I am sitting here at my new favorite local beach in Maui, Hawaii. I have scoped out my dream house, which is probably worth millions, right on the water.The palm trees are swaying back and forth in the wind, the smell of Memorial Day BBQ is in the air and the children are jumping off the rocks into the clear blue water. I love it here in Hawaii, which obviously isn't hard. I am really happy here so far and I feel really free. I am here doing a Soul Motion dance workshop for a month. I have been staying [View Full Entry]

---

---

I had the chance to add some more pix from my dives yesterday. I only took my camera on the last of 3 dives due to the difficulty of the first dive and big waves on the second. But on the second dive, I had the opportunity to see a grey tip reef shark (~5 ft) swim right for the group. He was about 10-15 ft away before turning off. That was the closest I've been to a shark that size. Very cool. I also saw a lobster that had to have beeen about 20 lbs and 2-3 ft long. No [View Full Entry]

---

---

I am currently in Lahaina, Maui. It is beautiful here with warm weather and sunny skies. The diving has been pretty cool. I've done 8 dives over 2 days with some really cool pictures. I am trying to upload as many photos as possible to a another public web page but the loading process has been sloooooww. I'll try to post a couple here for your viewing pleasure. Hope it works! The sites include Molokini Crater, 1st Cathedral (Lanai), Mala Wharf, Jodo Mission. I've seen a number of eels and a couple of small white tip reef sharks. Besides the u/w [View Full Entry]

---

---

Some more photos of maui, including the awesome hostel i stayed at in the (not as awesome, but happily non-touristy) town of Wailuku, which is nestled in the Iao River Valley with the Maui Mountains as backdrop. A short hike into the mountains revealed awesome views of cloud-shrouded mountain peaks, a tree canopy covered in flowers, wild strawberry guavas, and some surprisingly prickly underbrush. When pictures can't do justice: At Makena (Big and Little beach), I had one of the most surreal experiences of my life. Playing in the surf, one of they guys I was hanging out with told me [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hana Highway is the most scenic and sickening tour on Maui. It is famous for record numbers of bridges and hairpin curves, made even more fun by sections that are so narrow only one car can drive through at a time. Luckily I wasn't the driver, I had a window seat in a van and could sit back and ... try not to get carsick. Our (excellent) driver/guide from the hostel, Montana, was this awesome burly guy who grew up in Alaska and had tons of great wildery stories to entertain us with when the passing mountains, streams, exotic plants (like [View Full Entry]

---

---

a hiking trip through the 3000 ft deep crater of volcano Haleakala, the "house of the sun"... [View Full Entry]

---

---

Today Carlo and I road across the island of Maui. What an adventure!!! With our offroading Jeep we witnessed first hand the best Hawaii has to offer. The day started off rainy and ended in rainbows. We welcomed the rain because it made the waterfalls we saw even more dramatic. The north side of the mountain is very green and plush with amazing trees, waterfalls, and ocean views. The south side of the mountain is dry and sunny. It reminds me of the hills of Italy. But with banana bread venders, instead of lemoncello vendors. The drive was exhilerating. Most of [View Full Entry]

---

---

This place is true paradise. Yestarday Carlo and I arrived in Honolulu, and I thought it couldn't get much better- but alas, I was wrong. Honolulu is a very beautiful city where many tourists go to enjoy the beaches and warm weather. It is busy and there are many beautiful buildings. Maui is different. It is much more relaxed and quite. I knew I liked Maui when I got off the VERY small plane which took me from the island of Wikiki to the island of Maui and the airport in Western Maui was about the size of my house. The [View Full Entry]

---

---

I have never seen such beauty in my life. Maui is breathtaking. I might not return. If I do it is because of my friends, family, and Culture of Industrial America Course. :) The people here are so friendly... and it's no wonder. It's hard to be in a bad mood here. Here are my pics. I will add more later, but I'm off to our private beach for some rest and relaxation. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hi Everyone! This is my first blog ever. Wow. Well, I am about to pack for my trip to Hawaii. I have never been to Hawaii and I am very excited to go. I will be presenting my research at a conference on Wednesday. The rest of the trip I will sight-see, relax on the beach with a good book, enjoy a spa treatment, and bike. To my Villanova students: I hope you are getting the idea here about building your own blog. You will add entries with you thoughts on assigned readings, and with your own experiences with the culture [View Full Entry]

---

---