Halfway through!

Hello blog readers!

As of today, I have officially been in Hawaii for 5 weeks. Pretty crazy, huh? Let's do some general overviews of how things are going:

Events:
Two weekends ago was the Annual Grow Hawaiian festival. It was hosted at the Amy Greenwell Botanical Garden. Many traditional crafts like paper making, poi pounding, and gourd carving were displayed. Organizations focused on sustainable Hawaiian agriculture were also invited. I got to help out by taking water around to the different presenter/venders, and in exchange I got a free lunch! I also got a flower lei, which was really lovely.

This past weekend Craig (who runs the farm) and Ngaire (his wife) went to a festival on the other side of the island and stayed there for two nights, so I held down the fort here at the farm. I thought it would be lonely, but I actually really enjoyed taking care of Lei lei and Bijoux (the dog and cat), doing a little cleaning, and skyping while I cooked. I did also get to travel off of the farm a bit. More on that next. Enjoying my time alone made me realize how much I worry about Craig and Ngaire liking me. When they came back, I was more relaxed and ready to joke around a little. It was a good way to get perspective.

In other news, I have made some friends from church, which is really wonderful. On Saturday I was able to catch a ride (so grateful) and get some much-missed Starbucks, and watch Inception. It was really great to get to hang out a bit, and to have found some really friendly people. So that is a plus.

On that note, here's an update on the challenges and difficult things:
Five weeks in, food is still an interesting challenge. Up until this past weekend I felt constantly hungry. I would have two bowls of stir fry with quinoa and still be just as hungry as when I started. It was a little vexing. I went food shopping on Friday and indulged in a box of brownie mix. When I was licking the batter off the spoon after the brownies were in the oven, I finally didn't feel hungry any more. So /cravings/ have been a big part of my life. Since I realized that, I have been less inclined to worry about if I have enough food, or what snacks I could eat if dinner isn't filling. I haven't been as hungry since Friday.

I do sometimes feel lonely. I definitely miss my friends and family from home. But getting in some social time here, and the wonder that is the internet have done a lot to help that.

I am sometimes discouraged by how long the work seems to take me, but it seems like Craig is happy with my progress, and I am getting more familiar with more jobs. So that helps a lot.

Good things:
I am feeling more settled in here. It might sound strange 5 weeks in, but I am finally starting to have a sense of what needs to be done next and what that means. I am getting stronger, and my research project is rolling. I am even doing a pretty decent job of keeping my cabin, kitchen, and tools clean. I can tell the rest of the time is going to go by fast. It does feel like I just got here in a lot of ways!

Cooking has been a great thing. I am really enjoying mixing it up and incorporating foods from around me in my meals. Since the above mentioned brownies I have also been on a baking kick. Today for breakfast I had a piece of peanutbutter toast and a toasted tortilla with passion fruit butter (the Hawaii intern crepe). For lunch I had left over shepherd's pie, with ground beef carrot, chaya (a leafy green) and aerial yams (very similar to potatoes). For dinner I had some avocado and a banana scone.

That's life in Hawaii for now. I am really enjoying it, and every once in a while I am climbing through the vines and volcanic rock and have to stop and think "this is really my life". Of course, I am also missing my friends, my junk food, my Boston. Counting the days till I see all of that again.

Thanks for reading!
-Lauren