit