Friday night, after being out on the town in Waikiki with some friends, we decided to stop at the beach for a late-night swim. One of the greatest things about Hawai'i is that I never have any inhibitions about just jumping in the water. It's always the perfect temperature, and I've felt so peaceful in the ocean.
So, while swimming, it would be just my luck to be stung by jellyfish. I've never been stung before, and I've honestly never been in worse pain in my life. I didn't know what to do, and while trying to rinse off in the beach showers, a very friendly police officer approached us and asked if everything was alright. The sting was getting worse, and so I asked him for help. It was close to 3am, and I had been swimming in my underwear, so it was really not the classiest of situations, but I wasn't sure of what to do.
Luckily, the police station was only a few feet away, and this police officer, "Uncle Lenny," took care of me and waited with me until an ambulance came. I didn't need to go to the hospital, thank goodness, but he wanted to make sure I wasn't having an allergic reaction. My friends were taking care of me, too, and continued to for the rest of the night. Now, I just have a nasty, itchy rash on my upper leg and lower stomach, but it's getting better everyday. I really cannot express how lucky I feel to have been around people who were so generous and willing to take care of me. So the lesson is: Do NOT swim in the ocean at night-- especially a few days after the full moon. I've heard that's when the jellies are out and about more than usual.
Luckily, the rest of the weekend to follow was absolutely incredible. Both Saturday and Sunday the Haverford boys and I played in an Ultimate Tournament, called Loco Moco after this delectable Hawaiian treat:
(rice, hamburger, egg, gravy. They were making them all day on the sidelines! YUM!)It felt SO good to play ultimate again. It was an incredible way to meet new and wonderful people, too. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. I plan to continue to play with the same team (the ELECTROS) for the rest of the semester while I'm here. The team is more or less new to each other, so I think it will be fun to fit in to their new dynamic. Plus, everyone is SO GOOD, and also SO MUCH FUN!
Saturday night, the tournament put on the most incredbile party-- actually, the party of my dreams. It was in the gym/spa of a residential building where one of the players works, so there was a pool, sauna, hot tub, and also an aerobics studio that became the dance room. It was 80's themed (I guess to coincide with Haverford's 80's dance?), which really just made it that much better. Again, a wonderful way to meet great people and have an awesome time.
This week, I'm only in class for three days because I head to Maunu Kea on THURSDAY! I'm so excited, but really have no idea what to expect. Mostly, I'm just thrilled that I get a chance to see the Big Island. Everyone I've talked to here says it's absolutely beautiful. Speaking of absolutely beautiful, here's a picutre from the tournament:
It's a DOUBLE RAINBOW!! (That's Aubrey on the left and me on the right.) It looks like this every day here...Sorry for the extremely wordy post with a complete lack of pictures. Although, I guess it's good that there were no photos from Friday night! Hopefully more beautiful-picture-posts to come!
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