I suppose that I haven't filled you all in very much on what I am doing here.
I don't know that I have a very good answer. I very much wanted to be near Zac and I felt like I could probably make it work. I am young and it seemed like a great opportunity to see some place new.
I left for Hawaii with a short term offer from a friend to let me stay and a whole lot of things to figure out. I tried for quite a while to secure a job before I came to the island but I learned that that is just not how things work here. So I took the leap of faith (in what I'm not sure) and came here with no promise of employment or income.
It has been stressful I might admit. Now that I am here I can think of nothing worse than having to leave because I couldn't get my ducks in a row... and oh, aren't there a lot of ducks! Jobs, apartments, cars.... it is enough to lose some hair I tell ya.
So the very first thing I did Monday morning was start the job hunt with great gusto and I am really happy to say that just two days later I've accepted a position. I am not in a spot to tell you all a whole lot about it right now and I still have my fingers in a few cookie jars so it could change again soon but the sweet relief of employment (the ticket to me staying on this beautiful island and by the man that I love) was enough to cause this little post.
Please be happy with me!
I start work on Monday and so instead of this weekend being filled with more grand hiking adventures (after the purchase of real hiking shoes) I will be spending my days shopping for Hawaiian professional attire (what's that?) and desperately trying to find some shoes that won't destroy my feet. Although I'm sure it sounds fun, I will probably spare you the details.
More soon and much love!
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
I have an address.
Folks,
If you are old fashioned and fancy yourself a sendin' type then you may make yourself aware of my current address:
Bess Farley
PO Box 1125
Kaneohe, HI 96744
If you aren't old fashioned but still fancy yourself a sendin' type then go ahead and make yourself aware of my current digital address:
bessoutofbounds@gmail.com
Bring on the communication!
I will probably start up Q&A Fridays again at some point so if you find yourself confused or needing some answers send 'em my way.
If you are old fashioned and fancy yourself a sendin' type then you may make yourself aware of my current address:
Bess Farley
PO Box 1125
Kaneohe, HI 96744
If you aren't old fashioned but still fancy yourself a sendin' type then go ahead and make yourself aware of my current digital address:
bessoutofbounds@gmail.com
Bring on the communication!
I will probably start up Q&A Fridays again at some point so if you find yourself confused or needing some answers send 'em my way.
Helllloooo Hawaiiiiii!
I can't believe I'm finally sitting down to write again. The last 5 days have been unrelenting and by the time I crawl into bed at night, blogging is just a wisp of a thought drowned out by snores.
I landed in Honolulu around 9 pm on Friday and the first thing I did was roll the windows down in the car. Sometimes I think the air is actually sweet on this island. It is a wonder what some fresh warm air does for the body and mind.
The weekend was filled with all sorts of adventures. A little tour of the areas I will be calling home and quite a lot of sleep. Friday had been almost a complete 24 hours of non stop traveling so I think I deserved it.
On Sunday Zac and I went for a hike up to the Pali lookout. When the sign on the highway said "Pali Lookout" and we took the exit only to find a hoard of tourist buses and a lot of little old ladies looking out over the island it didn't seem quite like the hike I was imagining. As I had been instructed I had stuffed my feet into "hiking" shoes, donned a pair of running shorts and an athletic shirt and was prepared for what I had been told was a "really easy hike" to get me "ready for the harder stuff." Pish Posh! If just driving up a mountain and looking out was what we were doing then I think I could handle the harder stuff.
I. Was. Wrong.
If you've seen the Harry Potter movies or read the books and are familiar with the scene where they run with their carts full of trunks at the wall where Platform 9 3/4 is supposed to be then you'll be able to play along really well with this next part.
We traipsed just past the parking lot where the tourist masses were loading and offloading their large hungry busses and straight at a low 3 foot stone wall marking the edge of the lot. Just when I thought Zac was going to turn around with a peeking tongue a-wagging, teasing me for being so gullible, he swept aside the branches and stepped into the dense forest. See now, I am going to write the word trail here but I don't think it paints an accurate picture for most of you. I truly believe this trail was made by nature herself; a conglomeration of twisted trees, sloping rocks, and breath-taking drop offs no man would forge for himself. We followed anyways.
Normally the hike would have been 100% doable for my feeble, weak legs and my pathetic "hiking" shoes. There was just one added complication. The rain. It had been raining for a few hours and Zac swore up and down, from here to kingdom come that it would stop soon. "It never rains for very long here in Hawaii," he said. "No, no don't worry it will stop soon," he swore. "You might get just a little wet," he promised. BAH! It rained and rained and rained, a small river formed coming down the trail we were going up. The wind howled, the trees bent, and it kept on raining. The red earth turned to mud. The stone turned to what felt like glare ice. The roots criss crossing underneath us took on the frictional properties of oil on a freshly wet roadway. Did we stop? No. We soldiered on.
It was enjoyable. It was comical even.
Zac is an avid rock climber and so he gave me a lot of assistance along the way. Everything from the occasional verbal instruction to the often mandatory hoist up a particularly vertical section. If you're up on your rock climbing terminology he called this a Level 4. Level 3 being your regular run of the mill hike (think Lapham Peak if you've been there) and Level 5 being your vertical rock climbing (think Adventure Rock). This is what you call a scramble. Half hike, half climb. It seems an appropriate name as I spent most of the time with both my hands and feet on the ground scrambling up like one of those pre-evolved creatures they say were our ancestors 55 quadrillion million years ago on the Discovery Channel.
After a lot of discussion to determine which way the trail went at several points we made it to the top. There there was a doughnut shaped hole struck out of the middle of the crest of the mountain so you could sit on one side and look out to see the other. It was awesome, I must admit, except it was raining so hard and so foggy you couldn't actually see anything.
Then.... the descent.
I should probably mention (thank goodness my father doesn't read this) that large sections of the trail were bordered on one side by thick trees and shrubs and on the other side by the vast nothingness of sheer cliffs. In portions we were able to strike out a long ago forgotten trail to the inside and avoid the cliffs but sometimes it was not possible. Going up slippery trail is one thing but climbing down slippery rocks is another. Zac says that I did really well and he was really impressed. I think he was just inflating my ego so that I'll go hiking with him again.
We did make it out largely unscathed except for the 6 feet of near vertical rock that I slide ever so gracefully down on my upper thigh and rear end. I stuck the landing by colliding into a tree and Zac's legs. He claims he was there to stop me. I'm not so sure. I did not cry thankfully but I do have a pretty large scrape to show for it. Battle wounds, people.
By the time we reached the bottom again we were covered from head to toe in the red mud that the volcanic nutrients turn the soil here, tree and shrub debris, a fair bit of our own sweat, and in my case a little bit of blood. And we were very, very wet. Soaking, saturated to our very cores.
As we emerged from our secret natural platform 9 3/4 a bus full of white hairs on an organized tour was loading. There in the front seat were two very cute little old ladies and I will forever remember their faces as Zac and I crawled from the forest like strangely pale aboriginals who had been lost and wandering the peaks of Hawaii for weeks. He and I shared a smile and he offered his hand as I jumped from the wall to the asphalt. We strode past the bus, smirking to ourselves aware of the stares, and on to our next task... how to get home without completely ruining the car...
Editor's Note: I know. A post without pictures is not a post at all but it has been raining for the last three days with very little relief. I was afraid to take even my phone out for a photo while were hiking and my camera hasn't left the bag since I got here. I promise to make it up to you!
Stay tuned for more!
I landed in Honolulu around 9 pm on Friday and the first thing I did was roll the windows down in the car. Sometimes I think the air is actually sweet on this island. It is a wonder what some fresh warm air does for the body and mind.
The weekend was filled with all sorts of adventures. A little tour of the areas I will be calling home and quite a lot of sleep. Friday had been almost a complete 24 hours of non stop traveling so I think I deserved it.
On Sunday Zac and I went for a hike up to the Pali lookout. When the sign on the highway said "Pali Lookout" and we took the exit only to find a hoard of tourist buses and a lot of little old ladies looking out over the island it didn't seem quite like the hike I was imagining. As I had been instructed I had stuffed my feet into "hiking" shoes, donned a pair of running shorts and an athletic shirt and was prepared for what I had been told was a "really easy hike" to get me "ready for the harder stuff." Pish Posh! If just driving up a mountain and looking out was what we were doing then I think I could handle the harder stuff.
I. Was. Wrong.
If you've seen the Harry Potter movies or read the books and are familiar with the scene where they run with their carts full of trunks at the wall where Platform 9 3/4 is supposed to be then you'll be able to play along really well with this next part.
We traipsed just past the parking lot where the tourist masses were loading and offloading their large hungry busses and straight at a low 3 foot stone wall marking the edge of the lot. Just when I thought Zac was going to turn around with a peeking tongue a-wagging, teasing me for being so gullible, he swept aside the branches and stepped into the dense forest. See now, I am going to write the word trail here but I don't think it paints an accurate picture for most of you. I truly believe this trail was made by nature herself; a conglomeration of twisted trees, sloping rocks, and breath-taking drop offs no man would forge for himself. We followed anyways.
Normally the hike would have been 100% doable for my feeble, weak legs and my pathetic "hiking" shoes. There was just one added complication. The rain. It had been raining for a few hours and Zac swore up and down, from here to kingdom come that it would stop soon. "It never rains for very long here in Hawaii," he said. "No, no don't worry it will stop soon," he swore. "You might get just a little wet," he promised. BAH! It rained and rained and rained, a small river formed coming down the trail we were going up. The wind howled, the trees bent, and it kept on raining. The red earth turned to mud. The stone turned to what felt like glare ice. The roots criss crossing underneath us took on the frictional properties of oil on a freshly wet roadway. Did we stop? No. We soldiered on.
It was enjoyable. It was comical even.
Zac is an avid rock climber and so he gave me a lot of assistance along the way. Everything from the occasional verbal instruction to the often mandatory hoist up a particularly vertical section. If you're up on your rock climbing terminology he called this a Level 4. Level 3 being your regular run of the mill hike (think Lapham Peak if you've been there) and Level 5 being your vertical rock climbing (think Adventure Rock). This is what you call a scramble. Half hike, half climb. It seems an appropriate name as I spent most of the time with both my hands and feet on the ground scrambling up like one of those pre-evolved creatures they say were our ancestors 55 quadrillion million years ago on the Discovery Channel.
After a lot of discussion to determine which way the trail went at several points we made it to the top. There there was a doughnut shaped hole struck out of the middle of the crest of the mountain so you could sit on one side and look out to see the other. It was awesome, I must admit, except it was raining so hard and so foggy you couldn't actually see anything.
Then.... the descent.
I should probably mention (thank goodness my father doesn't read this) that large sections of the trail were bordered on one side by thick trees and shrubs and on the other side by the vast nothingness of sheer cliffs. In portions we were able to strike out a long ago forgotten trail to the inside and avoid the cliffs but sometimes it was not possible. Going up slippery trail is one thing but climbing down slippery rocks is another. Zac says that I did really well and he was really impressed. I think he was just inflating my ego so that I'll go hiking with him again.
We did make it out largely unscathed except for the 6 feet of near vertical rock that I slide ever so gracefully down on my upper thigh and rear end. I stuck the landing by colliding into a tree and Zac's legs. He claims he was there to stop me. I'm not so sure. I did not cry thankfully but I do have a pretty large scrape to show for it. Battle wounds, people.
By the time we reached the bottom again we were covered from head to toe in the red mud that the volcanic nutrients turn the soil here, tree and shrub debris, a fair bit of our own sweat, and in my case a little bit of blood. And we were very, very wet. Soaking, saturated to our very cores.
As we emerged from our secret natural platform 9 3/4 a bus full of white hairs on an organized tour was loading. There in the front seat were two very cute little old ladies and I will forever remember their faces as Zac and I crawled from the forest like strangely pale aboriginals who had been lost and wandering the peaks of Hawaii for weeks. He and I shared a smile and he offered his hand as I jumped from the wall to the asphalt. We strode past the bus, smirking to ourselves aware of the stares, and on to our next task... how to get home without completely ruining the car...
Editor's Note: I know. A post without pictures is not a post at all but it has been raining for the last three days with very little relief. I was afraid to take even my phone out for a photo while were hiking and my camera hasn't left the bag since I got here. I promise to make it up to you!
Stay tuned for more!
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Here we go again!
I've been bouncing around the apartment humming along to Willie Nelson's On the Road Again.
On the road again
Goin' places that I've never been
Seein' things I may never see again
I can't wait to be on the road again
Good ol' Willie got it right. That familiar feeling is back. I have a mountain of clothes smashed into a too small suitcase, I've got less-than-desirable seats on long flights, and I'm doing good byes on a daily basis. But I love it. I can't WAIT to be on the road again.
Where to this time?
Hawaii! Woohoo. Not saying I'm going to rub it in or anything but while the majority of you deal with feet of snow and negative temperatures I'm on my way to 75 degrees and sun.
I'm going to finally catch up with my boyfriend, Z, so we can be in the same place for more than two weeks for the first time in a long time.
I will be landing in Hawaii this weekend and I have a lot to settle but I will be sure to let ya'll know when I am there and I hope to resume some regular blogging about what I see and experience on the island of Oahu.
Stay tuned!
On the road again
Goin' places that I've never been
Seein' things I may never see again
I can't wait to be on the road again
Good ol' Willie got it right. That familiar feeling is back. I have a mountain of clothes smashed into a too small suitcase, I've got less-than-desirable seats on long flights, and I'm doing good byes on a daily basis. But I love it. I can't WAIT to be on the road again.
Where to this time?
Hawaii! Woohoo. Not saying I'm going to rub it in or anything but while the majority of you deal with feet of snow and negative temperatures I'm on my way to 75 degrees and sun.
I'm going to finally catch up with my boyfriend, Z, so we can be in the same place for more than two weeks for the first time in a long time.
I will be landing in Hawaii this weekend and I have a lot to settle but I will be sure to let ya'll know when I am there and I hope to resume some regular blogging about what I see and experience on the island of Oahu.
Stay tuned!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)