I'm turning Hawaiian

I can't believe there are only a few days left of this trip! My cell phone hasn't been working well at all, so I have barely been able to call out. As of Saturday, I won't even have it on for a while.

The other day I got to do some awesome snorkeling out by Captain Cook's monument, saw some beautiful fish...

And even got the rare opportunity to swim with HUGE manta rays!! It was incredible, they were two of them out in the day time, which is pretty uncommon, and these ones were about 8 feet across, even thoguh some of them can get to be 15 feet. I was probably about 3 feet away from them at one point- took my breath away; there are such intersting creatures in the ocean!!

Les and I drove over to the other side of the island, where we got to see some amazing views, rainforest waterfalls, and other things so native yet spectacular on the big island. I feel like if you were to grow up here you would become so jaded by all the beauty of the islands. Then I come over here with virgin eyes, and am just in awe of it all. I love it here, as I type this there are aray of native birds singing outside, it feels like you're in some tropical jungle. Also, there is so much to explore out here! I love walking along the lava rocks and seeing the tide pools, or just going off the trail a bit to get a little dirty :) It's wonderful.

Overall the last week has been great. It has been really nice because Lesly is working quite a bit, so I've been hanging out with some other CWU kids and her roomates, who are all really fun and have shown me a good time. Ben took me on a motorcycle tour along some road I don't remember (c'mon, there are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet, all the words sound alike) where we got gorgeous views, and saw some of old town Kona. Very cool. Then last night a few of us went to a Hawaiian luau! Really great food, and some fire dancing and hula-ing also. I really wanted to go on stage and be taught how to hula, but no luck :( It was very entertaining, and had an open bar, so we all had to take advantage of it.

I'm just not ready for this week to end! I'm stoked to head out and start my internship, but everything is so laid back and nice here, I wouldn't mind spending another week. But with 8...10...peope in one house (I've lost count) It'll probably be time for me to leave as Saturday creeps up. Aloha...

Haupanuana! Translation= It's fricken hot here!!

Aloha!

Finally in Kona! The flight over was fine, sat next to Locals who told me all about the great things to do on the big island...all I really remember is a bunch of Hawaiian words that I will never be able to tell the difference from (Makawakalaki!). Oh well. We also watched Madagascar II on the plane...great movie. I didn't rent any headphones so I couldn't actually hear any of the movie, but thats ok because I ended up making up my own words as the characters spoke. Yeah, definitely a great film :)

Also, was able to go out to dinner last night with our cousin Matt who is in town with his wife Jamie. It was so nice to see him, he isn't at family functions much often, so we all got to sit down and have a good chat at dinner. He is a great guy...and looks so much like my Dad! And we've been told that Carly and I look quite a bit like cousin Jenny (Matt's sister) so it all runs in the family. Speaking of running in the family...I got to do some beer tasting today!!

Les and I woke up nice and early to do some snorkeling. It was awesome. I love being in the water and it felt so great to be in nice warm weather for a change! We saw a little baby turtle, and some sweet fish. It was a nice day. I also got to meet some of her friends from the brewery, which I automatically also made my best friends (for my own sake of course). Did a little beer tasting...and now off to do some more beer tasting! No objecting to this...who knows when the next time I'll be able to drink beer!! I have to get my fill ok?! Not that any person I know would object to this type of (ahhem...did I mention Glockner?)behavior.

Just the start of a great week!! Aloha!



jealous?

Maple Valley

I've been in MV for the last few days, just getting ready to head out to Hawaii and hanging out with a few friends before I go. Spent friday evening and part of Saturday in Seattle with Halli, a friend from college who graduated with the same degree as me. She is now living in down town Seattle in a great location, so she can walk everywhere. It is an awesome set up! She also gave me some great advice about traveling-she went to India for 10 weeks last summer.

So tonight, I'll just start actually getting ready to go...packing my life into a back pack! Wish me luck!!

Me and Laura on the pier in Mukilteo....very windy, but a beautiful day!

Preperation

Well I got to hang out with a couple of my best friends this week before I leave. Rachel and I went to our friend Megan's wedding shower in Enumclaw...that was an adventure to say the east, we got a little lost along the way. It was great to see Megan...she is getting married in April and is preggo...due in August. It's amazing, it just seems like a couple months ago we were running around the streets of Ellensburg! Now shes on the road to being a wife and mom, and I'm headed out of the country.

Yesterday I had the delight of hanging out with Laura-friends since 4th grade, and even got to see her mom and dad, which was great. I have been close to them over the years, but we realized we actually hadn't seen each other in over three years! Much too long of a time to go without spending some time together. They were so excited for me and supportive of everything I am planning to do-they are such wonderful people. They also gave me the name of someone who lives in Malaysia who I should look up while I'm over there, he may have some great volunteer opportunities for me.

Stopped by REI yesterday and got a few things for traveling. Some insect repellent, sunscreen, little 3 oz. bottles for soap and such. There is so much more I need, but I'm told some of it is smart to get in the country.

I fly out to Kona in 8 days! I can't believe how soon that is!!! So excited to spend some time with Lesly...oh and the sun! I'm so sick of winter!!

Be in touch soon!

Molly

Welcome

Hello friends!
Welcome to my travel blog, which I have appropriately (I think) named "It's All Relative" because I thought about how true those words are in life, and I think it will be an important phrase to remember while I'm traveling around Asia for a bit. I think when you are in a forgein country where you don't speak the language and are a little unsure of yourself, it is important not to judge, and especially important not to compare different cultures, and appreciate each for what it is it.

Well I leave for Hawaii in 15 days from today, and am getting SO excited to start this adventure! I feel like I have been planning on it for over a year now, and I'm so close it's actually going to happen. I hope that I will be able to blog about my daily activities volunteering with the Street Educators Program, and just any fun stuff that happens to me along the way. I hope I can keep this up to date while I'm away. Feel free to comment on any of these blogs, it can be our little way of communicating!

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