Bella's Squeaky Toy

The other day this commercial came on tv showing a couple driving around in their car looking for their lost dog. They squeak his favorite toys throughout the commercial and finally find him digging in a flowerbed. Excitedly, they squeak the toys more to entice him to come to the car, but he runs off again to resume the game.

From the first squeak, Bella loved this commercial. She ran around the tv trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. So we pulled down this old red squeaky ball we had bought for Jake a long time ago. It had been sitting on top of one of the kitchen cabinets for reasons that may become clear soon. And she loved it. It was the greatest thing since sliced bread. But she couldn't really figure out how to make the squeak herself because she couldn't get her teeth around it.

So the next weekend we went out to get her something that was hopefully slightly quieter and that she could fit in her mouth to squeeze. At Petsmart we found a tennis ball-like toy that's shaped like a small bowling pin, so we bought it. After about 10 minutes of sniffing and carrying it around, she figured it out. And about 10 minutes after that, the kitties came out to see what all the racket was.

The first time we had given the red ball to Jake, he squeaked and squeaked and squeaked. Terra came to investigate, and Kairi came to attack. It was the only time we had ever seen Kairi purposefully come within smelling distance of Jake, and she was focused and determined to put an end to the squeak.

Bella's first happy day with her bowling pin didn't go much different. Terra came to sniff, then determined she was annoyed but not threatened, and left. Kairi came to put Bella in her place. Now every time I give the toy to Bella, Kairi comes out to keep a close watch...

Computer Woes

Why is it lately that everything I try to do on this computer takes ten times longer than it should? I promise I am (normally) a very computer literate person. But recently I have felt completely useless when it comes to technology and it's a very humbling feeling. And I think that Morgan, my truly brilliant and very patient friend, is getting a little fed up with me messaging and calling him so much.

Case #1: iPhone and iTunes

Ahhh iTunes... My dad has said before "the worst thing about the iPhone is iTunes" and I wholeheartedly agree. Now I've got the whole music/podcast/videos thing down. And I even was fine with apps and syncing everything when we just had one iPhone. But now we have two, and I've also recently been trying to be more diligent about backing up data.

Upon Morgan's advice I set Chris up with a separate iTunes account with the idea that we could have separate contacts and apps, but point the music library to the same folder so we could share music. But for some reason I didn't really like that. It actually involved three separate music folders and transferring new purchases to the main library folder, and it just sounded complicated. So when I did the whole reinstall of Windows (see next story), I went ahead and got us back onto one account.

I figured out the apps pretty easily and we just check and uncheck what we want to sync to each phone. It seems to remember each of our preferences based on which phone is plugged in. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that continues. But the contacts and calendar don't really have a great way to sync or backup in iTunes and the only solutions anyone talks about on the web involve Outlook which I don't have on this computer. I tried Windows Contacts but the fields aren't all the same and it didn't remember half the numbers or notes I had entered. And in that process I managed to delete ALL my contacts, so I'm ditching that option. But recently Google has made it possible to sync contacts/calendar with iTunes. Hooray a solution! Now my contacts (re-entered manually for the most part) and calendar are backed up and everything is looking good. Oh wait... the photos.

My seemingly simple task for today was to set up a way to sync photos. My intuition (backed up by multiple message board posts) is that you can point iTunes to one folder on the computer and it will sync whatever is in there. Not so much. I set it up, put pictures in there, and plugged in the phone. iTunes even said it was optimizing each photo that was in the folder, but they have failed to show up on the camera roll. And the ones on the phone failed to show up in the folder. I don't even know where to begin. Another call to Morgan...

Case #2: Logitech Universal Remote and CD/DVD drive

After the dogs chewed up our old universal remote, we got a new one and it sat on the counter for about six weeks until today when I finally got around to programming it. So I threw the software CD in the computer and waited for it to load. All I got was the all too familiar grinding sound. But let's rewind a moment...

About 2 months ago I realized that my computer's warranty would expire soon and there were quite a few things wrong with it. You know, things that you live with because you can't be bothered to actually do something about them. But I figured I might as well get them taken care of while they were free. The CD/DVD drive was one of them. It hadn't been reading discs very well for about a year. It wrote to them fine, but when I tried to play a DVD or rip a CD, it gave this horrible, broken-record, teeth-gnashing sound that has now come to represent several incomplete projects which clutter the house and the failure of which rests on my psyche. (Perhaps I should have repaired this sooner?)

So I called the support number and the friendly representative suggested I reinstall Windows. Sure... no problem... So after the reinstall I had a 3-year old "new" computer complete with all that junk software I hoped to never see again. A three-week process of uninstalling junk and reinstalling useful software (as well as messing with iTunes - see above story) and I actually thought it had worked. Until I put in that Logitech software CD.

Instead of really trying to problem-solve, I went ahead and called the warranty number again in fervent hopes that they would tell me this time "it's definitely broken, please enjoy a complimentary new computer for your troubles." No such luck but the friendly representative had me uninstall the drive and reboot. So now the drive will play DVDs and CDs, but continues to have a little problem with software CDs. It read one printer CD but thought the other was a blank burnable disc. And it still refused to read either copy of the Logitech. I ended up downloading the software from the website and it took all of 90 seconds to set up the remote since it had pre-loaded the settings from the last one.

What conclusions have I come to from all these issues? 1. Morgan is a wonderful person. 2. iTunes sucks. 3. My computer is old and crusty. 4. User error can be ONE factor but is not the ONLY factor. 5. I will probably break down and buy a new computer within the next 6 months.

Swimming Lessons

Well this weekend we went to the lake again and I was so proud of Jake because he (almost) learned to swim like a real dog! We had previously blamed his obvious lack of swimming ability on his breed, whose purpose was to track and fight lions in Africa. Not too much water there. But the lake was really low so both the dogs could walk pretty far out and Jake was more adventurous in the water. At one point he actually swam without being cajoled, and there was much less thrashing and splashing.


The weekend was pretty relaxing, and we spent a little time wakeboarding on Saturday. The rest of the time was spent just sitting around. Though at one point we discovered a bat that had chosen the eaves on the back of the house to spend his day sleeping. He was very cute, but he didn't come back the next day.

Destin Trip

Last weekend we went on a road trip to Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Florida to see our close friends, Huy and Heather, get married. They chose a destination wedding at the spot of our road trip vacation last summer, so we were very excited to get to go back. Let's just say the day had been a long time coming!

After much hemming and hawing we finally decided just to caravan with Huy and Heather, and some other friends from Waco, to drive through the night on Wednesday. We picked Chris up after work, got dinner at Freebirds and hit the road. All in all, it wasn't a horrible drive. We were able to stop pretty often for quick breaks and we still made good time. We ate an early breakfast at about 4 am at a Waffle House in Mobile, Alabama and then arrived in Destin about 6:30 am. This gave Huy and Heather plenty of time to get to the courthouse for their marriage license but the rest of us killed time on the beach.


We ate lunch at one of our favorite places, The Back Porch.


Then we finally were able to check in to the Palms hotel and get some rest. Here's the view from our room.


I think Chris and I went about 31 hours without any real sleep. I only got a short nap in the afternoon and then we lounged at the pool for a while.

That evening we went down to the Destin boardwalk with Waco friends Scott, Matt, and Samantha, and Heather's work friends Molly and Jason. We stopped at a little daquiri bar and hard drinks and pizza. And we happened to be there just in time for a great fireworks show! Then to bed for a full 10 hours sleep.


On Friday we spent more time at the pool in the morning.


Then we got ready for the rehearsal at the beach. It was pretty quick so we were able to spend some time afterwards playing beach volleyball and swimming in the ocean. The water was clear and the sand was great as always.


After the rehearsal we headed back to the hotel where Huy and Heather invited everyone up to their room for pizza, wings, and crab claws. Then we called taxis and went out for the night to the Destin boardwalk. We stopped at the daquiri bar again and then headed to Club Aqua for some dancing. Chris even danced a little!

Saturday morning, I went with Heather and the rest of the bridal party to get our nails done.


Then Chris and I went out to grab a quick lunch at AJ's, a well-known restaurant by the harbor.


It was pretty good but I had a horrible headache by that time so I took a quick nap in the afternoon. By mid-afternoon Huy and Heather had split up to start getting ready and finish decorating and setting up. And I noticed the more I hung around, the more things I kept getting put in charge of! I didn't mind at all, it was just funny that by the end I was doing wedding music, name tags, guest book, bubbles, bells, etc.

We took our time getting dressed and putting on makeup, then finally headed down for pictures. I'm not really sure what the issue was with the photographer... I think he didn't allow enough time for the girls, and didn't account for the sun setting behind the other hotels on the beach. But they were trying to time the ceremony with the sunset so everyone was seated down on the beach and the groomsmen were all lined up... but the photographer just kept clicking away despite me telling him 4 times that Huy was ready to get started and we needed to go NOW. Chris finally came up from the beach but by that time it seemed he was done. Heather definitely got stressed by the whole thing, but it all turned out perfect in the end.


The ceremony was short and sweet and the sunset was perfect. Heather was beautiful and Huy had the biggest smile on his face. And it was pretty cool that Mark, a college friend from Waco, was able to officiate. I think the best part was when they kissed all the people on the balconies of the hotel that had been watching, cheered!


The reception was a lot of fun, and very intimate. Even at our wedding, which was only about 75 people, I felt more obligated to make rounds than I think Huy and Heather did. So I hope they felt like they got to spend quality time with everyone there.

I think the drive home was pretty brutal for Chris, but then he didn't really make me drive. I would have been willing if he'd asked but I was perfectly willing to sit and ride too. With a short detour in Mobile (every time!) we made it back in about 12 hours.

Iran in trouble - 2 parts

So in case you've been shut in your closet for the last two weeks, Iranians have been protesting the results of their presidential election, and things have gotten pretty bad lately. My thoughts, in two parts:

Part One

I've been following an Iranian (I assume is male, I'll call him YA) since the protests began. His tweets were usually locations of protests, calls for support, reports of nightly "Allah akbar" (God is great) chants from the rooftops, and messages of hope. But on June 19 he tweeted:

just sent a sms to my relatives saying my goodbyes in case the unthinkable happens in the rally today

Though there wasn't much in the news yet about violence, that message really struck home. Around that time as well, this blog entry circulated:

I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I’m listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It’s worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them. I’m two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that. My mind is very chaotic. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. This note is dedicated to tomorrow’s children…” - an Iranian blogger, with more courage than most of us will ever know.

As Americans, growing up in our comfortable houses with anything we desire available to us at a moment's notice, I don't think we can begin to fathom what it's like to make that decision, to say "I'm leaving my house today to walk in the streets for something I believe, and I might not come home." Of course our soldiers make a similar decision to risk their lives for a cause, but I think it's a different thing altogether for a trained soldier who made the choice to serve. I'm sure many of us consider ourselves patriotic, but how often does the average citizen have an opportunity (or perhaps obligation?) to put their lives on the line for it.

It was three days before I received another tweet from YA. I was glad to hear he and his friends had returned, but they brought with them videos of increased violence and these messages:

We are back. the past few days were hell. so much to tell

Every time i try to sleep i think of the gunshots and wake up

I have seen things this few days that will stay with me forever. the bastards don't even let go of kids

Our bodies are tired and swollen but our spirits are very strong. Death to dictator

Part Two

Another Iranian I have followed (which appears to be a group of people, I'll name PI) has also been consistent and plentiful with information about protests as well as what's going on in the streets. Again, the messages have been hopeful and steadfast, though more violent as the days have passed. On Sat. June 20 the video of Neda's death surfaced and by Mon. and Tues. the news reports indicated violence had increased significantly. It seemed that CNN's coverage was thinning as well. (Since journalists aren't allowed to give information, the news networks have been relying on amateur video/pictures from protesters with internet access.)

On Tues. June 23 PI updated this string of tweets:

just in from Baharestan Sq - situation today is terrible - they beat the ppls like animals

I see many ppl with broken arms/legs/heads - blood everywhere - pepper gas like war

they were waiting for us - they all have guns and riot uniforms - it was like a mouse trap - ppl being shot like animals

saw 7/8 militia beating one woman with baton on ground - she had no defense nothing - #Iranelection sure that she is dead

so many ppl arrested - young & old - they take ppl away - #Iranelection - we lose our group

ppl run into alleys and militia standing there waiting - from 2 sides they attack ppl in middle of alleys

all shops was closed - nowhere to go - they follow ppls with helicopters - smoke and fire is everywhere

phone line was cut and we lost internet - #Iranelection - getting more difficult to log into net

rumour they are tracking high use of phone lines to find internet users - must move from here now

reports of street fighting in Vanak Sq, Tajrish sq, Azadi Sq - now - #Iranelection - Sea of Green - Allah Akbar

in Baharestan we saw militia with axe choping ppl like meat - blood everywhere - like butcher - Allah Akbar

they catch ppl with mobile - so many killed today - so many injured - Allah Akbar - they take one of us

Lalezar Sq is same as Baharestan - unbelevable - ppls murdered everywhere

they pull away the dead into trucks - like factory - no human can do this - we beg Allah for save us

Everybody is under arrest & cant move - Mousavi - Karroubi even rumour Khatami is in house guard

we must go - dont know when we can get internet - they take 1 of us, they will torture and get names - now we must move fast

thank you ppls 4 supporting Sea of Green - pls remember always our martyrs - Allah Akbar - Allah Akbar - Allah Akbar

Allah - you are the creator of all and all must return to you - Allah Akbar - #Iranelection Sea of Green

It's been heartbreaking reading these but it is still hard for me to grasp that this really happened and is not just words on paper. Though you do have to be wary of what people say online and who they may be, I believe these are valid since I've seen the same quotes reported on CNN blogs listed as trusted sources. But when I sat at my desk at work on Tuesday morning and read these, my mind started to discredit them, rather than accept that these things were really happening.

I think that's what the Iranians need us to do though, to continue to read and know that it is real.

Also on June 24, YA posted:

baharestan square is like a violent medieval battlefield. they show no mercy

the ambulances take the injured and bring them out of tehran and dump them into the desert

the militia is using mosques as a gathering point. khamenei, IS THIS WHAT ALLAH WANTS???

We heard the women are being beaten so badly they had to amputate their legs GOD WHERE ARE YOU!

people were angrily chanting "death to islamic republic" and "fear the day we become armed"

I have cried so much i have no tears left. I'm ready to die for my soil. my people. ALLAH o AKBAR

The Iranians have been silent since then.

Weekend at the lake

This weekend we went to the lake house. We left Saturday after Chris got off work and drove down. That afternoon was a very "special" event - the launch of the raft that Chris and my brother-in-law Brad have been working on since last summer. Sometime shortly after the house was finished last year, a big black plastic thing washed up on the shore and Brad got the idea to float on it. Well it obviously wasn't very stable so their project became to remedy this issue (using only building scrap materials from other houses on the street or whatever they could find in the woods).

Side note: I'm not sure that they actually achieved the goal of increased stability... but at least it did float with both of them sitting on it.


So Saturday afternoon they carried it down to the water and Brad climbed on. Chris tied a ski rope on it and pulled it over to the boat dock so he could climb down the ladder on board. There were a few wobbly moments, but then success!

Then came the cluster of spiders, which had apparently made their home inside the cozy raft and did not appreciate the wobbling or the water. When Chris and Brad both started to panic the raft capsized and they both went into the water. As you can see in the picture, Jake and Bella were a little concerned.


The next morning Brad and I got up early and went wakeboarding while Chris stayed in bed. It only took a couple of seconds to feel pretty comfortable again so I tried a few things. Last summer I had been trying to get comfortable riding goofy foot (which is where your opposite foot is forward from your regular stance) so I did a couple of starts that way. Then I also tried a switch (gliding smoothly from regular stance to goofy, or vice versa) and I did it!

In the afternoon, the guys went swimming and the rest of us hung out on the dock with my nephew Lincoln watching the puppies play. Bella loves the water and spent all her time swimming back and forth, under and around the dock. But the other puppies needed a little encouragement and a little swimming lesson.


Bella also finally figured out the water version of fetch. And she enjoyed some time on the tube with Chris.


Lincoln enjoyed watching the puppies and playing with the hose and the ski rope.


We had a nice lunch and then drove home. Now Jake and Bella are passed out on the couch and may or may not wake up for dinner.

I Love Twitter

I know a lot of people roll their eyes and say it's just the next MySpace or Facebook, and yes it is just the next in what I'm sure will be a long line of social networking sites to come. For a while now blogging has been the new medium for news-sharing and opinion-stating, and Twitter gained immense popularity in April with Ashton's race to beat CNN to one million followers and Oprah's first live tweet (I jumped on the bandwagon a week before all that, thank you very much). But I think Twitter's "mini blogging" style offers something more than other sites.

A while back I tweeted half-jokingly that I get all my breaking news from Twitter's trending topics (an automated search which appears on every user's side bar that shows the top ten words, phrases, or hashtags in the live feed). But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how useful a tool it is. For example, you can find out who won a Game 7 without searching on Fox Sports, or you can see who won Dancing with the Stars without turning on the tv. You can find out who liked the newest episode of Jon & Kate, or read about the newest iphone release. But again, Twitter provides an opportunity for something greater than sharing breaking news that Adam Lambert is gay.

Last week the Iranian government held a presidential election between the incumbent (crazy guy) Ahmadinejad and reformist Mousavi. Ahmadinejad won but huge protests broke out from Mousavi's supporters and there is speculation the election was rigged. Of course the government shut down television and cell phone networks, silenced journalists, and blocked websites. But Mousavi's supporters along with the international community have been able to use sites like Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and Facebook to get pictures, videos, and information out. All weekend trending topics were #IranElection, Mousavi, and Ahmadinejad. These social media sites have been the only way in many cases that people have been able to get out what is happening in the streets. In fact, much of the American news media missed what was going on in Iran over the weekend and wasn't reporting much of anything until Twitter users started tagging #CNNFail to complain. Late last night Twitter postponed a scheduled shutdown at the request of the US government to allow Iranians to continue tweeting during their prime usage hours.

Still tonight there are calls from users to change avatars to the color green to show support for the Mousavi cause, as well as cautions not to display Iranian usernames when retweeting messages in case they are being monitored by their government. Reading through these live feeds tonight from users all around the world just gave me a glimpse into how we can be connected by 140 characters.

Crazy storms

I'll begin with yesterday on my drive home from work. Chris called and said there were storms so I should hurry home. I was about a mile from my exit on I-20 when random stuff started flying across the road. The rain didn't start for another few minutes but it was coming down in sheets by the time I got home.

So You Think You Can Dance was preempted by the weather team which I was very bitter about. (It's the only show I care about in the summer!) I went to sleep at a decent time but the weather radio kept going off all night. I kept hitting the button to shut it up until about the fifth time I groggily realized that it might be trying to tell me something important (like a tornado was coming or something) so then I started actually checking it. But it was always just plain old severe thunderstorm warnings.

At 7 in the morning I was almost ready to leave for work when my graduate student for my toddler language program called me and said she wasn't coming. A TREE fell on her car. Luckily my student from last semester was able to fill in. On the way to work, I enjoyed a beautiful lightning show for about 20 minutes, and then it started raining in sheets again.

I made it to work but I was sopping wet and had five minutes to gather all the toys and materials, rearrange my office for the kids, and walk around the building (outside in the rain again!) to pick up one of them from his class. It thundered loudly the whole morning and scared a couple of the already unhappy kids. By the end of the morning, 4 of my 5 individual patients had canceled and Dallas flooding was a trending topic on Twitter. Thankfully it cleared up for the drive home, but more rain is in the forecast for tomorrow...

Maui -- day seven

Tuesday was our last day in Maui. We slept in (again) and then packed up the luggage. It was very strange having packed one suitcase for the trip there and then a completely different one for the trip back. But we actually had more room I think. We checked out of the hotel, dropped off our snorkel gear in Kihei, and drove up to Lahaina for the last shopping trip. We said our last goodbyes to the old suitcase and left it by a dumpster off Front Street.


We walked around for quite a while and ate lunch at the Lahaina Fish Company. I had fish and chips and Chris got a fish sandwich made with Opah (moon fish).


Then we drove further up the west coast.


We stopped at a couple points for short hikes. The coolest one was the Nakale blowhole. It was actually blowing when we stopped and the waves were pretty fierce against the lava rocks. It would first spew spray about 50 feet in the air and then a large gush of water would blow about 10 to 15 feet. We opted out of taking a picture in front of it since the two people we watched try got very unexpectedly wet.


The next little hike we didn't go all the way down. It was a couple of pools in the rocks off the coast. We might have gone down if we had wanted to swim, but we didn't have time to shower anywhere before dinner. But we watched the people down below jump off the rocks into the deepest pool.


Chris declined the option to drive around the top of the coast after hearing it was similar to the drive around southeast Maui. I don't think it would have been that bad... it was paved the whole way at least. So we drove the long way back down the coast and then back up into central Maui. We stopped at a Borders to get another book for the ride home and then headed to Mama's Fish House for dinner.


Wow, Mama's Fish House was amazing. It's set on a beautiful little beach cove and the restaurant has open air windows (like so many other places in Maui) so you can feel the breeze come in off the ocean. They served us little cups of an asparagus ginger bisque as a sample which was delicious. For the main course I had mahi mahi stuffed with crab and lobster with a macadamia nut crust. It came with lemongrass rice and asparagus, and a mini lobster tail on top. Chris had a boullibasse which was a large bowl with scallops, lobster, fish, calamari, shellfish, and angelhair pasta in a broth. Amazing. I ate till I was stuffed and then I kept eating after that. Then we got dessert. Creme brulee with lilikoi glaze on top. Perfection. It was the perfect ending.

We got to the airport with plenty of time, and got to weigh our bag before checking it. 7 pounds over! So we pulled out a few things and got it to fifty pounds exactly. Then the check-in terminals were down so by the time we waited in line for them to manually check everyone in, we barely had enough time to get to the gate and we got on the plane immediately. We had a long layover at LAX where I confirmed that a hair dryer does not make a very comfy pillow but it will do in a pinch. Beach towels do make good blankets.

Maui -- day six

Monday was a pretty relaxed day. We slept in a little and then ate breakfast at the hotel (yummy french toast and portuguese sausage). Then we got our snorkel gear and headed to the beach in front of the hotel.


The beach attendant said there were two turtles hanging out just behind the little group of rocks, and sure enough you could see them poke their heads and fins up every now and then. So we got in and swam over to see them. They were HUGE. They didn't seem to mind people swimming pretty close and they hung out there all morning long.


(By the way I got stung by a man-of-war on the back of my hand. The beach attendant said I was the first person in a week, lucky me. It didn't hurt that bad but the marks are still there almost a week later!)

We took a short break to lay on the beach and then swam out to some of the reefs. I took my camera that time to try to get some pictures, but it's pretty hard when you can't see the view finder and don't really know which way you're pointing. I think I did get a couple good ones though.


This was also the first time I tried actually swimming down below the surface while snorkeling. It was really hard to stay down though, the sea water makes you very buoyant.


We saw some angelfish, trigger fish, the long skinny fish, a unicorn fish, a puffer fish, and Chris thinks he saw an octopus dart into a rock very quickly. And we saw sleeping fish just hanging out on the bottom! (The guy at the luau later said that scientists are convinced fish can't sleep because they have to stay moving, but sure enough that's not true for these fish at least.)

We spent a little while at the pool and got a hamburger and fish tacos for lunch at the pool bar. Then we cleaned up and drove into Lahaina to do some shopping before the luau.

In the evening we went to the Old Lahaina Luau. I definitely liked this one better than the one we went to on Oahu. It was supposed to be more authentic with regard to ancient Hawaii customs and dance and the whole place was more intimate. Plus ALL the drinks were free.


Before dinner they give you a chance to walk around the grounds and see various crafts, instruments, and people. There was a lady selling shell jewelry and guys selling tiki wood carvings. Some of the hula dancers were demonstrating how you dance with the various instruments. And the guy we listened to for the longest time was talking about how they lived in ancient Hawaii. It was really interesting. We learned for instance that the way a man was measured was by how well he made his rope. You had to scrape every little string off the inside of a coconut husk and braid them all together. A 6 foot long piece of rope might take you 6 months to make. Then if you wanted to make a fishing net (that you cast out in a circle to catch a school of fish), it might take about 2 years to make. He showed how they made fishing hooks and how they caught octopus. And how they cast fishing nets and how they made poi.


They had a guy there the whole time he was talking that was mashing the purple stuff on a large rock. He explained that Poi is not something that you really ate in ancient hawaii unless you were the poorest of the poor because it's watered down with about 2 gallons of water. But regular people ate a much more concentrated version (which we got to try, and it wasn't bad at all... very much like sweet potato).


The other interesting thing we learned is why yellow fin tuna is called Ahi. Ahi means "fire" in hawaiian and when they used to catch the fish with their coconut husk ropes, the fish would try to get away of course and pull the course rope through the fisherman's bare hands. Well you can imagine that burns pretty bad so they named the fish Ahi.

Soon it was time for dinner (buffet style) and I think I tried a bit of everything. They had ahi poke which is raw tuna chunks with some chives and maui onions mixed in. Chris liked that but what I liked even more was the octopus poke. Yes I ate raw octopus. With the little suckers and everything! It was pretty chewy and kind of salty, but very good. I would definitely have it again.


They also had mahi, steak, chicken, kalua pork, and another kind of pork wrapped in tea leaves which I didn't like as much. But overall the food was very good. Desert was little samples of macadamia nut tart, fudge brownie, coconut pudding squares, and lilipoi mousse (sweet but tart fruit) in a little cup made of dark chocolate. That was my favorite.

After dinner they started the show which was really amazing. And they actually had the stage well lit during the group dances so I got some good pictures.


The dances told the story of the goddess Pele and the history of the hula, including the time in the 1800s that hula was banned but continued underground. It was just amazing that the girls can move so fast from the waist down and be perfectly graceful and calm from the waist up. I'm sure it's an incredible workout, especially for the guys who do so much squatting and jumping.


Overall it was definitely a cool experience. On the ride home we strongly considered moving to Hawaii.

Maui -- day five

Sunday we spent the day in Haleakala. We got up early and began the two hour drive up the summit. It's supposedly the shortest drive from sea level to 10,000 feet.


We saw a lot of people biking down and even two people crouched down zooming by on skateboards. They were going about as fast as the cars. We thought the skaters were crazy until we saw the people riding bikes UP THE ROAD.


We finally got to the top and met our tour guide, Ra. The trail was pretty easy and the scenery was beautiful.


There were so many different colors and you could actually see the last three cinder cones where lava had spouted.


We learned the summit used to be 12,000 feet and the crater floor used to be 1,000 feet deeper. But erosion and other geologic events have drastically changed it. We also saw a bunch of silverswords, a small plant that only grows in the crater.


Lunch was on the crater floor and then we headed back up. By the way, I'm very glad we chose the horseback ride. We saw people hiking down to the bottom, but I would still be down there if we had gone on foot.


Chris' horse was Big Boy and mine was Lucy. They were both very good the whole time. Big Boy had one pace, and that was slow and plodding. Lucy wanted to trot a little on the way back, but sadly Big Boy was in her way.


The trail ride and drive up/down the mountain took most of the day so we grabbed a quick plate-lunch dinner in the Rainbow Mall in Kihei and then made it back to the hotel beach to watch the sunset.


There were cute little crabs that came out at sunset as the tide came back up. I guess they bury themselves in the sand all day and then in the evening you start to see little holes where they have dug themselves out. However, they are VERY skittish and don't appreciate at all when you step on the sand anywhere near them. They scuttled back to their little holes very quickly. I managed a couple pictures though.


After sunset, we spent some time in the hot tub and then turned in.

Maui -- day four

On Saturday we noticed the crowds picking up, though overall there had been very few people. And when the people showed up, the clouds left. It was clear blue skies even though the haze and "vog" had been forecasted to remain through the weekend. We slept in a little and then left with aspirations to hike mile-long treks through the lava fields about 5 minutes south of the hotel to snorkel at places called Fishbowl and Aquarium. But when we got down to the area, there were signs saying the whole section of the coast was closed for 2 years.


I was secretly a little relieved because it's like a barren wasteland down there and I wasn't really sure that the "trail" was going to really be visible. I was a little concerned we were going to wander lost through miles of lava rock and it was really hot. So instead we drove up the road to the "park ranger recommended" snorkel site called Dumps (our guide book also recommended, but said it wasn't as good as the others). Though it was a very rocky beach and a little hard to get in (the surge beat us up a little), there were lots of fish and we even swam with a turtle!


Then we headed back to the hotel for a snack and a break. Lunch was at Pupu Seafood Lounge in Kihei where we both had the daily special of fish and chips. I don't remember what kind of fish it was (something like broad spearfish?) but it was delicious. After lunch we walked through a couple of the shopping stalls. Then we headed back down the coast to Po'olenalena Beach and did some more snorkeling. It wasn't as good as the Dumps and we had to swim a long way out. But the beach was nice and not very crowded.


There were a bunch of dogs that were playing together and jumping in the waves. Also a couple of nudists. We pondered briefly what exactly were the benefits of exposing those parts of yourself to the sun. Then we headed back to the hotel for a nap. Vacations can be so tiring. After a four hour nap we ate a disappointing dinner at the hotel, watched tv for a while, and then went back to sleep.