Finally, an Update...

Wow, I have felt very loved for those of you who have let me know you've been reading my blog...and that you're annoyed because I haven't updated lately! Hee he, I guess that's a good problem to have...

So, Sept. 16 was my 27th birthday, and my sister came to tiny Hana to visit--my best present. Finally, someone to actually see with their own eyes that I live in a tiny cabin in the jungle and fight rodents and bugs all day and bake banana bread for a tiny little roadside stand...I made Rachel stay with me at least one night and brave the cabin, but i was a nice sister and let her sleep under the mosquito net while i roughed it on the floor. We hiked up to Waimoku falls the next day, which is a 3.6 mile hike up the mountainside through an old-growth bamboo forest to a 300+ foot waterfall...amazing. That night we went back to Kihei where my sister has a time-share, stopping on the way for an fancy-shmancy dinner at the very famous Mama's Fish House for dinner.

Arriving late at the time-share, we checked in and were going to call it a night, but we ran to the grocery store and I ended up coercing my tired sister to have a shot with me at the Tiki Lounge across the street. The bar was packed and we only had money for one round, but while we waited for our drinks (Don Julio for me, of course), we ended up making friends with the whole bar and everyone outside on the patio and stayed until close. Good times.

We spent the next day at Big Beach (Makena) in Wailea, which is this huge, gorgeous white sand beach which was relatively uncrowded. We swam and laid around on the beach all day, then went for drinks and food at the outdoor lounge at the Grand Wailea, just as the sun was going down...nice day. We later cruised out to LaHaina (thanks for driving Rach!) for some dessert and then live music at the Hard Rock.

Rachel drove me back to Hana the next day after we ran some errands, and then she was off to the airport...leaving both of us much poorer but happier by the end of the weekend. I also had a party at my cabin that Friday after and about 20 people came and we had food and talked story and it was awesome to have so many people come out.

I have been working every day since then, trying to make up for some lost time from taking four days off, and finally making a little headway. We are entering the rainy season here, and the mud is almost as bad as the mosquitoes (which still are relentless...i think i'm becoming immune to deet). I have been hitch-hiking around as i am without a car during the day, and i am stealing whatever precious sun i can get, now that it rains so much. As is my usual m.o., I have been meeting people everywhere i go, having adventures, and jumping off cliffs into the ocean (my new favorite activity besides sunbathing).

I am hoping to come visit SF in early December for at least a week, and I can't wait, although i will need a better (read = "warmer") wardrobe for my return...all I wear here is shorts and swimsuits and skirts. I definitely miss everyone, and please know that you are welcome to come visit, so save those pennies and make a plan for some down-time in Maui.

Oh, and if you're looking to get rid of an Apple laptop, let me know :)

Random Thoughts

I woke up to rain pounding the roof of my cabin and a strong desire to pee. Unfortunately for my soaked self, the bathroom was 50 yards away. Outside. Boo.

I just checked the weather forecast...we get a lot of rain here in Hana (usually every night, and morning and late afternoon/early evening is common), but the forecast says it is supposed to rain every day. Day. Not night or morning. It only showed until next Wednesday...I'm hoping for some sun, but the future does not look bright. Oh, duh. It's rainy season.

We took some cuban red bananas last night and tried to make yummy plantains with butter and brown sugar--miserable failure. I can bake, and grill a freakin' awesome steak, but I suck at cooking. Their gooey mushiness would probably taste awesome on ice cream, but that's not really any sort of success.

My loaves of banana bread are being weird, not baking like their usual selves--i think it's the humidity. Bleh.

I'm going to try and go to the bank today and open an account...they only have Bank of Hawai'i here, and sending wads of cash through the mail to my sister doesn't sound appealing.

I miss bartending. I miss doing shots with my regulars (and my fellow employees/managers). I miss talking about Irish whiskey, and how expensive a shot of MacCallan 30 is (47$!). I almost bought a bottle of Jameson last night and was going to sit around and watch a movie and get wasted. I went running instead--how good am i?!

I am looking at flights to SF and New York right now...i miss both of those cities terribly and wouldn't mind shelling out some hard earned cash to visit either one...I was also wondering if I went back to SF if they would let me guest bartend at the Chieftan for a day (I would totally work for tips! hee he).

I just bought myself a birthday present today, this awesome sterling silver necklace with mother of pearl...it's sweet. Happy birthday to me!

My sister comes out on Saturday for four days--I CAN'T F***ING WAIT! Woooo hoooo! She is the best ever and i think we are actually going to be able to go to the other side and party...who knows, maybe have a night out?! God, I can't wait...

Tomorrow is my day off....should be nice...i try to spend every Friday at Red Sand beach...perhaps my favorite spot in Hana. Love it.

Well, I have lots of other random thoughts, but I'll keep them to myself for now...hope you all are well, and whoever comes to visit me first (besides family) gets a prize! hee he...no, really, i'm not kidding, hurry up and get out here! :)

Busy Weekend

Have you ever gone swimming when it's pouring rain? I don't think i ever have until Friday...I went to Red Sand beach at like 9:30 in the morning (it's my day off, and I can't think of a better way to spend it)...it was gorgeous and sunny, but it looked like rain in the distance, and the weather in Maui can change very quickly, so i dumped my stuff under a little overhang on the beach where it would stay dry...minutes later, the heavens opened and it was pouring...i was one of the only people on the beach, and i decided to go swimming in the monsoon, and it was awesome! Ten minutes later, everything was sunny and nice again, and that's where i spent the rest of my day.

Went to a weird birthday party that night, and got really sick to my stomach from eating a bag of coconut candy earlier in the day--bad idea, bad time, must sleep. Sat morning was spent reading and napping, working in the afternoon, and then that evening we went to a Hawaiian birthday party for this amazing couple, Uncle Bernie and Auntie LeAnn (everyone older than you (by a decent amount)is Auntie and Uncle). It was Auntie LeAnn's 50th birthday (she looks like she's 35, maybe--beautiful Hawaiian woman), and it was an amazing party. So much food (pu pu's, which means appetizers, or small portions), beautiful lights and a tent and music and everyone was having an awesome time. The Aloha was strong and it was an amazing, welcoming, beautiful event--we even had fireworks!

Not much else going on, starting to plan for my birthday party next week, and my older sister Rachel is coming out to visit and will be here on my birthday and i am so stoked!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It will be nice to be able to relate my life here to someone in person instead of trying to describe it in words, which definitely fail in describing how amazing this place is. It will be interesting to have a birthday in Hawaii--all the Hawaiians already told me they would bring the food if i got the kegs! Ha, that sounds like a good combo to me!

Anyway, if you feel like emailing, my email that i check the most is andriamiller50@yahoo.com if you feel like sending a note, and i will try and get some pics up soon so you can see some of the sights!

Trip to the Outside/Crashing the truck into a ditch

"The Outside," or commonly referred to as "the Other Side" means pretty much anywhere outside of Hana...which is pretty accurate considering how remote our location is. Making a trip to the "other side" normally requires an entire day and lots of lists. The only thing that exists in Hana is a gas station and two general stores, so if you want anything like a coffee pot, variety in food, clothing, shoes, books, music, electronics, bulk stuff, cheap booze, or anything besides banana bread or a plate lunch, then you have to go to the other side. And you can't even really go over there and go out partying because you have to drive the treacherous Hana Hwy back home and you can't be wasted or you will die. So trips to the other side usually consist of Wal-Mart, Costco, this place called Savers that everyone loves that I still haven't been to, and at least two meals out considering you never get to eat anything besides Hana food.

A trip to the outside was our Friday, and it was three of us girls from the banana bread stand...good times had by all, and i didn't have to drive home so i got to enjoy some awesome tequila in Paia where we had dinner. Good stuff.

Sat was Red Sand beach in the morning and work that afternoon, then dinner at Ananda's house with a bunch of people. Sun morning i worked at the stand, and then the last couple of days have been a blur of baking...my bread kicks ass now, so hopefully i can keep up with all the shite i have been talking about how good my bread is. hee eh

Last night was our friend's last night in town so four of us went over to the hotel restaurant/bar (the only place in Hana open past 7:30) to not only celebrate their last night in town, but also to rejoice in the fact that I didn't wreck the truck when I spun out on a wet spot in the rain and sent the myself over a really steep embankment.

So here's the story:
I went to the dump to do a trash run, and it was raining (normal Hana weather, not hard rain). I was on my way back to the farm and has just passed Hana school where the police are really strict about the 20mph speed limit, so I was going slow already. I was accelerating slowly out of a corner and the back end of the truck started to fishtail. I drifted into the other lane just as an SUV appeared in the oncoming lane. I overcorrected hard because I was scared out of my mind of having an accident, which of course sent me to the other side of the road too hard. My tires caught the edge of an almost vertical jungle embankment and the truck crashed over the edge and came to a stop almost on it's side. I couldn't believe i didn't roll it. I was freaking out sitting sideways in the driver's seat, clutching the driver's side door/window, when the truck finally shuddered and set down in something more like a 45 degree angle instead of on its side.

Im sitting in there in the truck, adrenaline pumping through my brain and finally reality starts to register. The radio is still on, and the ignition is beeping because i have the door open with the keys in. I can't even climb out of the truck because it's too steep of an angle, but i seem to be fine otherwise...Like two minutes later as I'm freaking out about the fact that i seem to have crashed the truck, a police car drives by and stops. The local Hana cop was actually just on her way back to the station after stopping to buy banana bread from the stand--crazy right? So she drops me off at the farm after getting my license info, and I have to go up and tell Paul that i just crashed the truck into the jungle.

Horrified--the only way to describe the way i feel at this point.

To make a long story short, the jungle saved me. I ran off the road at the one point where there was just thick undergrowth, no big rocks, no trees (i was literally inches between these metal stakes and a tree, and about a foot from a tree in front of me), and the thickness of the foliage caught the truck, kept it from flipping over, kept me from hitting the trees in front of me, and saved me from f&*%ing up the underside of the truck. I could have totally hit those people, i could have rolled the truck and totalled it, i could have hurt myself, and I could have damaged the truck much worse. Instead, in two hours time, a local tow guy came, looked at it, pulled it out with no problems (while i helped direct traffic and worried myself sick), and we drove it back safe and sound to the farm.

wow.

wow, wow, wow.

God is so good to me. I have been here less than a month, and this could have been so much worse, but I must have had angels holding onto the back bumper, keeping me safe, because it is amazing how safe and sound everything ended. So that is my amazing story for the day...I was practically crying i was so happy when i watched the truck drive away seemingly fine. It was amazing, and I am very, VERY thankful to God that He kept me safe and the truck was fine (even if they never let me live it down).

Well, that's about all the drama I can handle, I think I'll go do something boring, like laundry.

Miss you guys...does anyone read this thing? Hope you enjoy it if you are reading, cuz I'm thinking about all those people I miss...