New home, new toys!

Right where we left off: Last Sunday I got up bright and early to watch the Eagles play (started at 8am). The bar shows every NFL game and draws fans from all over the island, both locals and tourists. Everyone was very friendly and the food/drinks were great, so I'll probably be headed back for the rest of the games this season. After the game I went snorkeling with some folks from work. We saw some really colorful reef fish, and a sea turtle which I've never seen (ok so I didn't take this, and I didn't have an underwater cam, but this is an example of what it looked like and how big it was).

As for work, I'm still learning lots, and starting to feel like a valuable part of the team. Days are long, but it's a fast paced, challenging, and fun environment so I barely notice. On Tuesday, I moved into a 2 bedroom cottage about 50 yards from the beach in a little town called Kekaha.

There is a main house on the property with a friendly family of four, also out of towners, and the dad works on the navy base where I work. Since the town is pretty far out from anything considered a city (and I guess since I'm on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean...) the stars are extremely abundant and bright.  And since it is on the west shore, the sunsets are really something. This pic is from the front yard.

I have two AC units, but I've been told electricity is very expensive here, so I've been going with open windows and ceiling fans and it's been just fine.  Cable guy comes this Tuesday, hooray for wifi and espn! There's also lots of bugs, as well as lizards, cats, and chickens that wander around, so I have to be quick opening and closing the door... This pic was in my yard Saturday morning.

The town is almost all locals, and besides the homes, there is a post office (no home service so I got a PO box), school, church, mini food mart, and that's about it. The next town over is a little larger with some more stores, restaurants, and a even a movie theater. It shows one movie every night at 7 and switches movies every week, but better than nothing! I actually went and saw Enders Game last night, not bad for a Harrison Ford movie. There's also a Costco and Walmart about 40 minutes away in the town where the airport is located. This weekend I ventured that way and bought a bike, surf board, fishing rod, and acoustic guitar to keep busy!

The best part is I can just walk across the street to do everything. Surfing was fun, but I have some work to do. I also tested out the bike with a 2 hour bike ride along the coast this morning (man am I out of shape...) As for fishing, I think I experienced some beginners luck, but hopefully not!

That fish is called a moi. I caught a few but threw them all back, because I still have to learn how to scale, gut, and filet a fish.  Discovery of the week: little hole in the wall saloon about 25 minutes away with live music every Thursday night (some Hawaiin music, some oldies).

Meal of the week: Poke - a Hawaiian appetizer of raw salad, usually ahi tuna with green onion, soy sauce, and chili flakes.  Saturday I tried Tuna poke and Octopus poke for lunch, and Spicy Sea Snail poke with white rice for dinner. All were very cheap at the local grocery store, and extremely fresh and tasty.

Thanksgiving is coming up, and while I am bummed I won't get to spend it with my family and friends, Lockheed is sponsoring a luau for us over in Poipu which is the tourist spot on the south shore where I spent my first week, so I'm excited for that. And here are some other random pictures from the last two weeks... Aloha!