Laka Wahi

Well here I am yall! On the blog cracking the door to this place for you. I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking, because they do a better job of it anyway. To all friends, family, and blog stalkers who don’t know, I came to BYU-Hawaii a couple of weeks ago to do spring term, hypothetically speaking. I’m here til the end of June and having a blast (duh.) It’s crazy to think that it has only been about two weeks thus far. While it has gone by fast, I feel like I’ve known my new family for much longer already.

I won’t dwell long on Hawaii itself, because many of ya’ll have probably already been here (or at least to Maui) but I will say that this has got to be the coolest place on earth to go to school. I have to pinch myself in the mornings to make sure I’m actually conscious as I wake to Polynesian music from the PCC floating along the Kona breeze into my open window and as I watch roosters sprint for their lives in front of me on my runs because they think I’m chasing them. Roosters. So Oahu is much different than most of what ya’ll have seen on Maui. Granted, I haven’t been there – I only know what the locals say. Oahu’s Maui equivalent would be Waikiki beach – laden with tourists, resorts, and virtually unrecognizable to someone who only knows the east (where all the Mormon stuff is) and north (where all the surfing is) shores. Where I am is small-town, rural Oahu. I live off a highway that circles the island. Jack Johnson’s hometown is 10 minutes up the road; locals in Laie go to his high school, and I have likely already surfed some of the same breaks he learned on as a youngin’.

So one of the reasons I have been fortunate enough to go on the many adventures thus far is the fast friendship I made with a guy named Jake (coincidentally lives where I served my mission) who bought an old old van with no seats and scores of other problems for $250. It gets us from A to B, so I don’t complain. Jake shares my itch for frequent surfing, so that’s mostly what we use it for. I’ll post pictures of the van once I take them.

Anyway, there’s plenty to do here, I’m never bored, and I couldn’t be happier with the way things have turned out. On to the photo documentary.

Allow me to disclaim that this batch of pictures is pretty random and not representative of what I’ve exactly been doing. I’ve remembered my camera on two or three outings thus far, I’ve borrowed a few pictures from other more consistent photographers, and I have zero pictures from surfing; when we do that no one wants to stand on the beach documenting the excursion. Also since we all basically just barely became friends, we’re still in the process of “facebooking each other” to exchange pictures. Anyway, bottom line: I’ll have more later.

This was an orientation tour I went on my second day on the island. This is a lookout spot somewhere, and as with all the pictures you’re about to see, the snapshot doesn’t do the beauty of the place justice.

Candid photo of the memorial for the Pearl Harbor heroes as a young boy pays his respects. We are both standing directly over the top of the sunken ship.

All these years later, it is still leaking oil. Seriously. That thing protruding is part of the original ship; the water here is pretty shallow so you can still see it.

Chelsea and Addison.

I love this.

You know. Just dancin with a dinosaur.

Us at one of the dances. The dances here are actually really good. Coming from me, that’s saying something. The music is much better than it is at the BYU dances. The kid on the far left is the only pre-mi that really hangs with us. What this picture doesn’t show is all our socks. I’ll let you use your imagination.

Jake in the drivers seat, Tony shotgun, and Gabriel hangin in the back with me. Gabriel is the best surfer I have ever surfed with, and he’s a white Brazilian with a sweet accent. I really just wanted him in this picture. I definitely felt like a laaaaazy, slooooow beach bum that day.

Another paaaarty in the van. This is a bunch of us on the way to the illegal Sacred Falls hike. More on that…

Yeah that's guava. From a tree. Jake is hardcore.

I told yall I would learn how to do this while I am here!

The canyon leading into Sacred Falls.

All of us but Jake. This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever set foot in. We swam in the pool behind us for a while before we left. Felt soooo good. Back row L to R: Melanie, forgot this girl’s name, Tiffany, Sarah (I was her brother’s zone leader in Carson). Front: me, Kelly, Brooke

Kelly and me on a rock after swimming. Holy whiteness, I know. (I surf with a rash guard.) It’s also partly the sun reflecting. Kelly’s also the one jumping off the rock at Waimea (top of the post). We go there pretty often, and we all jump. Also she used to play soccer for BYU, now plays for UVSC. Most people are just visiting students like me.

This is our renegade picture. Hawlies in Hawaii; that’s how we roll.

Well, so long for now, or as the island people say: aloooooha!