"my sweet pikake lei..."

imagine my surprise and delight when last week a someone gave me a string of pikake! i was so excited. it was strung sideways, but the flowers were about an inch apart. i smushed them together and voila...rope pikake! here's what my mini-lei looked like:














it was so fragrant! "kaulana ke onaona 'o ia lei..." ah, it brought back the pangs of homesickness for just a moment. since tomorrow is lei day, my mission today is to gather all the little strings of pikake i can find and make a lei to wear. i can't wait!!!

more pics

here's a pic of us at easter brunch at the imperial hotel:


here's a pic of the driveway to my hotel. as the driveway goes around the fountain, there's a waterfall on the left, then a big lawn where they hold functions like weddings and parties. it's the pits for those who have rooms overlooking the lawn...these functions go on sometimes until 3 or 4 am! i guess i'm lucky that my room faces the back of the hotel...no beautiful view, but no noisy parties, either.

hindi lesson

I can write my first hindi word...my name!!! Here is my name in Hindi:

lawsuit waiting to happen...

here's a picture of my shower:



notice there is no curtain or door. the glass wall stops only half way. this means after a nice, long, semi-hot shower, there is a HUGE puddle of water on the floor. also the tub walls are SO high (it comes up to about mid-thigh) that it's hard to climb in. there have been a few times that i slipped due to all the water. i landed on the inside of my knee, right on the edge of the marble. talk about sore! there's a big bruise there, and it's been there for a while cuz everytime it starts to heal, i fall again re-bruising it. :( i'd be surprised if there weren't any lawsuits on file...

new pics

here's a couple pics of what we see driving the streets:

here's me with my new friends:

celebrating merrie monarch festival

in honour of the merrie monarch competition, here's an oldie but goodie. (sigh) those were the good 'ole days...
you can watch it live on the internet.

wish i was there! :(

mcpheever!

Alright, I admit it...I have McPhee-ver! I heart Katharine McPhee on American Idol. It's so amazing that I can get the current AI here. It is one day delayed, but that's okay...I can keep up with this season!

Merrie Monarch starts this weekend. I wish I was there. Like I said last year, "There's always next year..."

I haven't uploaded anymore new pics...still in my camera. I'll share one from before I left:




This is at the Banker's Club at the top of the First Hawaiian Bank building downtown. Great view. Got a bird's eye view of Honolulu...just the perfect snapshot before I left the country!

Easter Sunday

Yesterday was Easter and we didn't go to church for safety reasons. There was a bombing across town at a Mosque on Friday, so I didn't want to chance it on Sunday. We did go to a nice Easter lunch, however at the Imperial Hotel. (A girl's gotta eat, right?) It was very 'ono and a nice change from our hotel. We lounged, went for seconds...even thirds! It was a pretty penny but worth every cent. Or should I say worth every rupee. Went shopping at Dilli Haat (an outdoor bazaar) after to work off our food. Such great deals, I hope I have enough room to lug all my treasures back home!

I'm listening to 105.1 KINE on the internet, and heard "I Ali'i" so being the true hula dancer that I am, I just had to get up and dance! Oh, how wonderful it was. Ah, once a hula dancer, always a hula dancer...

I'm making this a learning experience for everyone. I can count to ten in Hindi, and my class can count to ten in Hawaiian. They can also hold a basic conversation in Hawaiian. Aloha/Pehea 'oe?/Maika'i, mahalo/A hui hou!...I wonder what I'll teach them this week...

It is now 6:30pm...time for dinner, and then time to get ready for work.

monday

yuck, it's monday!

here's a picture of india gate. this monument was built by the british after world war I in appreciation and in memory of all the indians that fought and died in the war. it's surrounded by a big park where everyone hangs out. there is a smaller monument behind, which you can see here through india gate. this was taken on my first day here, 3/19/06.

beauty parlour experience

just got back from the salon or beauty parlour as they call it here. and you know what they say...you get what you pay for. it was no where near the quality back home. for example, they used no base or top coat. oh well, it was an experience.

i love sunrises and sunsets! this picture is from my san francisco-frankfurt flight. i awoke from one of my many naps (such a long flight!) just long enough to take this picture of the sunrise somewhere over iceland.

I did it!

Yay, I created my blog! Now I can post messages and keep everyone updated on what exciting things I'm doing here in India.

3 weeks have gone by already and I'm pretty settled in. Thanks to my computer, I'm able to keep in touch w/ loved ones back home. Also thanks to the internet, I can still listen to my hawaiian music via kccnfm100.com and hawaiian105.com. Woo hoo! Merrie Monarch is coming up and I hope I'll be able to catch the live stream! I don't feel so far away...

It's about time for lunch. Carol and I are eating lunch in our hotel, then we are heading off to the Radisson to pamper ourselves at the beauty salon. Ho, so cheap! A manicure and pedicure is only about $10!




Me at the Taj Mahal 3/25/06. Unfortunately the fountains weren't working, but it was still beautiful!