Nate the Forager

My doctor says I'm too stressed. Thankfully, I found a job just one day after I saw him. I'm going to be a reading tutor at the high school around the corner from my apartment. I turned in my paperwork today, so hopefully I'll be able to start tomorrow. Hooray!

Now that I'm not crazy stressed out and spending every spare minute (which for the last few months has been all of them) looking for a job, I can blog! and do cool things that I can then blog about! I know you've all been anxious for my to make a return to the blogging scene. Here's what we've been up to lately.

Since we've been in Hawaii for two months and I until last Friday did not have a job, we've been living in ultra-frugal survival mode. I don't know how many of you have lived in this mode for any length of time, but it requires quite a lot of creativity in certain areas like food sources. Thus, we've been diligent in attending any and all church or school events where food may be present. However, Nate has also taken to foraging on the University of Hawaii campus between classes.

Apparently there are numerous fruit bearing trees on campus and their fruits go unused and are left to fall to the ground and rot. So really, we're doing the university a favor by preventing smelly rot, right? So far Nate has procured a mango, a passion fruit, and a breadfruit. Now, you all know what a mango is, so I won't explain that experience except to say that this was the most amazing mango I've ever had.

The passion fruit was something quite unexpected. It is a small, round, yellowish fruit with a hard, thick skin with a soft, juicy, orange center. You spoon out the orange part and eat it. The flavor was wonderful. The texture can only be compared to slimy boogers with the occasional crunchy seed.

Ours was just like this, but a different variety, so the outside was yellow

The breadfruit I've eaten before, whenever we are at an event with Samoan food, it occasionally shows up. The breadfruit is not a fruit at all, but rather a starchy food, like a potato. Which is the closest comparison I can make. We cut it up, boiled it and served it with coconut milk. It was quite good (I didn't like it the first time I had it, but it has grown on me).

Breadfruit

Nate preparing the breadfruit

The crazed forager

The finished meal


Yum!

(For those of you that are concerned, we're not actually in danger of going hungry. Just thought I'd clear that up.)

Almost Home, Sweet Home

Okay, so it's been two months since I last posted. Nate and I have been in Hawaii for exactly 6 weeks now. So much has happened since the last time I wrote I can't even begin to tell you, so I'll show you some of it.

Our new home as seen from Punchbowl/ National Cemetery of the Pacific

The trees at the National Cemetery were awesome! They all looked like this.

The windward side of the island


And now for the gross-out factor, just in case there are some of you that think living in Hawaii is perfect. It's pretty close, but sometimes there are the bugs to contend with. These are dried up roach egg sacs that were crusted all over the inside of our closets when we moved in. I spent most of a whole day cleaning these out before I could unpack our stuff. I almost lost my lunch. Eww. But, a lot of scrubbing later, it looks great now and, knock on wood, I haven't seen a roach in the apartment yet.

And, since I can't leave you on that nasty note, or none of you would come and visit us, here's us at my favorite beach. Really, this beach is perfect. We've seen an occasional Portuguese Man of War each time we've gone, but it is so beautiful not even those will keep us out of the water.

Things are going great. Nate has started school and we're all settled into our apartment. The only thing left is for me to get a job. Wish me luck! (unless any of you have contacts in Hawaii, then send me names and phone numbers!)