Big Island Luck!

Aloha everyone! Well, it's our last night on Maui, and I'm still trying to blog about Big Island, which was a month ago. Whoops, looks like I'm about as good at blogging as I am about keeping my personal journal. But not to worry friends, I don't write because I'm having so much fun.

I felt I had to write once more about Big Island, because so many amazing things happened to Mikey and I while we were there. We stayed on Big island for 5 weeks, during which we had no wheels. We spent part of our time hitchiking, and part riding the bus. As it turns out, hitchiking is a bit more reliable than the Big Island bus, which left us high and dry several times. It's a free bus, so when you complain they just say, "Its free. Who cares?" But personally I'd rather pay two or three dollars and KNOW the bus is going to SHOW.

There are clearly some drawbacks to not having a car, like rain, sun, heat, waiting, carrying large packs, getting rides with weird people, etc. However, I think that by hitchiking, we made ourselves open to meetings that wouldn't have happened otherwise.

One day, for example, Mikey and I were at Kmart in Kona. It was a really hot day and we didn't have a ride set up. It was only a few days before Christmas, and we were sitting next to the people ringing the Salvation Army bell. While we were resting there for a moment, this beautiful lady came up to me and said, "Are you waiting for a ride?" I told her we didn't have one, and she said, "Well, do you like Indian food?" To Mikey and I both, those were magic words.

The lovely lady's name is Uma, and she was our Christmas angel. We had a lovely lunch with her, and then she drove us to my favorite beach on the island - Makalawena. (Driving to Makalawena is no easy thing, it is at the end of one of those big island "roads" that doesn't really resemble a road at all. More like a ditch.) Uma invited us to her parents' house for their family Christmas, and we accepted ofcourse, not believing our luck!

LuAnn and Thomas are Uma's parents, two of the nicest people in the whole world. Mikey and I had a wonderful Christmas at their house in Waimea, taking part in their family traditions. Those includes writing riddles on all presents so the giftee must guess what is in the box, and also watching A Muppet Christmas Carol. LuAnn passed out the sheet music to the muppet songs, and everybody sang along with big hearty laughs.

Thomas and LuAnn let us stay at their palace for many nights, took us to our first Zumba class, to the beach, and we shared beautiful conversation and personal stories over amazing food.

All over Big Island people treated us like family. Never have I visited that island and been so spoiled. This will be my last blog entry about Big Island. I'm already an island behind in my writing. If you'd like to know more, or if you might be visiting the place soon, write me an email!