So... yeah. So much for every week. I'll try to do better, promise. Ok, items will appear in chronological order.
The Music Man: A week of three dress rehearsals and three full-on performances. Quite a blast; v. busy, as might be expected. Well, it's long enough ago that details aren't readily coming to mind... for any who didn't know, I was Tommy Djilas, the town ruffian. A couple of lines and a lot of dancing. We had a great time with the Shipoopi... look it up :) However, in the midst of the musical, there was the...
Tsunami: Friday night I misjudged my health and presumed that I would be able to catch up on sleep the next day, so I stayed out late. Like, really late for me. Three o'clock in the morning, anyone? Anyway, at about midnight I think, we started getting text reports of a tsunami warning coming from an earthquake in Chile. We shrugged it off- it's seriously like the third one we've had this year. However, things started to appear more serious when, driving back from Kaneohe, we noticed HUGE traffic around gas stations as people stocked up for the disaster. We still laughed; after all, getting gas? It's an island, you can't go that far... We ended up going and hanging out on the point, watching the waves and talking. More texts came in, with reports of sirens to go off starting at 6 am and possible evacuations of the Hales. Finally, I went to bed around three, pretty much unworried (I live on the second floor of the dorm that's the farthest back from the beach. Pretty safe). The next morning I got up about ten, got ready for the day, and decided to go to the hill behind the temple, not for safety (though it certainly would be safe), but for a good seat to watch whatever happened. Sydney and I made our way up and picnicked on the hill, where we watched the entire thing unfold. That is to say, we watched nothing unfold. The warning, while much appreciated (good to know the system works), ended up being no more than that. After an hour of nothing, long past the anticipated arrival time, I went back to my dorm to get some homework done, With half the day blown, I had a lot to do. That night, theatre lived up to its maxim- the show verily did go on, without fail. It was the best performance by far, and a fantastic end to an unusual day.
Scuba: The week after the musical, without time for my health to recover (feeling a bit under the weather with a cold/flu bug), I started right into my scuba certification classes. After studying the material, reading the textbook, and watching a fascinating (*cough cough*)movie about scuba, it was time for the academic class, Wednesday night. Things proceeded great- I aced every quiz and exam. However, there was one slight complication...
The Dance Recital: So, my good friend Ali, long-time co-participator in the musical and former swing dance partner, asked me to perform our swing dance from last semester's "So You Think You Can Swing?" with her for her dance class' show. The only problem- the first performance was right in the middle of the scuba class. Thankfully, the scuba instructor, Tyler, is the nicest man I've ever met and allowed me to run off in the middle to change into a costume (just a white shirt and slacks), throw a girl around a stage, then hurry back to take the final exam. I passed with flying colors, then rushed back to the auditorium for the second show. Did it again, then happily joined the audience to watch the rest of the performances, which were, kudos to the dance class, amazing.
Scuba 2: Thursday night was time for our pool dives- our first practical application. Crazy cool but wicked cold- it was rainy and windy and nighttime. It was a relief to be able to stay underwater where we were protected from the elements, but it was still a bit chilly. Spent a good four hours doing a swim test, fighting my way into a stupid wet suit, practicing scuba skills like emergency ascents and buoyancy control (just use your lungs!), packing the frickin' heavy equipment (you forget after being in the water) out of the pool, and fighting my way out of the stupid wet suit. At long last, left for home cold, hungry (missed dinner because I was interviewing with the bishop just beforehand), and exhausted. Not good for my still temperamental health, lol. Still, way cool to breath underwater!
Terrorism: I am currently taking the awesome class, Issues of Terrorism. The main term project is an assignment in red-teaming: planning out a fake terrorist attack in order to better understand how real terrorists work. My group, the Queen's Liberation Army, is a nationalist Hawaiian group that's fighting to get mainlanders out (don't point out the irony that our whole group is white, please. We are aware)and restore sovereignty to the Hawaiian people. So... we decided to attack a hotel in downtown Waikiki. Lots of tourists. I won't go into detail about our plans, but we spent Friday afternoon conducting the necessary surveillance at various hotels, before choosing the Ilikai. Anyway, we had a good time with that. Also spent some time in a pub getting pizza and then at the mall getting frozen yogurt and then spent an HOUR waiting at the bus stop. Ridiculous. Anyway, a good day in town. Just in case, for the whole terrorist thing, I'll put up the official disclaimer:
This is a fictional exercise for the BYU-Hawaii course ‘Issues of Terrorism’. Please contact Dr. Brian K. Houghton at 808.293.3209 if you have questions concerning this assignment.
Scuba 3: Two ocean dives! Saturday morning got up and drove to Haleiwa where we met with our instructors, then drove to the west side of the island to Electric Beach where we put our practice into... well, practice. Way cool, though the waves were a bit annoying as we kept rolling back and forth on the ocean floor (we weren't deep at all, only 26 feet at max). Practiced more skills, did a little exploring, saw more fish than I've ever seen before in my life, and had a lot of fun. Wish I had an underwater camera!
Mission Papers: They're in! Interviewed with the stake president and got them turned in on Sunday the seventh. The call should come tomorrow (Friday) or the next day! There will be an update on that shortly, fear not.
Waimea Bay: Last Saturday we (Ali, Jessica, Sydney, Dane, Jefferson, Nate, Lauren A, Joanna, and myself) decided to spend the day at Waimea Bay, the best beach on the island. Soooo good. Great sun, great waves, great hitchhiking... yeah. We were waiting at the bus stop anyway, so we stuck out our thumbs... more accurately, we made the girls stick out their thumbs. Poor Sydney and Lauren did their best without success, so we sent up Jessica. First try, a guy with a truck pulls over and picks us up. We all piled in and enjoyed the ride up the road. He didn't take us very far, but we had a good time and then caught the bus once he dropped us off. Nice guy. We made it to the beach, played in the waves, played frisbee, picnicked, tanned... I love Hawaii.
The Beach Boyz: Last but not least, I have been putting a men's a cappella group together. So awesome. Our debut performance will be next week at the Winter Ball. It's going to be awesome. Anyway, today we finally decided on a name. After considering Treble in Paradise, the Ritardandos (a personal fav), the Single Laddies (we would have had to sing a little Beyonce), etc, a vote finally brought us to the Beach Boyz- funny because it's been done, but without a z. We also live on the beach, ha ha ha... hopefully it will generate positive feedback, lol.
Well... I think that's close to everything. For more, perhaps refer to my friends' blogs. They've kept more up to date. I will post soon about my mission!
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love it! you should link my name :)
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