I'm Here!!

I am having an amazing time in Hawaii! I arrived last Tuesday and the learning and exploring hasn't stopped. Neeedless to say, internet has not been good so far and time limitations are not optimum for regularly updating a blog. I am hoping to be able to log in about once a week and fill everyone in. The picture above is me eating some sort of strange prickly fruit that you squeeze open and eat the center. Once I got past it's formidable exterior it tasted quite good; kind of like a white grape. While staying in Paradise Park (appropriate name for this beautiful area just outside of Hilo, on the big island) we got to tour nearly the entire island of Hawaii. Below, you will see the view from the back deck of the house we stayed in.............Awesome!

We visited a museum dedicated to the history and information of Tsunamis. I learned a lot of information about these "walls of water" which came to be especially handy as Hawaii was put on a tsunami watch last week, a little frightening, but everything worked out. I have seen sea turtles relaxing on the ocean at Punalu'u Black Sand Beach...so close that I could touch them, but didn't because it is illegal. We visited the volcano national park and saw active volcanoes up close as well as ancient petroglyphs. We saw the ancient city of refuge as well as a Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Wood Valley, Hawaii that the Dali Llama has stayed at a few times. I wish I could post all of those pictures, but the internet connection here is dreadfully slow. I miss all of my family, friends, and students. See you in two more weeks!

Aloha!