Queen's Bath

This is the beach I went to today. It's called Queen's Bath. The end.

Weeks 3 & 4 in Kona

Well, it's been a while since my last little post, ay? Sorry about that. These are just a couple little pictures of things I've been up to. Since my grandparents came to visit, I got to see some cool things around the island, like the Mauna Loa macadamia nut farm. And I threw in a random picture of me pushing my friend, Jill, in a baby stroller. Sometimes we have to be inventive when finding fun things to do around campus. Well, goodnight for now!
*j

Sheraton Cheer Squad

Hey everyone! My grandparents are actually visiting Kona this weekend; I had such a fun day today! After helping out at the Iron Man triathlon event (my shift started at 4 a.m. and went until 10 a.m.) some friends came with me to swim at the pool at the Sheraton Hotel, where my grandparents are staying. This was by far the greatest pool I've ever swam in. There was a waterfall and even slides to go down. We had such a relaxing afternoon! I just wanted to share this picture of Amy, Nick, Stephanie (up in the cheer stunt) and I doing some cheerleading in the shallow end. We were laughing so hard all day!

Silly faces

This is a picture from a couple weeks ago of the day we painted our faces (in one of my emails, I called it "war paint"). Even though everyone looks silly, it was a really cool experience in unity. I really love the things that are happening here, even though they are REALLY weird and unfamiliar at times.

Back to the beach!

So, I got to go back to Children's Beach today (aka Kahaluu beach) and, as you can see, I got up close to one of the sea turtles. We didn't even notice it as we walked by! Then we glanced back and saw that we had walked on the sand right next to it. Anyhow, we had a little time to snorkel, so that was fantastic. The water at this place is really calm and has a lot of shallow water, so it's a great spot to see fish and other sea creatures. It is such a cool beach! Hope everyone out there is great, and I love you all!
*j

Earthquake and Waipio Valley

Things in Kona were mostly back to normal today. We had our regular class schedule for the day and work duty after that. Tonight we were hearing thunder and there has been lightning too. I can hear the rain coming down outside...I hope we get sunshine tomorrow, though.
Yesterday, a couple hours after the earthquake, I got to go on an amazing adventure with some friends. We drove to Waipio Valley and the beauty we saw was unreal. We hiked down into the valley, across the black sand beach, through the jungle, and then up some waterfalls. It was my favorite day so far, even though it started out with an earthquake. We even saw wild horses. That's right. WILD horses. I got really close, and then the boys got closer and were feeding rice crispies to one horse. Just a couple seconds after that picture, Andy (with the white bandanna) almost got kicked by that horse. I think it got nervous when Andy was right by it's back-side and was so close. Anyhow, we were all safe. It was an amazing day and I'll have to write more about it later. I love you all and I miss you so much!
*j

more adventures in Kona

Hey everybody...it's been a little while since my last update. Don't worry; I'm doing great! This weekend was absolutely wonderful. I went to the beach with a few girls from U of N and we had such a blast. We went to a beach called Kahaluu Beach (also known as Children's Beach) where there is some fantastic snorkeling. A couple of the girls said it was the BEST snorkeling place they'd ever been to, because there were so many fish all over the place. I didn't snorkel, but I did get very close to some Sea Turtles. It was amazing! They came right up to the shore and were not afraid of people at all. No touching allowed, though. It's a $1000 fine! So we got as close as we could, as you can see from the picture of my friend Paulina and the friendly turtle next to her. The other picture I posted is actually me with my roomies! From left to right, HyeSeung, Traci, YoouSun and then me. Aren't we a good looking (and multi-cultural!) bunch? So, now you have some faces to go with the names. I hope you are enjoying the updates and I will keep adding more when I can. Love and hugs to all!
*j

Downtown Kona

Aloha everyone! It's Friday night in Kona, so a few of us went downtown and walked around. There really isn't a WHOLE lot to do in Kona, but it's so nice to go out for a walk and get off campus for a bit. We just took random photos at any opportunity we had, so these are some of them. If you'll notice my dark friend, Mo, he wasn't too excited to be in front of the camera. He is such a funny guy, and we joke around a lot because he is really sarcastic. He actually grew up in West Africa and then was adopted and now lives in Washington. Everyone here has a cool story to tell about God's goodness. I love it.

Geckos!

Hey, this is a picture of one of our unofficial roommates. Cute, huh? These bright green Geckos are not shy...they are ALL over the place here in Kona. ***** We've been getting rained on these past couple of days, but it's a great week so far; there have been lots of meetings. We heard from Darlene Cunningham, co-founder of YWAM (and wife of Loren Cunningham, the man with the vision to start YWAM). She is so encouraging, funny, and enthusiastic. It was fun to hear her story. I think Loren is supposed to speak to us later this week. ***** We've been covering a lot of the "business" aspects so far, making sure everyone is on the same page. One of the things everyone does here is a specific "work duty." For most people, work duty time is Monday through Friday from 3 to 5 in the afternoon. Some people work in the kitchen, some people do gardening, others are on housekeeping, etc... So today I got trained for my work duty. My duty is hospitality, which I am REALLY excited about. I'll have to write about it more next time. It's going to be so great though. And from what they've said about it, I think it's a good fit for me. ***** So, I just got back from a sushi place where I ventured with a few new friends. I am not a sushi fan, but I gave it another try and it was pretty good. It had chicken in it, instead of fish, so that was more my style. Also, I dug in and used my hands, since I'm no good with chop sticks. We had a great time, and I am getting to know new people everyday so that makes everything more enjoyable. Love you guys, and feel free to give me a call sometime. I don't always have my phone on, but I love hearing from all of you!
*j

Sunday in Kona

It's Sunday in Kona, and everyone is very relaxed. There is definitely a different pace of life here on the island. The first picture is the view from the church we went to this morning. Carla, my new Costa Rican friend, is in the other picture with me. The church is called Living Stones and was really tiny. The building is over 100 years old! It was really neat. I liked the service, but I think I will try a couple other churches before I decide where I want to go. Oh, one cool thing about this church was afterwards they had an "Aloha Table" where people from the church brought fresh fruit and we could take whatever we wanted. There were bananas on the table today, but they were bright green so I wasn't sure if I'd like them. Does that mean they aren't ripe yet? Hmmm... Anyhow, the church is only a couple miles away from the school but we were able to get a ride in a Shuttle, which made things a lot easier. I hope everyone is doing well, and I will do my best to keep you all updated. Love you! *j