Here I Am Honolulu!

June 8, 2009
Honolulu, Hawaii at 2am? Hmm..well as start this blog it’s 11 here in Honolulu and I’m not sure that sleep will come anytime soon. I’m not sad. It’s not that. I’m just…overwhelmed. I guess that it could’ve been predicted, but I sure didn’t see it coming.
What a day.

Back up to how this crazy idea began... I was hiking Camelback with Molly and Jim just two weeks ago when I reflected on my current situation and said, “Maybe I should look into spending the summer in Hawaii. I don’t have anything else to do.” And with that, I couldn’t get the thought out of my head. Yeah, why not go? My summer is as open and barren as the desert. If I don’t think of something I’ll be stuck to my couch watching reality TV all summer. Just do it, I thought. What have I got to lose? So, I began searching Craigslist for a place to live. I spent the majority of 5 days searching for the right opportunity. And then, finally, something came through. One room in a five bedroom house; yes I would be sharing a bathroom with the girl downstairs, but how bad could that be?
“It’s not the real world or anything,” #1 roommate Mike said on the phone.
“Yeah, I know,” I replied.
But now that I think of it, I truly expected just that…the real world. The cool furnishings, shared bathrooms, food, and fun roommates to chill in the living room with. Chalk this up to the fact that I’ve only had one roommate in my entire life. Well, besides living with my boyfriend for 4 years. I must have an unrealistic idea of what living with roommates is like.

Anyways, back to the current situation. I told Mike I’d take it. After all, it sounded okay. Great location - walking distance to the beach and the mall….sold. I bought a plane ticket; with two days notice, I considered myself lucky to even find a one way ticket for $215 to Honolulu. Even if it did require a day of travel…Phoenix to Seattle - layover - then to HI. In all, it was about 13 hours of traveling and really not too bad.
8:45pm Hawaii time, I stood in front of the airport waiting for my ride, Greg. Having never even met me, he kindly volunteered to pick me up and take me to my new home. I really am lucky. Thanks Aunt Val & Uncle Peter for hooking it up! He even brought me a beautiful yellow Hawaiian lei!

I was thankful he didn’t drop me at the curb, but volunteered to come in and check it out. We lugged my two giant suitcases up the painted red stairs and rang the bell. Roommate #2 Bill answered the door and instantly I was relieved; he was young, nice, and honestly…pretty cute. But when he stepped to the side and welcomed us in, I think I almost turned to run. Ancient, stained, sea green carpet lined the stairs to the basement. Maybe it’s not a basement, but it sure felt like one. What I saw next still haunts each step that I take in the house……roach motels - everywhere! There is literally a little brown roach motel in every single corner of the downstairs living room/half kitchen (and the bathroom). Those who know me well know that this alone would have kept me from ever paying for this place had I seen it first. Yes, my worst nightmare: roaches. And yet, it got worse.

Bill wasn’t quite sure which room was mine, he’s never really been down here before (strange), and when he opens the door I see a 6x6 (I’m guessing) stark white dormitory, navy blue carpet, and twin mattress w/box spring on the floor. Disgusting. It’s Europe all over again! I’m pretty sure that my face wasn’t hiding the horror I was feeling inside. Luckily I did bring sheets, queen size, but I suddenly realized that I didn’t bring towels, a pillow, blanket, laundry detergent, come to think of it….this is the first time I think I realized, I wasn’t staying in a hotel. Who was going to make my bed and clean the room when I leave each day? Just kidding.

We placed my stuff my new tiny room and made our way upstairs. Picture the Brady Bunch house - this is just like it. Aqua blue wallpaper in the living room, 70’s shiny wallpaper in the kitchen, a burnt orange velour 70’s sofa, and retro floral wicker chair. My thoughts: Please don’t let this be happening. Is there any way to get my money back? I want to go home.

The 3 of us sat there and talked for 20 minutes and when Greg left, I sat with Bill and talked for another 30. Do I even need to tell you that Bill witnessed me shedding a few tears of anxiety? Probably not, again, those who know me well know this is pretty standard. Roommate #3 Sammy (girl) was in her room too, in fact I heard her come out and possibly use the bathroom, but she never came out to meet me. At this point I began to realize that these roommates don’t really even talk to each other. This is a crash pad. They stay locked in their rooms or are so busy that they don’t spend time at the house other than to sleep and shower. And that’s when reality set in. I’m not going to be hanging out with the roommates at all. In fact, I may never even meet some of them!

June 9th, 2009
Somehow I did get to sleep, and I woke up around 6:30 this morning feeling a little better about the situation. Unfortunately, my computer is not allowing me to connect to the wireless in the house. I have the code, but it’s not connecting. What to do?

Discomfort is okay. This is what it’s like to step out of my comfort zone, to push myself. I put on my hiking clothes and walked 5 minutes down the road to Starbucks for coffee and wireless access. From there I walked aimlessly through town, downtown Waikiki, to the beach and was eventually picked up by Greg at 10:30.
He hikes with his friends every Tuesday, so he invited me to come along. It was a pretty hike called Manana Trail up in Pearl City. Supposedly there was a waterfall at the end of it, but we never made it to the end. I can’t complain. I was just grateful to have people to hike with.

Greg dropped me back off at the house around 2:00 and I decided to go walk around again. This time I stopped in a few local shops as I made my way in the opposite direction as this morning. I discovered the shorter route to the beach which I figure is really about a mile and a half from my house. Waikiki beach is gorgeous and packed! Man there’s a lot of tourists here. But I was excited by the sight and will probably go there tomorrow in my swimsuit and get in the water for the first time.

Which brings me now to present time 6:30pm Tuesday…me lying on the little bed, in the little room, with no wireless, typing in Word so I can paste it into my blog soon. I hear that Safeway down the street has free wireless access. Yay! Hanging out in the grocery store. I’m on my way.

I’m not going to lie. I want to leave. I want company, friends, people to hang out with, something to do…I want to be home. But that’s the comfort of being safe that’s talking in my head. I know I need to fight it. Each day I need to do one new thing. Tomorrow I will run around Diamondhead in the morning, then lie on the beach, swim in the ocean, and read a book all day. I’ll take one day at a time. On a positive note: I spent the entire day from 8am to 5pm walking outside; had to be more than 10 miles in all! And yes, it sure is beautiful here.

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