the coolest thing happened today!

so. today. mom and I had our monthly mother-daughter thingamy.

all this I-need-my-India-fix finally came out. about a month ago, we talked about it and she let me pick the place we were going to eat lunch at, and the "beauty treat" thingy afterwards. I'm like - Naan 'n Curry all the way! they have THE BEST Indian food I've had besides in India. the manager dude there is really cool, and the second time I came in he remembered me, because I was wearing a selwar kameez each time. we've talked (rather guardedly) about my trips, and India. today he was there again, and I asked him where in India he was from; he said Bengal, which is North Eastern India, like where Calcutta is. He told me he'd worked for a long time with Mother Theresa. well I thought everyone in this place was Muslim so that surprised me a little, but we talked more and he told me he'd been in Gujarat in 2001 when the big earthquake hit, helping with relief work, and that Gujarat is where his heart is. Then, he said he'd met a teenage Sikh girl who converted to Christianity and got all kinds of trouble and persecution from the government, and he'd told her if she came to America to find him - she did make it here and now he's helping her get settled in and stuff. So we're like, "are you Christian?" I totally thought everyone there was Muslim because they make a big deal on their website about how they only serve "halal," or "lawful" meat. (basically like Kosher only an Islam term instead of Jewish). But he said, "yes, I'm a Christian." and it was just the COOLEST thing ever!!!!! I now know an Indian Christian at my favorite Indian restaurant, not teribbly far from where we're trying to move to. I want to go back really soon and talk to him some more. I'm actually thinking about trying to get a part time job there when we move..........perhaps. but I was just thinking, God is so amazingly good to bring us together like that, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for that relationship!



In other news, my horrible youth group worship team that has been playing worse and worse, loosing people, and falling apart at the seams, had a meeting last night instead of practice, and we just hashed things out. It was wonderful. we talked about communication issues, apathy issues, leadership issues, musical issues, south dakota team issues, and figured out some consequences for not showing up and not calling. and we got everybody's contact info too. AND, today, Friday, we already have the music for next Thursday, ready to be practiced all week!!!!!!!!!!!!! Things are already so much better since we just all agreed to face the problems and fix them. I'm so happy.
However, please continue to keep my youth group in your prayers. outside of the worship team getting better, there's still lots of stuff going on that needs healing. we're loosing people in really weird circumstances, and apathy is extremely healthy here. but hopefully, the healing will start with those of us on the worship team and spread through the rest of the group through our example. lots of weird guy-girl stuff going on that's not good. everyone says it's spring, which it may be, but I hate to see it happening, especially in what are supposed to be healthy Christian relationships. and these people are all my friends, so it's slightly awkward. I'm just trying to be there for everybody, because I don't know what else to do. just keep praying.



tomorrow, I'm going to henna myself!!!!!!!! at least, I will try. I've never done it before. that's my beauty pampering treat. we bought two cones of henna paste, so I can do all sorts of amazing pretty stuff. each cone cost $5.00, which really isn't that much; you get a fair bit. however, we got back in the car and I looked at the cones, which have English and Hindi stuff on them. there's a little price that says "Rps. 10.00" ten Rupees per cone. I'll do the math for you - that's about 25 cents a cone in India. 5 dollars here. I was really sticker-shocked by that. of course, there is shipping to take into account.....

so what kind of design should I do? something in Hindi? something LotRish and pretty? something just kind of....somethingish? I haven't decided yet.





oh and by the way, it's now officially settled. I AM coming to Camp Hope, through Thursday morning. sometime Thursday my dad will pick me up, and then we'll meet my youth group in Eastern WA for the South Dakota trip. but at least I am coming for more than half of camp!!!!!! sent in my registration thing today......yay!!!




and Father/Daughter Camp is this coming weekend. In less than a week we'll be on our way there!!! PLEASE keep my grandpa in your prayers. As you probably know already, he isn't a Christian, but he has a Catholic upbringing and he's fairly open to listening. well he's coming to camp with me and my dad, and I'm really praying for his salvation - if not this weekend, that at least he will get even closer than he is now to learning the Truth. he's so close I know - it just needs to be covered in prayer.

in my life/there are so many questions and answers/that somehow seem wrong

This month has been awful. Not for me as far as personal life, but all my friends seem to be going through so much crap. Some stuff in my own life too, though nothing drastic. Actually, I'm doing quite well - school's almost over, work is great, house stuff is going okay, and I have a little down time; things are calming down a little. But so many of my close friends are just getting pummeled by the world, and it sucks. what sucks worse is that there's not a thing I can do about it. Mostly it's even stuff I haven't been through so I can't even understand. All I can do is be a good listener....and pray. It seems like so little.

Why does prayer seem like so little when it is the only lever big enough to move the world?

Is everyone my age this confused, this scared? Life is just so depressing on days like today. I know I'm not the only one, but as I just read somewhere, you can't reason with your heart. Twain knew what he was talking about. I guess this is what people mean when they talk about teenagers, but it doesn't make sense when you're in the middle of it.

Pray for my friends, and for my youth group. Everything is such a mess, right now.

I will not say the day is done, nor bid the stars fairwell

we're coming home tomorrow.

and surprise surprise, I'm ready to come home. I really am. I love it here, I really do, but I'm also ready to be back. back with my cats, and my piano (*tries not to think about recital in one week*), with my own bed -I sound like an adult- and yes, even my job. *gasp* getting back into my routinely scheduled life, school and chores included. youth group - gosh I miss my youth group. being somewhere where I can actually drive again! I didn't think I'd miss the freedom of driving and picking my own music so much for 10 days.

no, I don't even want to do this every other day. I'd be more sunburnt than I am in a big hurry. I'd pretend not to notice David Copperfield and stick in a movie instead. I'd eat mostly junk food and the only exercise would be walking to the ice cream store.

Gosh I sound terrible. I sound like vacation is a bad thing. It isn't, I've loved every minute of being here. Hawaii is beautiful (no matter how hot) but I couldn't be here more than a couple of weeks. Island fever? I don't think so, there's still lots to do. more like homesickness. deep down, I'm a terrible homebody.

all that to say, I'm glad to be coming home.



(*dances* Mike e-mailed me back yesterday!!! it made my whole day!!!)



oh, so today we went to the ocean for the last time. I didn't get up at 6:00 to go snorkeling, but in the afternoon we went boogie boarding. and after riding a wave in I decided to move our stuff farther up and further in so it wouldn't get wet. and as I finished doing that, I looked up just in time to see an umbrella bearing down at high speeds. yes, I've now been run over by more than tall people - I've been run over by an umbrella as well. it was crazy too, because I actually caught the thing as I was putting my hands up in self-defense. the guy next to me says, "good catch," his wife says, "are you alright?" rather surprised at my own talent, I reply that I'm fine. but I'm just sitting there holding it, laughing my head off, trying not to open my eyes because my face is now covered in sand. then all of a sudden the umbrella gets yanked away from me, and my eyes involuntarily open to see since when umbrellas acquired a will of their own to run people over and then leave. another guy asking if I'm okay. just completely ignore the fact that I'm laughing people, no, I think I'm going to have a heart attack and die from your umbrella. yes, I'm fine. but I think, if the umbrella doesn't object, I'll get back in the water and get the sand out of my eyes.
half-way back to the water I noticed a nice little patch of skin missing and being rapidly replaced by blood on my hand. spent the next half hour trying to boogie board and keep sand out of the scrape at the same time, which didn't really work. so here's my dilemma people - should I sue the umbrella owner for heavy damages? or perhaps I could join the circus as master and professional umbrella catcher, provided I wear gloves. or here's an idea - how about I make my living by going from McDonald's to McDonald's spilling hot coffee on myself and sueing for 10-15 million at a time?

today I'm feeling sarcastic and mischievous at the same time. oh, and I found this amazing feature on blogger: कैसी that's my name in Hindi. I found this on a sidebar completely by accident, but I think it's pretty amazing how it works. I can write anything in Hindi transliteration, and this feature will change it into the Devanagari script. yes, probably none of this makes any sense, but I'm quite excited about it.

alrighty then. tomorrow morning we're packing everything, and we won't get home until really late at night (especially taking the 3-hour time difference into account), so you may not hear from me again until Sunday. This seems to be the time for everyone I know to fly somewhere. :P

you have to looks at the last four posts backwards....only five pics allowed per post.

no CG here....this is on top of Haleakala, just before sunset.
"there is a castle on a cloud....."
one of the more magnificent things I've seen in my life. you know how pictures "never do it justice?" this is it. two nights ago we watched the sunset from the beach. last night, we were on the highest point of the island, up above the clouds. it doesn't get much more romantic or beautiful.

















can we do this every day?

don't you think you might get tired of it after a while?

oh I suppose so. every other day?

and yet more pictures...

Hawaii's version of the Misty Mountains............this is up on Haleakala, Maui's dormant volcano. we went up there yesterday to watch the sunset.
this one kind of speaks for itself - I've been on a mountain taller than Mt. Everest!
for all my homies............I knew you'd love it.
the famous Silver Sword. look but don't touch. as our guide book so eloquently put it, "fines for damaging this plant will cost more than your entire vacation." makes for a nice picture though.
no CG effects here guys, this is seriously what it looked like. Dad was just taking pics of this tiny little plant and then the sun came out and this is what it looked like.

more pictures...

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit............................this is a little thing we discovered on the road to Hana.
another little thing, only this one was a lava tunnel that went all the way through to the woods on the other side!
A few of the Seven Sacred Pools out past Hana. don't be fooled here, there never were seven and they never were sacred. some guy made it up to attract tourists. it worked. the pools are beautiful and warm for swimming in, with a nice view of the ocean like everywhere here has.
can you believe this is real?
this is Molokini Crater, a collapsed half-sunk crater that is now great for diving and snorkeling. we went out snorkeling there today, but that is a story for another time...soon.

PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is the biggest banyan tree in the U.S. it covers the whole block, and is over 120 years old! look closely - all those things that look like several different trees are really connected to the same base. Banyan trees send their roots down from the branches to start new support systems when they get big. this one was planted by the sherriff way back when and was imported from India.
this is the blowhole we went to up north of Lahaina. the water comes up under the lava and gets forced out through the hole there, shooting up to 70 feet into the air!
because it was there? because I can? I had to climb the rock. that would be my grandpa with the camera, and my dad behind the one that took this picture.
my first snorkel lesson - we're staying in the pool for this one!
ok kind of a long story.....our minivan has little pull-out pouches on the back of the seats. only they only come out about three inches. so you just stick stuff in there, but it's not like a food tray. well, my can't-keep-still grandfather decided that it was a fold-out tray and an excellent place for an exta-hot latte..............(don't worry, it went back in just fine.)




there's a few more posts coming. you can only do 5 pics in each post.

all you have to do......is listen

We are officially in Hawaii! And let me tell you, it’s beautiful here. Every place in the world seems so different. India is dirty, but so colorful, so cultural, it has its own beauty if you look to see it. Singapore is the most beautiful place in the world, I think, but it’s a blending of everywhere else, and its beauty is in its cleanness, its high-techness. But Hawaii is different too. Palm trees line roads and beaches, and you can look out to the ocean and it’s always different. Hawaii is cultural too, but it’s still American in some aspects. It’s honestly like that spot where vacation never ends. It’s always the same, but not in an annoying way. I guess I really wouldn’t like it if I lived here – no seasons, everywhere looks the same – but when you’re on vacation it’s nice not to have to think much.

Monday night we drove up to my grandparents’ house, where we spent the night before flying out at about ten Tuesday morning. Or rather I drove there, and got stuck in rush hour mixed with a really bad accident that turned a one-hour drive into a two-hour one. blah. but we made it fine and got to bed after dinner. Check-in at the airport and security was fairly uneventful, though mom and I both got out carry-ons opened because they thought our books looked suspicious ha-ha. And mine were paperbacks! August Rush was showing on the plane so my dad and I shared a pair of headphones, which was very cool because he’d never seen it before. He liked it a ton too. I’m getting rather proficient at quoting it. :P I finished Tuesdays with Morrie, wondering to the end why everyone raves about it, and I’m hunting around for something to swap it with here. The tennis court shack has a big selection, which I went to look at, but it’s pretty much all junk. oh well. ALL of our bags arrived, though mine came last which was slightly nerve-racking considering my history with loosing bags…..

We got our rental car, a white minivan which is needed because of everything we end up hauling around! decided that with all the luggage there was no room for going to Costco, so we headed straight for the condo and arrived just three minutes after check-in. Our condo is very nice, and for once I actually don’t have to sleep on a couch because mine pulls out into a heidabed. and I just discovered I have no idea whatsoever how to spell that word (open to suggestions…). {insert suggestion from Dad…Hideabed} The really nice part is that they have all the cooking equipment kind of stuff you would need, even a blender and rice cooker, etc. There’s two pools and barbeque areas, a tennis court, and we’re about two minutes from the beach with a sweet view of the ocean.

We got settled in at the condo, and after a bit decided it was dinner time. As we didn’t have any food yet, going out was about the only option (oh darn!). looked in this book, Maui Revealed, which has everything, the REAL TRUTH behind dining, lodging, and entertainment in Maui. After a little discussion we agreed on Peggy Sue’s, a little fifties-style diner which turned out to be a great choice and very cute. They have a big jukebox, and then they have little mini ones connected to the wall at every table! You can select the song from your table and then it sends the request to the big machine. my dad broke out a bunch of quarters and let us all choose a song. After dinner we went to a wine and cheese shop (my grandparents live off of wine lol – not really but they needed to stock up), and I started feeling pretty jet-lagged so I went back out to the van; decided that might be better than falling over and crashing into a bunch of fifty-dollar wine bottles. By the time we got to Costco I was feeling much better, though a little tired.

Pineapples are so cheap here! Actually, most fruit is really cheap, which is so nice, considering how much I love fruit. We stocked up on lots of foodstuff, probably more than we will be able to eat before we leave in my opinion. We went to WalMart too, and my grandpa bought me a flower lei made of orchids which is so pretty! Finally we got back to the condo and watched Remember the Titans. such a good movie!!!

Wednesday we drove up to Lahaina, which I guess used to be the capital of Hawaii for a very long time. It’s also home to the largest banyan tree in the U.S. The cool thing about banyan trees is that they grow up, and then when their branches decide they need more support they send roots down to the ground and start what looks like a new tree. This banyan tree is over 100 years old and looks like twenty different trees – it covers a whole city block! Lahaina is a cute little tourist town with shops lining the streets, so we spent most of the day there looking around; I bought a ukulele too which is so cute I laugh every time I play it! Near Lahaina they have a blowhole: a lava formation where the sea comes underneath the lava and then is forced up through a hole in the surface, sometimes as high as 70 feet. It was a pretty long and somewhat rough hike to get there, considering the hike, but very pretty once you got there and the spray and wind from the ocean took the heat away. My dad took like 100 pictures. :P We came back and watched the sunset, then messed around at the tennis courts for awhile which was very…interesting…especially since it was getting dark! We had steak and swordfish for dinner, with asparagus (that my dad insists is a breakfast food). Watched something I’m sure, though I can’t remember what it was now.

Thursday was somewhat relaxed; we slept in (at least I did) and hung out for awhile before heading to the pool to learn how to snorkel! yeah, that was funny. I can do the swimming around on the surface, and diving, but every time I try to get the water out of my snorkel I end up trying to choke instead. yeah….anyway we did that for about an hour and then went to the beach to try the real thing. which didn’t end up working after all because the surf was really choppy and there was sand everywhere and it wasn’t good for beginners. so we ended up grabbing the boogie boards instead and dad taught me how to “surf.” on a boogie board. which I have to say was a blast, though I’ve deduced that the ocean is more spit than anything else. If you’ve never gotten a mouthful of real true saltwater, you haven’t lived. I spent most of the time trying to get past the breakers and getting knocked over and beat up instead. then, once you finally get past, you have to go back again and kick like crazy until you catch the right wave, and then manage to hang onto your board and not breath all the way to shore, and not scream or open your mouth because you’ll get it full of salt water.

believe me, it’s a blast.

Yesterday was Friday, which also happened to be my dad’s birthday (I won’t tell you how old he is hahaha). We got up really early and drove the Road to Hana. you also haven’t lived if you haven’t done the Road to Hana. It’s this 34-mile long road with 600 curves in it. and I don’t mean cutesy little curves in the road, I mean major twists on a 1 ½ lane road where you can’t see the person on the other side, who is most likely bombing around the corner half-way in your lane. oh yes, and one side is a drop off. It was so much fun! Actually, the thing with the Road to Hana is that you’re not really trying to get to Hana. believe me, there’s nothing much there. it’s one of those trips where it’s all about the getting there. Hana is on the east side of the island, the rainy side, so everything is lush and green, and there are waterfalls around every bend. In our guide book it said you see every shade of green (including a rather unpleasant shade if you happen to try and read while going around the corners). The flowers there are gorgeous too. It’s certainly the more tropical side, and surprisingly not too terribly humid. or perhaps I’ve just gotten used to it by now. Anyway, we did a couple of hikes off the road to see pretty waterfalls, and even got to go through a little lava tube to the jungle on the other side, using my grandma’s little tiny flashlight. really now, who carries a miniature flashlight around with them everywhere? but I’m glad she had it so we got to go through the tube. It actually took us a full 6 hours to get to Hana, believe it or not. Then another half-hour or so took us to the Seven Sacred Pools (which there actually never were seven by the way, and they never were sacred. this guy made it up for publicity a long time ago, and it worked). Anyway, we got to go swimming in fresh water (yay!). It’s crazy how warm everything here is. In the ocean we weren’t cold at all, and even in this fresh water in the mountains it was only a little chilly at the beginning, and then felt really good. We took a million pictures there too.

on the way home we decided to go out for dinner, and let my dad choose dessert since it was his birthday. After getting back and freshening up, we went out to a hole-in-the-wall Italian place with very good food, and for dessert split a slice of chocolate mousse cake and tiramisu. I’ve decided that I LOOOOOVE tiramisu. never had it before last night, and I think I accidently ate most of it (ooops…). Then we all ran to Safeway to restock the food supply that isn’t anywhere near low. We did get ice cream though, so I’m certainly not complaining.

I think tomorrow we’re going up to Haleakala, the big mountain here, to watch the sunset. I’m gonna try and put some of our pictures up here pretty soon, so you can really “see” what we’re doing. I miss all of you though, but remember my e-mail and my cell phone still work….

What’s going on with all of you?