Residence

Yes, that’s right, I now have a place to live!! After looking at a dozen places (most of which were sub par) I went to Kalaheo yesterday and took a room for $850 a month (which includes all utilities—electricity runs about $300 for an average house around here). Anyway, it’s a room in a co-worker’s downstairs and is currently unfinished. There will be an oven, yes, an oven, a refrigerator, and he’s putting in an island and cupboards. He also offered to furnish it so it will have a bed and a couch and he’s also rewiring it so I’ll have my own phone line. No cable, but they have the internet. I have my own entrance and bathroom and it’s closed off from the main house (which, by the way, is an amazing house) and he also said I could use the lanai (porch). So, to recap, it has everything that I find essential: furniture, an oven, internet, and a place to hang my hammock. It’s not huge, but neither am I and it’s nice. The family is really nice too (5 kids) and the neighborhood is nice—they even deliver the mail there. Yes, that’s rare.

In other news, Thursday I went to my new friends’ place for a movie night. They had one of those giant projectors like the guys in Grossmann had back in the day and had subwoofers that literally rocked the whole house when they got going. There was a potluck meal too—about 10 people from the same crowd as the Tuesday night beach people. Anyway, it was fun. Kept me off of the streets (though I did miss Grey’s Anatomy…). Yesterday was homecoming here in Waimea but no one wanted to go to the game with me so I drove through the reverse parade (a dozen politicians stand on either side of the main highway on Fridays with their signs and wave at the passing cars) and called it a day.

Homecoming reminds me that I have not really mentioned everyday life here. It feels familiar—very small town. Although the towns are only 5 miles apart from one another (if that) it seems like they’re separate entities and 10 miles seems like quite a ways. That could be because of the highway—only 2 lanes and the top speed limit is 50. There are no semis on the road. And you plan your whole day around going to Lihue. It’s only 23 miles away and takes between 30-60 minutes depending on traffic, but it’s the big city (relatively speaking) so going’s a big deal. Reminds me of being a kid and planning a day to Mason City. But Lihue’s much smaller than Mason, maybe 8-10 thousand.

Work is fine, keeps me busy and out of trouble. Start at 7 and leave around 3:30 which leaves me with a little less than 3 hours of daylight left. The end of the work day is pau hana, one of many Hawaiian words that get used every day. Other words:
-Mahalo-thank you
-kama‘aina- long-time resident
-makai- towards the ocean
-mauka- towards the mountains
They also speak pidgin here. Pidgin isn’t technically another language—it’s what I think of as loose English. If you’re not ready for it you can’t understand it, but I find that if I’m paying attention I can pick up the gist of the sentence. It’s hard to explain.

Anyway, all is well, for the most part. The PO Box lady's giving me a hard time and therefore making it hard to get the PO, but I'll get it figured out. Finding a place is opening doors not only to a place to live but also getting me mail and a bank account. It’s a great feeling to actually have my life fall together the way it’s supposed to.