Surfing!!!!

I finally got to go Surfing! I went out with Max, Rebecca, Shelby and Lindon. We went over to a Beach named Castles. I'm surprised at how many people here have never even heard of it. It's a really open beach with good waves for light surfing.
Max volunteered to be my teacher! Thankfully! Don't know what I would have done without him. I rode this huge blue foam board while Max rode the little one. (Bigger they are, the less experienced you are apparently). But I was totally okay with that. Anyway, before we actually went out in the water, he taught me how to stand up on the board. You put your hands in front of you and push your self on to one knee. Then they foot that is still back stays in the back as you stand. Simple enough right? So then we headed out. Paddling out wasn't as hard as Max said it would be. (Must have been my swimming experience) Lol. Once we were pretty far out, Max sat up on his board and told me to paddle when he told me to, towards shore, and then stand when he shouted me to stand. (So basically just listen for his voice and do everything in order). So while we waited for a wave, Max taught me the spiritual connections of surfing. It was extremely touching. lol. He's very passionate about Surfing, but now I can see why... it's unlike anything else I've tried.
Finally a wave came. Max pushed me and told me to paddle like crazy. So I did. Suddenly the wave pushed me towards the shore really fast. Max screamed for me to stand. I pushed myself up, and all of a sudden, I WAS SURFING! I stood up on my first time! I got so excited, that I lost control of the board and fell.... but it was great while it lasted!
We surfed for about three to four hours. During that time, I managed to stand up a couple of times and stay up for a long time. I also saw lots of turtles swimming around me as I was paddling back out! That was really neat. On a negative note, I cut my foot on a rock and Max hit me in the head with his board. Lol. But otherwise it was great! At the end of the day, I realized I was super sunburnt on my face and on my back. Everything else was totally fine though! My back was burnt, but not my upper back, it was my lower back. I was totally wearing a modest swimsuit! But, it was still a two piece, and getting knocked around by waves sometimes made it rise a little, so I have this small stripe of red right on my back next to my trunk line. It's kind of funny! Plus, my hips and ribs are sore from laying on the board. But it's a small price to pay while having fun! I absolutely loved it! I plan on going out a lot more now! Thank goodness for Seek, Max and Shez Hannemann! They'll take me out anytime!

Me llamo es...

So there's this little place where you can find the definition of your name! I absolutely LOVE IT! Mine is so awesome! It's legit!

An extremely beautiful girl who is liked by many people, very smart and caring, athletic and surprising at everything she does. She can make anybody laugh and loves to smile. She is not like any other, she's amazing. She has friends that are incredible. She's so much fun and likes to take risks.

Kylie is a girl to hang on to and never let go

A girl that laughs. And laughs..and laughs. A Kylie is when somebody is always doing something that you never expect or that is random, you just can't help but to laugh too.

1. "Last night you pulled a Kylie"
2. "Man have you noticed that you're always acting like a Kylie?"

This was a nice little booster for me. Now I'm a little more proud of my name and who I am. And wouldn't you agree it's freakishly accurate!?!?!!

Breakfast for Dinner!

Here we are! The Hale 3 Ra's and our Hale Mom Erin (Very Left) Next to me is Jayne, then Inae and then Camille. They're all really great and we have tons of fun together!

Last Night was my first Hale Activity!!!! I was nervous cause I wasn't sure if anyone would come. Plus I was way nervous that it would go all wrong. So my plan was to make Homemade Banana Pancakes with Coconut Syrup for whoever came. I Posted flyers on all the doors in the Hale that told the girls that it was in the Kitchen on Wednesday Night @ 8:30.
I got ready around 8. I went to my Hale Mom for all the stuff, cause she bought it earlier that day. Plus she let me use her pans and spatula, and her mixing bowl! She's the Greatest! Thanks Erin!!! So I headed into the Kitchen and made the most delicious Banana Pancakes ever! They were so good. And then people started coming! Then they kept coming and coming. I had to get another Pan and get Camille to help me cook them! Inae and Jayne helped by mashing up the bananas and mixing up the rest of the batter. But everyone really liked the food! Plus, everyone liked just relaxing and talking to their friends in the Kitchen! =D I was so proud.

This is Camille and I cooking the pancakes in our Hale Kitchen. We started with one pan before but then we got another one!After everyone got one, I sat down and ate one too! It was soo delicious! It's definitely something I'll be making a lot more in the future! Plus the Coconut syrup.... Mmmmm! Yummy!

And on a side note, last night was my first time doing bed checks! It was fun! Lol. But we stayed up really late and I was soooo tired today. Not good!

Life in the Hale!

Mostly because my pregnant sister is requesting this, I am posting about my Life as an RA in Hale 3. So here it goes. Being a Resident Advisor is way fun! I am in charge of Quad One, which is five units, and each unit has up to five rooms, and each room has two girls living in it. Total in the hale there are 200 girls. There are four RA's, including me and we work pretty well together to keep it all together. But we would be at a total loss without our Hale Mom, Erin. She's the greatest. She's extremely nice and soooo helpful. I absolutely love her.
Anway, there are three shifts of which we get to sit in this lovely office. It's really small and kind of just in the middle of the Hale, but it's definitely a party in there everytime. We are allowed to play on the computer once all of our "chores" are done. We pretty much sit in there until someone needs us, then they come and get us, and we serve them. It's what we do. Behind the chair, is the Television Lounge and the game Lounge is right next to that. There, students can play Pool, ping pong or watch TV. They can watch movies too if they come in and borrow the DVD player. Usually when you walk in this office, you need a student ID so you can borrow or use some things, Such as the Vacuum or other cleaning supplies. There are two other lounges, the Piano Lounge and the Computer Lounge. The Piano lounge closes at 10, during quiet hours, while the computer Lounge is open 24/7. We RA's get to clean these rooms all the time. It's way fun! Lol.
We each get a chore fore the month. Last month, I had the Newsletter. And this month, I had the Bulletin boards. There are four bulletin boards that needed decorating before Feb 1st, I finished four of them but the other one isn't done yet so I didn't take a picture of it. Here they are! That's pretty much it for now though! Time to start Studying again!

Kahuaola Visit

Today in Hawaiian studies, we took a trip to Kahuaola. This is half a mile up the mountain past the ceramic studio on campus. It was created as part of the Mālama 'Āina project which continues to bring students together to learn more about the Hawaiian culture. Kahuaola is where they grow the lo'I kalo (taro patch), and it is “a place of learning" for everyone who goes there. My class and I were a little relunctant because it was kind of rainy, but overall it was a really neat experience. We hiked up about a half a mile. (I hiked in flip-flops like a native!) When we arrived, we had to recite our oli, which is a chant, to ask if we could come into their place of learning. Uncle, as we called him, was the man incharge of Kahuaola. Once we recited our oli, he said mahalo and welcomed us into Kahuaola. The first thing we did was stand in a circle and introduce ourselves. Uncle told us that this would happen to you each time you went to visit one of the islands of polynesia. He told us that he wanted to know us because by knowing us, he knew our Mo'oku'auhau (Geneology). He said that the hawaiian word Mo'oku'auhau literally means "I am my ancestors".
Once we were aquainted he led us to the taro patch. He reminded us of the story our teacher, Brother Fermentes, told us before we had come. How the Sky father, Wakea and his earth daughter, Ho'ohokukalani, had a child named Haloa, which was a still born. They buried it in the earth where it became Kalo. And now Kalo, or Taro, enriches and feeds the earth. He told us of the design of the Taro. We discovered that it is grown in water because Hawaiian's like their taro a little softer than the rest of the Polynesian people. It is only grown about an arm length apart, from the wrist to the elbow, because like a person, it will not do well on it's own. He explained that the bigger leaves were like the parents of the smaller leaves. They called the roots of the smaller weeds 'oha, which is also the root word of ohana, which we all know means family. I've had taro before and I really like it, but now I have alot more respect for the food, and the way it is grown.
We got to ko kua, which means help or assist in raking up leaves around the trees and other plants that they grow up in Kahuaola. It was lots of fun and a very good experience. Aftwerwards, Kekoa (Mike) cut up some Sugar Cane for us. The actual plant was long and looked like bamboo, but then he sliced it up and we sucked on it, kind of like when you suck all the juice out of an orange but you don't really eat it. Mike told us not to eat the fibers, it might make us sick. I had never had it before and it was soooo good. I loved it!
The land was so beautiful up there. I took tons of pictures. Plus it was really a reverent spot. I understand why the Hawaiian people work so hard to keep it and take care of it. It's a part of them.