mudfootball

to begin, we left at like 3 PM on Sunday (sleeping in until noon and taking two hours to eat breakfast is wonderful). after i wanted to cry and die, i mean, after 25 miles of biking or so, we ended up here:

except it specifically said on a big sign, NO CAMPING BEACH. but there are so many beaches on hawaii, and almost all of them are no camping, so we figured nobody is going to go around and check EVERY beach. so we waited until dark to put up our tent, thinking we would draw less attention to ourselves that way.

what it really meant is our tent went up completely wrong, the tarp was on it backwards, and we slept with the top of the tent smacking our faces all night. the wind was so insane; it would blow huge gushes of sand on top our tent every now and then. we both woke up about every hour throughout the night, we only had enough space to bring one, single small blanket so i froze and spooned the heck out of andrew. haha it was fff fff fweezing.

next morning we woke up, laughed about the entire night, and biked more. we biked about 30 miles, stopping every now and then to go swimming at random beautiful beaches. here are some from that second day:

THEN came night, and we had planned on sleeping at kaneohe bay, but we ran into this guy who warned us that it was dangerous to sleep there. so we back tracked to another beach, which had already taken us like 6 miles to get away from. we soon discovered that that beach had no tree coverage and barely any shore, and by that time it was dark and already 8 PM. we panicked a little, but not really, we just didn't have anywhere to put up our tent! we decided to just treat ourselves to a motel or something because we hadn't got any sleep from the night before. so we got on a bus to take us back to where we thought we'd seen hotels, but when we got there, it was already 10 PM and we found out they were condos you had to reserve in advance. so we were majorly SOL! almost. we found a church with a really large lawn, locked our bikes to the bike racks at the condos and hopped the church fence. we didn't even set up our tent, we just covered ourselves in bug spray and crawled into the tent which was really just like a big, netted sleeping bag. i don't know if that makes sense, but we slept inside the collapsed tent with only one blanket in a little corner of a church lawn and it was hilarious.

by this point we'd biked over 60 miles. we woke up at daylight, slyly put away our tent, and both looked at each other and were like "let's take the bus and grab mcdonalds for breakfast."

we stayed at that mcdonalds for about four hours. at this point, we had made it to north shore, where camping grounds are everywhere. so after breakfast/lunch, we got on our bikes and rode to the nearest camp site and set up camp. it was 2 PM and we were totes magotes not going to bike anymore :) haha we swam for two hours, took our first shower in a few days and ordered a pineapple dominos pizza with breadsticks and rootbeer... to our tent.

turns out camping is "not allowed" wednesday mornings starting at 8 AM until friday night at 8 PM (a necessary law.) so at 8:30 the next morning, we woke up to a lady telling us we needed to pack up. no big. we caught a bus back home, grabbed lunch at the cafeteria, and i have never enjoyed living like a homeless person more. (seriously, i used a grocery store bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth in, whilst other customers were in the bathroom as well. no shame.) this trip was a blast.

on another note, my mom is coming to visit me and arrives TODAY :)

from the clouds

So there is this little pool, about five minutes from our dorms. It gets closed around 5 PM and then completely abandoned. It's enclosed by a wire fence, and tucked behind some tennis courts and a little building. It's barely lit up by the street lights, and basically, it's completely secluded.

You got it, we walked (barefoot) over there, climbed the fence, stripped down, and bailed in that pool tonight.

Moving here has been the most freeing thing I have ever done. I would never have done stuff like night swimming back home. It was always: be home by this time, you can't do that, because that's "bad", guilt trip, guilt trip, you can't do that because you won't fit in, don't do this, don't do that, blah blah BLAH. I had to act perfect for my relationship, my "reputation", my parents, etc. and it was always about pleasing everyone, never about doing what pleased me. Now I just don't have to play the games anymore. I wake up, and I'm like Jess, what do you want to do today? How do you want to treat people and how do you want to think? How do you want to live your life?

The really great thing, is now I have a friend who happens to want to do all of the crazy things I think about doing, too. Night swimming? He's really the one who suggested it. After our lab today, we were on the roof talking, saw the pool, looked at each other and both thought of doing it at the same time. This is also the friend who I spontaneously went swimming in Waikiki with, and who is basically always on the same wavelength as me. Instead of limiting me, every time I get some idea of something I want to do, he's always behind it, 100%, never doubting me, and always making it much more enjoyable. But you don't even need a friend to do the things you love. Even if it's alone, you should really try following up on those little ideas that pop into your head--those things you want to do.

STRAIGHT from the clouds--such good words, Jack!

we are gonna be friends

Friday, went shopping in Waikiki (by bus! I take the bus everywhere. No car... it's been life changing) and ran into a friend from one of my classes on the bus. It turns out I have a shopping tolerance rate of about forty minutes, so I ended up meeting up with this friend at her cute little two-room apartment in Waikiki.  Houses are so expensive here; her apartment has only one big, open room that is her kitchen, dining area, living room, and bedroom, all in one!  ...With a little lanai (porch) and bathroom attached. I absolutely love it! I borrowed one of her swimsuits, we walked two blocks to the beach in only our suits (no shoes, turns out I'm not the only one who hates wearing shoes) and bailed into the ocean. She swam for a solid 40 minutes, while I swam for about 15 and slept on the beach the rest of the time. The whole day I'd been stressed and constantly on the go, and as soon as I was in the ocean it all washed away. Literally. If I were to worship anything, it would be the ocean.

After, we walked back, showered, and ate tofu, rice, and veggies with tea and dark chocolate. In complete hippie fashion, we ate it all while sitting on her rug at the coffee table (she doesn't have a table & chairs, or couches, for that matter). Just a bed and mermaid pictures hung up all over, oh, and the beach about two minutes from her house.We talked all about astrological signs, her surfer boyfriend who believes in past lives, yada yada. To say the least, I absolutely loved hearing about her perspective, and I would really like to live in a studio like hers, please and thank you.

After dinner, I grabbed the bus back to my dorms, got ready in literally five minutes and met up with my other friend for ice cream from a local place called Bubbies. Their flavors are hilarious: "orgasm in your mouth" & "up all night" are some examples. Making fun of jersey shore, my favorite movie surf's up and what I would call a really good night were involved too.

This morning, woke up bright and early to go turn a bus into a home for 8 homeless people. This is one of the coolest projects I have ever heard of. I met the guy who started the business, and he told me he started the bus project and a nearby homeless shelter about ten years ago. Since then, it's helped foster about 2000 different people. This guy was by no means rich, a business man or anything along those lines. He was just a guy, who one night gave a homeless man the blanket from his car trunk, and was then completely inspired to do something about the homeless problem in Hawaii (This problem also exists in Utah and everywhere else too, for the record).

I've never been to homeless shelter in my life- I mean, actually walked through it to see the rows and rows of little cubicles covered in sheets that people actually call home. What shocked me more than anything is how many children are homeless. Almost every little cubicle in that homeless shelter, which fits about 200 people at one time, had little baby slippers (flip-flops) and toys lined up outside too. It's just incredible, and really put things into perspective. If you do anything for yourself this month, treat yourself to a visit to the homeless shelter, I'm not kidding. The humility it made me feel is just indescribable, so seriously, my challenge to you is to go and experience it yourself.

Work from 4-10 tonight, I can't even wait. Luckily surfing in the morning with my friend and my latest favorite dog. Hallelujah.

gone going

I'm sorry. This is a rant. I warned you, it was only a matter of time before this happened, you should have known... I can't help it, I have so much to say and such a big audience now. Five followers! I know, I know, if everyone could please stop following me, it's getting a little annoying having so many of you.

Okay, so, here's the thing. I really wish we could erase clothing from that list of "things we spend money on". I'm not saying I'm a saint and that I only own five shirts and one pair of jeans. No,  this is coming from the perspective of someone addicted to buying purses, shirts, earrings; you get the point. I buy my clothes semi-cheap, but I can't justify having five swimsuits and all the other things I bought because I thought I needed them. Wait, can we first stop and talk about what that word need  really means?

"A need is something that is necessary for organisms to live a healthy life. Needs are distinguished from wants because a deficiency would cause a clear negative outcome, such as dysfunction or death."

Blah blah blah, a need: something you have to have in order to be happy? Something you have to have to survive?

Sometimes, I think I need clothing to make myself feel confident. If I like my outfit, I'm about 69 times more outgoing then if I don't. We are all in this constant, look-good-and-notice-who-else-looks-good daily struggle. And if you aren't, you're lying to yourself, you're over 50, or you need to enlighten me- right now. I'm confident I'm not alone because I've stepped into friends' closets, filled with more shirts then I've ever owned in my entire life, doting more shoes than a department store... and don't even get me started on those $130 buckle jeans everyone owns. Some of my friends come to class consistently dressed up like they are fresh out of a Cosmogirl magazine, never repeating an outfit, always have a new accessory, and looking absolutely perfect.

AND I am in no way saying this is wrong. I absolutely love seeing everyone's cute clothes! I think maybe I focus on it more than the average being, honestly. I just love clothes. Billabong, Roxy, Forever 21, love it, love it, love it. I wish I could dress like you, you perfect, beautifully dressed models, you. The thing is though, I like all of you for you, not just because you have good style-- not just because you look attractive. If you acted the same way dressed in a Wal-mart t-shirt and ten dollar jeans, I would appreciate you just the same. And if I didn't, the error would be in my own thinking, and not yours.

I'm not saying that you should let yourself go, never shower, never do your hair again, etc., because I am a huge fan of hygiene, seriously. I will appreciate you the same if you don't spend 50 dollars on your next shirt, but if you skip deodorant it might be a little harder.

The point of all of this is, if we all quit buying so much into the fashion industry, maybe everyone would stop making such an effort to spend money on clothing and other things we don't really need. I have met plenty of  people in my life who own very little and are genuinely, divinely, happy. My family members in Peru live in a two bedroom concrete house with no hot water, cement flooring, no heater, and yes, about five shirts to their name. And they don't care. They wear the same shirt twice a week, own only one nice suit or dress, and they are some of the happiest people I've met.

When you die, the only things you will truly take with you are your memories and life experiences. You can leave behind mountains of clothing and possessions, but the things people are really going to remember about you are the memories you made with them, how you made them feel, and how you influenced their lives.

inaudible melodies

I love it here. I have about four months left in paradise, and I hope this can help everyone feel some aloha when they are cold, sad, or feeling down. This place is my dream, and I am gonna do my best to share it. The theme is anything life and Hawaii related, with a little bit of Jack Johnson and humor mixed in. 

I moved here in August last year, without friends or family-- alone. Ciao Utah! Oh how I miss your inversion, gray skies, and 20 degree weather. Just kidding, I'm sorry for the sarcasm. I love you, take me back. In four months.

Life here is, sure, as glamorous as it seems. School in the day and then to the ocean, via bike or bus. I came alone and have met people of every variety. I have hitch hiked around north shore, snorkeled in Hanauma Bay, surfed with friends (and their dog), kayaked through manoa river, jumped off cliffs into the ocean, played guitar on the beach, and watched more beautiful sunrises and sunsets then I could ever begin to explain. Buuuuut it doesn't come easy. I work at a greasy place known as the Fat Greek (yes, the FAT greek, I know), and have about forty hours of homework a week. It's calling to me from inside the crevice of a chemistry book as I type, I promise I'm coming back now. 

So marks the beginning of my blahhhg.