Mele Kalekamaka

It's the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas day.

The Hawaiians really do love Christmas, and have more cheesy Christmas displays (inflatable Frostys, etc.) than any people I've ever seen, plus their own body of Christmas music (and pop "island" music, but that's another story).

I thought of you all (well, not that much). The weather is a steady 80/85 (not too hot, never cold) every day. We had dolphins swimming in a lagoon outside of our window. We also hiked through a lava field and saw lava pouring down a volcano, and met a guy named Paddy who lived there. He was from Buffalo, looked like John Denver, wore only tight jeans, and had spent $80,000 on an acre of desolate lava in which to pitch his tent (literally).

In the picture where I'm wearing a lei I am about to be singled out by a Hawaiian lounge singer we called Don Ho. He picked me out as probably the only young, single woman in a room full of aging veterans and gave me the tip to wear a flower over my right ear as a signal of my availability (to make the most of my time). My sister was very disturbed by the fact that he had twelve-year-old girls doing suggestive hula dances in his show. I just thought he was a bit weird, but with an admirable, calculated smoothness necessary to his profession.

We also managed to snorkel off of a sailboat and follow sea turtles around, eat and shop a lot, drink more than usual, watch professional surfers, buy matching sarongs for my dad and Cody (Erin's fiance') which they wore around downtown Honolulu, eat lots of fresh pineapple, and tour Pearl Harbor with throngs of Japanese tourists. In a lot of the literature they actually neglect saying "Japan attacked" and instead say "Pearl Harbor was attacked," interestingly.

If you have the means, I highly recommend it. I don't know if I've ever been on such a hedonistic vacation. My dad and Bijal are very generous. I had a great time afterwards in Detroit, as well. My mom's husband's mom (who I've met twice) sent me a check for $11,000 to be used on education. So that is pretty sweet.

Happy New Year!
Jeff, Lara, and Sienna are coming today!
Aloha!