Last blog in paradise

Still in Hawaii. I thought I wasn’t going to get a chance to get to the internet again, but luckily I got to borrow a car. Lets see, Friday was the last time I posted; so Friday night was Shabbat dinner at the house, I guess Phyllis has shabbat dinner every Friday with Sara and Audrey and which ever of their kids is around. So this Friday Chris came, Audrey’s 14 year old son. We had meatloaf and yams and rice and veggies, it was very nice. Saturday, which was yesterday (I say that more for myself than you) Phyllis wanted to take me on another driving tour, this time up the north shore to Hanalei. We left at around noon and hit Rte. 50. There is basically one road that circles the island which is nice, because it makes it difficult to get lost. We decided to just drive all the way north and if we wanted to stop we’d do it on the way back. The views were really spectacular even through the rain, which was mostly on and off. More north, the roads tend to travel through the mountains allowing most of the trip to be under tree tunnels eventually opening up to stunning views of the ocean or fields of every shade of green. Truly magnificent. On our way back Phyllis wanted to show me the highest end of luxury on the island. The Princeville hotel is the most breathtaking and decadent place I’ve ever been in. I only went into the lobby but that on its own is purely regal. There is one in New Zealand, so maybe something to save for? The rooms range from $500-$5000 a night, not too bad... Once we left the high and mighty to their ultra-luxurious lifestyle, we headed to the historic town of Kapaa. There we stopped at a vegan restraunt called the Blossoming Lotus for brunch. The inside was Buddha inspired as were the people who occupied it. Soft voices, bare feet, dread locks and uncomfortably long hugs oozed from these yoga loving hippies, but the food was excellent, I had a tofu breakfast burrito. We got back to the house at around 5pm. Phyllis was going to see the Vagina Monologues at the local community college so I prepared for a night alone with Meg and Tom (Ryan and Hanks). I talked to my boy for a while then Phyllis came home and I went to bed. Today is my last full day in paradise, and im not sure what im going to do, maybe the beach? But this concludes my Hawaii portion of International Orientation, thank you so much to Alyssa and Phyllis for having me this past week, it would have been a very different experience without you. Thanks for reading and I’ll talk to you all from New Zealand...holy crap.

North Shore with Phyllis