Greetings again from Honolulu. Things here have been busy, hectic, fun, exhausting and 42 other adjectives I can’t think of right now. Everyone is adjusting, and having not yet been here a week, there are adjustments yet to come. Overall, all are well, though the rigors of being a stay-at-home dad have certainly become more apparent than they were when we were back in Jersey. Caring for them there, when we were settled and comfortable and had family around was much easier then things have been here thus far, though it’s only been a week.
It is remarkably beautiful here, and even though we are in the rainy season, the temperature has been very pleasant. I’ve noticed that sightlines are very open here. What I mean is that in Jersey, if I stood on our street, even if I moved 5 blocks in any direction, I could maybe have sight for a few blocks before it became obstructed. Here, I could be standing at the Safeway (the Hawaiian Supermarket of choice) and turn left and see Diamond Head peak, several miles away. There are no real obstructed sightlines, and that makes for a very different day to day feel of things.
We’ve been to the Honolulu Zoo, and the Waikiki Aquarium, went to church at the Cathedral this morning (the twins did well at Sunday School), we’ve been to the North Shore, and visited the Dole Pineapple plantation (that train ride was precarious with three tired kids, but the Pineapple Whip was amazing) and have been to see our new house in construction in Ewa a few times, went to a Farmer’s Market there and several branches of the State Library, including the excellent branch here in Honolulu, where we enjoyed a Holiday Puppet Show on Saturday.
It was nice that the wife had Saturday off, and her regular days off will be Friday and Saturday. Since we’ve been married, and even before when we were in school, we never had a ton of off time together on a regular basis.
As pleasant as Honolulu is, I am very much looking forward to our home being done and moving the family into the new house. When I was younger, visiting cities was new and exciting, and I remember fondly going to NYC as a younger person and taking pride in knowing my way around, and still love Philly. But I never saw myself as a city-person. I like a house around me with some land around it. A few days in a hotel are one thing, but I don’t much care for city life. The noise alone is too much most of the time, and we seem to be on the route to the hospital with the number of sirens we here. We are here now during the rainier and more dynamic weather season; the wind here on the 17th floor is ridiculous. There were some moments in the middle of the night where I thought there was a hurricane, but it was just the wind on the less then stellar windows in our apartment.
Despite the “Aloha Spirit,” there is an anonymous (my sources tell me it is an older, single woman) tenant in the building that logged a “noise complaint” on us on our second day here for “Kids walking around at 6 am.” I had particularly strong words with building officials and the company that placed us here, as the kids, while they are adjusting of course, especially that day, have handled things pretty well overall. I gave my number to the building person that came to the apartment to discuss it with me, and asked him to give it to the person who complained, and that I would be happy to hear their concerns. Needless to say, no call came. Everyone has third-party muscles, I suppose. Cowardly, I say. There are some interesting wrinkles to this story, but you’ll have to talk to me about them…they are not exactly blog-erific.
That said, I am already feeling myself come down from the pace of our lives in Jersey. I am finding that as the days pass, I think a lot about what time it is “back home” and what’s going on there. Of course we all miss friends and family, and this new adventure has only just started.
My Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys today. That surely can’t be a bad start to things here. All told, things are good. The twins were invited to play sheep in the Nativity pageant at church today…I hope the church knows what they are doing….
The computer seems to be working better now. Stay tuned.
-Aloha-
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