Oh yes. The most important news of my life right now is that I'm going to get to eat at Waffle House in a couple of weeks. Real, honest-to-goodness Waffle House! It's going to be so awesome. My life will be complete again. All of my Waffle House dreams will come true. I will feel the Waffle House love.
Also, on a side note, I get to go home. I'll get to meet my nephew and see my parents and siblings in person. I'll get to sleep in my childhood bedroom. I get to go home. I get to see Memphis again. I haven't been home in over a year. I haven't left the islands since we got here in July 2007. I haven't seen my family. I missed my sister's pregnancy. But now I get to see them all again.
Also, on another side note, I get to present at the Southeastern Ecological Community Conference in Asheville. I'll be presenting about challenges that mainstream researchers face when working with marginalized populations. I'm very excited. I've been to Asheville once before. I went to see the Vagina Monologues (featuring my friend Dustin's sister Jill). Christi and I drove like seven hours. I was like eight months pregnant. A bunch of us stayed with Dustin's family and it was a great trip. Asheville is a groovy little city.
Did I mention that I get to eat at Waffle House? Because really, that was a total red herring. I can't believe you fell for it. The important stuff came later.
Anyway, anyone who is either a fan of Isabella Rossellini, or bugs, or porn, or any combination of the aforementioned should go here. Just... trust me.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
6 months shampoo free
So, Separatrix (ahem, I'm not sure who you are-- do I know you?) commented just now on a 6-month-old blog I posted about my week-long and possibly longer experiment in dropping shampoo and conditioner out of my daily routine.
*flashback*
PastKati says: Yo, this shampoo/conditioner routine is whack, yo! So much plastic! I know, I'll start washing my hair with a baking soda solution and conditioning it with a vinegar solution and see how that works. I'll try it this week since it's Spring Break, so that if it doesn't work I won't become known as Bad Hygiene Girl.
PastKati says: (insert devilishly clever remark about how Bad Hygiene Girl would be an awesome supervillain).
PastMichael says: Your hair smells like mayonnaise when I stick my face in it and breathe real deep.
PastKati says: Maybe so, but so far, my hair has been completely tangle free.
PastJeremie says: Tangle FREE?! For the love of god, I don't know you anymore, person-formally-known-as-tangledhair.
PastJohn M says: Plastic is GOD!!!
PastAnna says: Doesn't vinegar come in plastic jugs?
*end flashback*
PresentSeparatrix says: Tell me more about this vinegar thing.
PresentKati thinks: Tangle free? Oh yeah! I forgot that this was not always my standard state of being! I must spread the word.
PresentKati then goes on to take another slug out of the wine bottle.
First things first, though. Yes, as it turns out, I truly am drinking wine straight from the bottle. I realized I had never before drank wine straight from the bottle. And I happened to have a bottle of wine with only one glass' worth left. It seemed like a good idea to see what all the fuss is about. You know, all the fuss we're always constantly overwhelmingly inundated by from major media sources who just won't stop going on and on about how great it is to drink straight from the bottle. Turns out, it's pretty awesome. Surely it's a psychosomatic effect, but three slugs over ten minutes have left me feeling Pretty Good.
PresentMichael: Yup, you're a wino now.
On to other topics.
I've been six months without shampooing or conditioning my hair. The absolute truth is that I think I've used shampoo twice during those six months... mmm... we don't have conditioner currently, so it seems less likely that I've used that at all. But for all intents and purposes, I've gotten off the sauce. Here are a few things I've learned regarding the baking soda and vinegar hair treatment:
1) My hair is just fine. Better, actually, than it was before. I noticed early on that I have fewer flyaways than in my shampoo days. It's perfectly clean. It's still soft and curly. I mostly wear it in a pony tail because it's hot here, but I think the switch has caused a general improvement in the state of my hair.
2) I prefer to use white vinegar. I get Heinz brand, but that's really only because at my grocery store, that's the only brand that comes in a glass jar. But then, there's not much of a selection there. I do not scent the vinegar solution any longer with herbs or tea. I did for about a month, but it never seemed to have much affect on the scent, so I stopped bothering. I also tried apple cider vinegar, based on the assumption that it would cause my hair to smell faintly of apples, but actually, it caused my hair to smell more like vinegar. White vinegar rinses out, and so long as no one places their face inside my hair and breathes deeply, there is no mayonnaise smell.
PresentKati: Michael, you've been married to me for slightly longer than six months now [editor's note: Kati and Michael have been married for six and a half years longer than six months] and I've been using vinegar these last six months... does my hair still smell like mayonnaise?
PresentMichael: (sticking face inside PresentKati's hair and breathing deeply) Neh, uh-uh. [editor's note: English translation is "No, your hair does not smell like mayonnaise and also you're the love of my life, perfect in all ways, and even better looking than Angelina Jolie.]
3) Going back and reading the original post, I was surprised to note that PastKati was pleasantly surprised that her hair was tangle-free. I was surprised to note this because it has been six months since I've had tangles. I had completely forgotten about the previous twenty-five years of hair-brushing turmoil [editor's note: PresentKati is 26, but PastKati was 28, so she more rightly should have talked about the previous twenty-seven years of hair-brushing turmoil, but she didn't want anyone to know how old she was back then. Can you believe she's turning 40 in just eight months?! She won't look a day over 30.] The point is... vinegar is apparently a much better conditioner than conditioner.
4) I discovered just this past week that the baking soda still washes my hair clean even if I have gel in it. This was the first time I've felt the need to put styling products in my hair since I made the switch. I used to put gel in in order to tame the flyaways and make the locks hold togetherish. But my hair has been remarkably well-behaved, or remarkably ponytailed. This past week, I started a new job and (perhaps on a related note) noticed how big my hair is when I leave it unponytailed. So I put gel in it to try to get it to stay put. It stayed put. The baking soda washed it out with no gel-residue.
5) Michael is still using the same bottle of shampoo that I had used six months ago. He has much less hair than me. I would have gone through that and probably five other plastic shampoo bottles, plus six conditioner bottles, during this time. Instead I've used I think three boxes of baking soda and three glass bottles of vinegar.
Total plastic consumption reduction: some hypothetical amount.
PastKati and PresentKati: Good job, us.
Mmmm... I think that's all I have to say. For those of you that think WinoKati is a fun edition to this blog, I would just like to say, "Listen to the media hype. Drinking straight from the bottle really IS all it's cracked up to be."
*flashback*
PastKati says: Yo, this shampoo/conditioner routine is whack, yo! So much plastic! I know, I'll start washing my hair with a baking soda solution and conditioning it with a vinegar solution and see how that works. I'll try it this week since it's Spring Break, so that if it doesn't work I won't become known as Bad Hygiene Girl.
PastKati says: (insert devilishly clever remark about how Bad Hygiene Girl would be an awesome supervillain).
PastMichael says: Your hair smells like mayonnaise when I stick my face in it and breathe real deep.
PastKati says: Maybe so, but so far, my hair has been completely tangle free.
PastJeremie says: Tangle FREE?! For the love of god, I don't know you anymore, person-formally-known-as-tangledhair.
PastJohn M says: Plastic is GOD!!!
PastAnna says: Doesn't vinegar come in plastic jugs?
*end flashback*
PresentSeparatrix says: Tell me more about this vinegar thing.
PresentKati thinks: Tangle free? Oh yeah! I forgot that this was not always my standard state of being! I must spread the word.
PresentKati then goes on to take another slug out of the wine bottle.
First things first, though. Yes, as it turns out, I truly am drinking wine straight from the bottle. I realized I had never before drank wine straight from the bottle. And I happened to have a bottle of wine with only one glass' worth left. It seemed like a good idea to see what all the fuss is about. You know, all the fuss we're always constantly overwhelmingly inundated by from major media sources who just won't stop going on and on about how great it is to drink straight from the bottle. Turns out, it's pretty awesome. Surely it's a psychosomatic effect, but three slugs over ten minutes have left me feeling Pretty Good.
PresentMichael: Yup, you're a wino now.
On to other topics.
I've been six months without shampooing or conditioning my hair. The absolute truth is that I think I've used shampoo twice during those six months... mmm... we don't have conditioner currently, so it seems less likely that I've used that at all. But for all intents and purposes, I've gotten off the sauce. Here are a few things I've learned regarding the baking soda and vinegar hair treatment:
1) My hair is just fine. Better, actually, than it was before. I noticed early on that I have fewer flyaways than in my shampoo days. It's perfectly clean. It's still soft and curly. I mostly wear it in a pony tail because it's hot here, but I think the switch has caused a general improvement in the state of my hair.
2) I prefer to use white vinegar. I get Heinz brand, but that's really only because at my grocery store, that's the only brand that comes in a glass jar. But then, there's not much of a selection there. I do not scent the vinegar solution any longer with herbs or tea. I did for about a month, but it never seemed to have much affect on the scent, so I stopped bothering. I also tried apple cider vinegar, based on the assumption that it would cause my hair to smell faintly of apples, but actually, it caused my hair to smell more like vinegar. White vinegar rinses out, and so long as no one places their face inside my hair and breathes deeply, there is no mayonnaise smell.
PresentKati: Michael, you've been married to me for slightly longer than six months now [editor's note: Kati and Michael have been married for six and a half years longer than six months] and I've been using vinegar these last six months... does my hair still smell like mayonnaise?
PresentMichael: (sticking face inside PresentKati's hair and breathing deeply) Neh, uh-uh. [editor's note: English translation is "No, your hair does not smell like mayonnaise and also you're the love of my life, perfect in all ways, and even better looking than Angelina Jolie.]
3) Going back and reading the original post, I was surprised to note that PastKati was pleasantly surprised that her hair was tangle-free. I was surprised to note this because it has been six months since I've had tangles. I had completely forgotten about the previous twenty-five years of hair-brushing turmoil [editor's note: PresentKati is 26, but PastKati was 28, so she more rightly should have talked about the previous twenty-seven years of hair-brushing turmoil, but she didn't want anyone to know how old she was back then. Can you believe she's turning 40 in just eight months?! She won't look a day over 30.] The point is... vinegar is apparently a much better conditioner than conditioner.
4) I discovered just this past week that the baking soda still washes my hair clean even if I have gel in it. This was the first time I've felt the need to put styling products in my hair since I made the switch. I used to put gel in in order to tame the flyaways and make the locks hold togetherish. But my hair has been remarkably well-behaved, or remarkably ponytailed. This past week, I started a new job and (perhaps on a related note) noticed how big my hair is when I leave it unponytailed. So I put gel in it to try to get it to stay put. It stayed put. The baking soda washed it out with no gel-residue.
5) Michael is still using the same bottle of shampoo that I had used six months ago. He has much less hair than me. I would have gone through that and probably five other plastic shampoo bottles, plus six conditioner bottles, during this time. Instead I've used I think three boxes of baking soda and three glass bottles of vinegar.
Total plastic consumption reduction: some hypothetical amount.
PastKati and PresentKati: Good job, us.
Mmmm... I think that's all I have to say. For those of you that think WinoKati is a fun edition to this blog, I would just like to say, "Listen to the media hype. Drinking straight from the bottle really IS all it's cracked up to be."
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Friday, September 5, 2008
Herstory
I don't know what to say.
Gina's birthday is the same as Joel's. We had a picnic on the beach to celebrate. She told me when I arrived that they had tried to make a "don't talk about school" pact, but that that seal had been broken long before I arrived. Immediately, I could think of nothing but school. Which made me realize that I can think of nothing but school.
School is actually a very diverse topic in my head, but out loud, I guess it's all just "school talk". In my head, Stats class is the least interesting to think about. After that, the second least interesting thing is the current state of my new job. On the other hand, the future state of my new job is very interesting. Most interesting, of course, is my thesis. Unfortunately, broad steps forward in that regard including spending days on end glued to my computer as I write up my lit review and proposal. Very exciting things for me... not so interesting for small talk. In my qualitative research class, I got to spend like 20 minutes talking about my thesis as an example of a case study. I was so excited to explain it all and get feedback. Even that story, though, is not a very good story. There's no meat to it.
I meet with my advisor on Thursdays, right along with the other advisees Andrew, Izaac, and Keiko. Yesterday, Keiko was talking about her job and saying how nice it is to have so much trust put into her abilities and efforts. In previous GAships, she was used as 'two hands'. Two Hands, I thought. I like that. It's a particularly meaningful idea to me because currently with my job, I am Two Hands. I make copies and scan books into this text-to-speech software. I'm doing this because the grant I was hired to work under has not yet started, and there is this other grant that just lost two GAs that needs some tying up of loose ends. It'll be no more than two weeks, I'm assured. Two weeks of mind-numbingly dull work.
Except. Except, first of all, I have a lot of things to think about right now-- and that sort of work is conducive to getting some thinking done. So I think about my thesis while I scan books, page by page. New theoretical and formatting breakthroughs abound. But that is still not an interesting story to tell.
Next week, too, I'm going to start working on a third grant that I was also not hired under. This is a short-term project as well. Disability Mentoring Day. I'll help recruit mentors and mentees, and organize things so that something happens. Also, I might be a mentor myself that day, seeing as how I have a job, and seeing as how my job is putting me through college. That's kind of an interesting story.
And then after that? After that, I'll get to work on the big stuff. I will definitely not be Two Hands for the grant I was hired to work under. I'll actually get to help develop and implement classroom intervention strategies. I'll get to help shape policy, and work face-to-face, one-on-one with actual real-life people. That may or may not make a good story, but I'll sure love it.
I have this other thing that's in the works too. It'll make a pretty good story, but it's not yet ready to be told. Well, damn. I hope it makes a pretty good story, at least. Right now it's all conjecture.
The main problem is that I find myself wondering, Is this what gradschool is? A time period in which paperwork and theory fill up my time until I have no stories to tell? Is this why all those old white guys in suits are so boring to listen to? Am I really going to turn into an old white guy in a suit, even if my research is on discrimination and community activism?
I'm going to have to get dreadlocks to stop this from happening, aren't I?
Ah well, that's another story for another day. peace, y'all.
Gina's birthday is the same as Joel's. We had a picnic on the beach to celebrate. She told me when I arrived that they had tried to make a "don't talk about school" pact, but that that seal had been broken long before I arrived. Immediately, I could think of nothing but school. Which made me realize that I can think of nothing but school.
School is actually a very diverse topic in my head, but out loud, I guess it's all just "school talk". In my head, Stats class is the least interesting to think about. After that, the second least interesting thing is the current state of my new job. On the other hand, the future state of my new job is very interesting. Most interesting, of course, is my thesis. Unfortunately, broad steps forward in that regard including spending days on end glued to my computer as I write up my lit review and proposal. Very exciting things for me... not so interesting for small talk. In my qualitative research class, I got to spend like 20 minutes talking about my thesis as an example of a case study. I was so excited to explain it all and get feedback. Even that story, though, is not a very good story. There's no meat to it.
I meet with my advisor on Thursdays, right along with the other advisees Andrew, Izaac, and Keiko. Yesterday, Keiko was talking about her job and saying how nice it is to have so much trust put into her abilities and efforts. In previous GAships, she was used as 'two hands'. Two Hands, I thought. I like that. It's a particularly meaningful idea to me because currently with my job, I am Two Hands. I make copies and scan books into this text-to-speech software. I'm doing this because the grant I was hired to work under has not yet started, and there is this other grant that just lost two GAs that needs some tying up of loose ends. It'll be no more than two weeks, I'm assured. Two weeks of mind-numbingly dull work.
Except. Except, first of all, I have a lot of things to think about right now-- and that sort of work is conducive to getting some thinking done. So I think about my thesis while I scan books, page by page. New theoretical and formatting breakthroughs abound. But that is still not an interesting story to tell.
Next week, too, I'm going to start working on a third grant that I was also not hired under. This is a short-term project as well. Disability Mentoring Day. I'll help recruit mentors and mentees, and organize things so that something happens. Also, I might be a mentor myself that day, seeing as how I have a job, and seeing as how my job is putting me through college. That's kind of an interesting story.
And then after that? After that, I'll get to work on the big stuff. I will definitely not be Two Hands for the grant I was hired to work under. I'll actually get to help develop and implement classroom intervention strategies. I'll get to help shape policy, and work face-to-face, one-on-one with actual real-life people. That may or may not make a good story, but I'll sure love it.
I have this other thing that's in the works too. It'll make a pretty good story, but it's not yet ready to be told. Well, damn. I hope it makes a pretty good story, at least. Right now it's all conjecture.
The main problem is that I find myself wondering, Is this what gradschool is? A time period in which paperwork and theory fill up my time until I have no stories to tell? Is this why all those old white guys in suits are so boring to listen to? Am I really going to turn into an old white guy in a suit, even if my research is on discrimination and community activism?
I'm going to have to get dreadlocks to stop this from happening, aren't I?
Ah well, that's another story for another day. peace, y'all.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Coming soon:
Okay, here's a better picture of my new nephew, Diego:
Yes, the cutest kid currently a newborn. I just love looking at pictures of him, and I can't wait to meet him. I hope it's not too long. We shall have to do some conniving to get time and money to work out properly. Oh, it will happen.
In other news, school starts in three days. I have really enjoyed having this summer "off". Despite the six weeks of busy work, far from house and husband, I actually had a very restful summer. I got to read dozens of books, watch dozens of movies, and dozens of tv shows. And even during busy work stuffs while I was on practicum, I also got to do fun things like see a volcano in action, climb the technically tallest mountain in the world (if you're into technicalities, and view them similarly on this point), went horseback riding, swam in oceans (it was really just one ocean), and well, had a good time. And Michael and I have just been great. Before I left, after I returned. I can't get enough of hanging out with this boy-- reading on the couch or lanai, planting things, feeding worms, even boring things like grocery shopping have a decidedly relaxed and happy feel because I get to do them with my boy. I love being married.
Also lately this summer, I got to discussing my thesis with my adviser. I'm in the process of writing up a proper proposal. I feel... really close to getting this going. I got rather discouraged in the spring because I just kept working at it and working at it and getting nowhere it seemed. But now I'm getting somewhere. And I'm really excited about it. If all goes well, this should happen soon. Very soon. I feel all professional now. I hope all goes well. I'm ready.
And the latest good news is that I've got a new job. I was a Graduate Assistant last year with the department chair, and that was pretty cool because Ashley is a very laid back boss. The schedule was loose; she never asked too much; she always said thank you. Plus, I have mad respect for this woman. She does research in Chiapas. She's pragmatic and brilliant and has a very broad understanding of the social changes happening in Mexican villages in that area. So my job didn't have anything to do with that research. Who cares? I still got to work with her.
But this job I just got! I get to do research. And I'm starting right at the beginning of this new grant. We're going to be developing and implementing intervention strategies for Hawaiian schools to help keep Native Hawaiian teens from being tracked into special education classes when they don't have learning disabilities. There are a lot of reasons that kids have trouble learning. We're going to look at reasons that affect this particular population, and see what can be done. If I stay with this job, over three years I'll get to do research, development, implementation, and analysis! A whole bunch of boring words that excite me to no end! I'll get to do this stuff. And plus, parts of the job will be on the Big Island, so I'll get to go back now and again. I start next week. I can't wait.
So yeah. Classes. Thesis. Job. I'd be lying if I said wasn't nervous about the scope of what I'll be doing in these next months. But I'm excited as well. I'm settling into this whole "professional Kati" role.
But don't worry about it going to my head and changing me. I still have that same ripped up blue corduroy bag that I made when I was sixteen. I still don't match my socks. I still love a good fantasy novel. And I still cut my own hair. Because why mess with perfection?
Yes, the cutest kid currently a newborn. I just love looking at pictures of him, and I can't wait to meet him. I hope it's not too long. We shall have to do some conniving to get time and money to work out properly. Oh, it will happen.
In other news, school starts in three days. I have really enjoyed having this summer "off". Despite the six weeks of busy work, far from house and husband, I actually had a very restful summer. I got to read dozens of books, watch dozens of movies, and dozens of tv shows. And even during busy work stuffs while I was on practicum, I also got to do fun things like see a volcano in action, climb the technically tallest mountain in the world (if you're into technicalities, and view them similarly on this point), went horseback riding, swam in oceans (it was really just one ocean), and well, had a good time. And Michael and I have just been great. Before I left, after I returned. I can't get enough of hanging out with this boy-- reading on the couch or lanai, planting things, feeding worms, even boring things like grocery shopping have a decidedly relaxed and happy feel because I get to do them with my boy. I love being married.
Also lately this summer, I got to discussing my thesis with my adviser. I'm in the process of writing up a proper proposal. I feel... really close to getting this going. I got rather discouraged in the spring because I just kept working at it and working at it and getting nowhere it seemed. But now I'm getting somewhere. And I'm really excited about it. If all goes well, this should happen soon. Very soon. I feel all professional now. I hope all goes well. I'm ready.
And the latest good news is that I've got a new job. I was a Graduate Assistant last year with the department chair, and that was pretty cool because Ashley is a very laid back boss. The schedule was loose; she never asked too much; she always said thank you. Plus, I have mad respect for this woman. She does research in Chiapas. She's pragmatic and brilliant and has a very broad understanding of the social changes happening in Mexican villages in that area. So my job didn't have anything to do with that research. Who cares? I still got to work with her.
But this job I just got! I get to do research. And I'm starting right at the beginning of this new grant. We're going to be developing and implementing intervention strategies for Hawaiian schools to help keep Native Hawaiian teens from being tracked into special education classes when they don't have learning disabilities. There are a lot of reasons that kids have trouble learning. We're going to look at reasons that affect this particular population, and see what can be done. If I stay with this job, over three years I'll get to do research, development, implementation, and analysis! A whole bunch of boring words that excite me to no end! I'll get to do this stuff. And plus, parts of the job will be on the Big Island, so I'll get to go back now and again. I start next week. I can't wait.
So yeah. Classes. Thesis. Job. I'd be lying if I said wasn't nervous about the scope of what I'll be doing in these next months. But I'm excited as well. I'm settling into this whole "professional Kati" role.
But don't worry about it going to my head and changing me. I still have that same ripped up blue corduroy bag that I made when I was sixteen. I still don't match my socks. I still love a good fantasy novel. And I still cut my own hair. Because why mess with perfection?
Monday, August 11, 2008
I'm an aunty!
Here's a picture of my nephew, Diego Hernan Delgado. 8 lbs. 9 oz. Born on this, the eleventh of August, 2008.
Isn't he a cutie? I'll upload a better picture when I get one. But for now, I'm assured this is what he looks like.
Yay!!!!
Isn't he a cutie? I'll upload a better picture when I get one. But for now, I'm assured this is what he looks like.
Yay!!!!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
The funny thing about going away...
No, no pictures just yet. Mostly, I just haven't bothered to sit down at my computer for a long enough time period to figure out what all I'm going to post, and where. It's not that I've been so crazy busy since I've returned (although I have somehow managed to get quite a lot done). It's mostly that I just... haven't... bothered yet.
I went to Honoka'a in March for a two day trip to have a good look-see around the town, meet some people I'd be working with, etc. Honoka'a didn't seem like such a small town to me then. And it didn't seem like such a small town when I went this summer. It didn't seem like such a small town during any of the six weeks that I was there. You know when it began to seem like a small town? When I got in a taxi cab at the Honolulu airport and told the driver to go to my place. And off we drove through the city.
Honolulu is a huge friggin' city!!!
I don't say this as someone who has lived in Chicago. When I moved here from Chicago, I was unmoved as to Honolulu's largeness. I say this as someone who spent the summer living in a town that you could walk from end to end in ten minutes. The contrast of Honolulu to Honoka'a didn't make much of an impression on me. But the contrast of Honoka'a to Honolulu most certainly did.
I spent the cab ride home with my face plastered to the window. Buildings. Huge buildings, towering up into the sky. In six weeks on the Big Island, even in Kona and Hilo, I don't think I saw a building taller than four floors. And I didn't even notice until I got back and saw these concrete leviathans marring the landscape, coiling out their monstrous reaches over near-infinity-long stretches of city streets, popping up in rectangular bulges of cinder block, glass and steel.
Seriously, there are roads here that are over TWO LANES WIDE!!! More than FOUR, even! And cars! Cars like you've never seen, all filled with people. And people on the streets, and in the buildings. Busy people rushing around or lounging about with their shopping bags and their designer drinks in paper cups and plastic bottles. Neighborhoods of houses spread far and wide.
I remember laughing once at this kid from deep Mississippi for moving back to his hometown because Southaven was too big for him. Dude, whatever your name was, I totally get it now.
The thing about going away and experiencing something completely new and different is that when you come home, there's this reverse culture shock. I feel it every time I go back to Tennessee. As much as we talk about TN, reminisce fondly or not-so-fondly, as much as I tell people about what it is like there, how they would love or hate certain things about it, as much as it is on my mind... it still surprises me to actually be there as opposed to not-there. So it is with city life. Five years now I've lived in one city or other. And before that a rather large town. And before that, yup, city! I'm a city person. But six weeks in this quiet country town and I'm struggling to adjust back to the noise, and the population level, and the lack of nature (compared to Honoka'a, not compared to Chicago where they have banned all nature).
It's weird here in the city. And loud. And tall. But the city has in it the boy I love, and that means that it's not all bad.
I went to Honoka'a in March for a two day trip to have a good look-see around the town, meet some people I'd be working with, etc. Honoka'a didn't seem like such a small town to me then. And it didn't seem like such a small town when I went this summer. It didn't seem like such a small town during any of the six weeks that I was there. You know when it began to seem like a small town? When I got in a taxi cab at the Honolulu airport and told the driver to go to my place. And off we drove through the city.
Honolulu is a huge friggin' city!!!
I don't say this as someone who has lived in Chicago. When I moved here from Chicago, I was unmoved as to Honolulu's largeness. I say this as someone who spent the summer living in a town that you could walk from end to end in ten minutes. The contrast of Honolulu to Honoka'a didn't make much of an impression on me. But the contrast of Honoka'a to Honolulu most certainly did.
I spent the cab ride home with my face plastered to the window. Buildings. Huge buildings, towering up into the sky. In six weeks on the Big Island, even in Kona and Hilo, I don't think I saw a building taller than four floors. And I didn't even notice until I got back and saw these concrete leviathans marring the landscape, coiling out their monstrous reaches over near-infinity-long stretches of city streets, popping up in rectangular bulges of cinder block, glass and steel.
Seriously, there are roads here that are over TWO LANES WIDE!!! More than FOUR, even! And cars! Cars like you've never seen, all filled with people. And people on the streets, and in the buildings. Busy people rushing around or lounging about with their shopping bags and their designer drinks in paper cups and plastic bottles. Neighborhoods of houses spread far and wide.
I remember laughing once at this kid from deep Mississippi for moving back to his hometown because Southaven was too big for him. Dude, whatever your name was, I totally get it now.
The thing about going away and experiencing something completely new and different is that when you come home, there's this reverse culture shock. I feel it every time I go back to Tennessee. As much as we talk about TN, reminisce fondly or not-so-fondly, as much as I tell people about what it is like there, how they would love or hate certain things about it, as much as it is on my mind... it still surprises me to actually be there as opposed to not-there. So it is with city life. Five years now I've lived in one city or other. And before that a rather large town. And before that, yup, city! I'm a city person. But six weeks in this quiet country town and I'm struggling to adjust back to the noise, and the population level, and the lack of nature (compared to Honoka'a, not compared to Chicago where they have banned all nature).
It's weird here in the city. And loud. And tall. But the city has in it the boy I love, and that means that it's not all bad.
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