totally random but important to me

This is a really long post and it has almost nothing to do with my Maui life. Sorry, I am not including any pictures. If you don’t have the time or the desire to read it than that’s fine, but its on my mind and feels better to put it in words. I hope it comes across the way I felt it.




My chest feels heavy and my heart feels numb. My eyes burn from holding back the elephant tears that my conscience insists on strategically placing in the corners of my eyes.

I just sat through the most amazing presentation in my Microbiology Lecture class. The alleged main educational topic: Malaria.
The supporting topic: Nursing in Africa.

My teacher invited a close friend to inform us about the parasitic disease, Malaria. Her personal experience comes from an 8-month journey through the most desolate and deprived villages of Kenya, Africa. Her story and photos touched every heart of my 67-student class. Not one of us walked away without questioning the purpose of our lives and the reason we want to become nurses and doctors.

She graduated from the same nursing program that I will begin in January. Immediately after receiving her licensure and degree as an RN, she embarked on a journey to Africa to make a difference. She was tired of sending her money to a faceless organization in hopes that she could help feed a newborn infant, send a child to elementary school, or provide medicine for an impoverished mother dying of AIDS/HIV, Malaria or some other vicious disease. She made a decision to fly to Africa and see first-hand for herself where her money was going.

Most nurses will tell you that your first year working in the field is like being in school still. It is learning how to apply everything school has taught with real, live patients. It is an incredibly challenging feat to make the transition from Nursing Student to Practicing Registered Nurse. The fact that this woman went straight into Africa blows my mind and even she admits that it was a task that she was not quite ready for.

But then she told us that no amount of nursing experience in a hospital could have prepared her for what she saw and experienced. She was put in situations to practice completely out of her scope. She became the magical, white “doctor” of the village. She could not save many people, and yet there was nobody better than her to do the job. Death, dismemberment and disease became apart of her daily routine. She cried herself to sleep almost every night for her first month. Her personal hut was made of mud walls and cow manure floors. She had one spare bed that was to provide a place for the patient who needed her the most for the night. It wasn’t long before as many as 14 sick children were snuggled up in her hut.

She recalled how the children adored her. At first she feared the sicknesses and disease and taught the children to raise the “shaka” sign and call out “eh brah!” in the mornings rather than shake her hand. Her 6-mile daily walk to the “clinic” was littered with hundreds of children running from the fields and huts to raise their new friendship symbol to the village medical savior. By the end of her trip she almost couldn’t peel the little ones off of her. She was in such personal and close contact with them that her health and safety were at risk. At this point she realized it did not matter. She was there to make a difference and could not let the opportunities pass her by.

At one point she was infected with Malaria and found herself near death in a hospital bed with an untrained nurse to start her IV. After the nurse left she looked down to find that the needle was inserted into her skin and then poking out again. All the medication was dripping down her arm and onto the floor. In near delusion the Malaria causes, she pulled out the IV and restarted it again into her own arm. Had she not been conscious enough to do this, she would have died.

There is no doubt that the mission she went on was dangerous. She did not choose the average organized trip to Africa with her church, or the 3 week African Safari with her friends. There are many companies and organizations that round up a group of people to educate and build homes for the poor. These are without a doubt selfless and admirable ways to give help to Africa, but she chose to go her own route. She went to the depths of Kenya and picked the worst places she could find. This woman literally described these villages as “The hell holes of Africa”.

Her speech not only made me think twice about my dreams of going to Africa, but it made me realize many of my reasons for wanting to become a nurse. Not only do I want to see the world, but also I want to make a difference in it. I don’t want to just donate to a cause; I want to be the change that the world needs. I want to personally save a life or comfort one that will not be saved. I want to give other children a chance to have the opportunities that I have been blessed with and make sure that I don’t waste the resources that I have been given.

I want to be the change that I want to see in the world.

Todays Examination

Results:
1. 20/40 vision in both eyes

2. Poor hearing in left ear

3. Anemic

4. Wisdom teeth growing in

5. Scoliosis throughout entire back




Apparently:
1. I really need glasses (at least I look cute in them!)

2. I will have to spring for the better--more expensive--stethoscope to accommodate for the poor hearing in my left ear. (I know this goes back to that time 3 years ago at the Flumes I jumped off the 40 ft rock and tweaked my left ear drum...dang it)

3. I need to eat a lot more red meat and start taking iron supplements (I am sooo bad at taking pills regularly!).

4. It is highly suggested that I look into getting dental insurance and get those wisdom teeth removed ( I knoooow I feel them back there every day!)

5. I need to strengthen the entire right side of my back (but luckily windsurfing and surfing are perfect for this).




Physical exam/vaccinations for nursing school: $200.00
Ibuprofen for sore muscles after shots: $2.00
Good health: Priceless

A pause in the day.

Here I am at 11am sitting at Maui Coffee Roasters doing a whole lot of nothing. I got to work and my computer isn't working so I can't work. I came here to watch my Pharmacology lecture but the internet is going to slow for it to load. I have to go work at the Ale House in a couple hours. I wish I could quit there but the money has been too good during football season. I hate how money finds a way to regulate the fun parts of my life.

On a good note: I am staring my 10th week of the semester and there are only 8 weeks left! Im over the mid-semester hump and can start counting the days down until Christmas.

It looks like I will be around Maui over Christmas...the first time EVER I wont be spending it with family. :-( But I hear Christmas always brings the best wind and waves so I'm staying optimistic!

The last few days have been really fun on the water. I went to Kazuma and they gave me a BRAND NEW fish to try out! I am really impressed with the customer service I got there and enjoyed the atmoshphere. I had a blast at Paia Bay this weekend and this morning Hookipa was amazingly glassy and perfect size for me. I love the 6 a.m crowd at Pavillions on days like today. Super friendly and happy to be the first in the water :-)

Wind might be back tomorrow but I have a Dr. appointment right after school...lots of shots and stuff for Nursing School. I hate getting poked with needles. Hope to see you back on the water on Wednesday though....

And the catapult of the day award goes to.....yours truly.

Yesterday was fun. I worked at HSM for a while until I got distracted talking to people downstairs. I need Ala here to keep feeding me things to do at my desk! (get well quick Ala!). So I finally gave in and went down to Kanaha to catch some of the wind.

Soooo fun at first...sooo overpowered on my 4.3 and loving it. Loving my new board. I started by chasing Andres Martinez around. He threw a couple forwards RIGHT next to me and I was stoked. He made them look so easy. He disappeard to go back to work and then Nick Warmuth was out. I chased him for a bit too..and he was throwing freestyle moves that I can't even name. I have no clue what he was doing but it was beautiful. Next I tagged Frenchy and back and forth we went seeing who could make the most jibes. Obviously he won by a lot.

My only problem was my harness lines being a little off...but I was too lazy to adjust them. Sounds lame right? I got launched pretty good a few times (it was super gusty!)

So then came the launch of the day. Sorry Aaron, I think I stole your title for a couple minutes. Nick had a front row view of it. I was coming in on the inside and going for a jibe. Im not really sure what got stuck (my foot? harness lines??) It all happened so fast... I ended up sitting cross-legged on top of my sail, laughing until tears came. Nick was laughing pretty hard too. Top 10 he said.

I guess if I can't be the best sailor, I can at least try for top catapulter....?!!??

Then the wind died completely and I slogged back in.

A productive day (no wind)

Somehow I missed my first alarm this morning at woke up with a whole 15 minutes to shower and leave for school. Could it be that I was up until 2am doing homework? And no, I don't blame the margaritas and dinner with the girls last night. My late night was well worth the hour I spent at Milagros (Amazingly delish $3 Margaritas and excellent company!!).

I thought today was going to suck but somehow I was fully energized for my first class, Microbiology Lab. We did a really interesting analysis of some cells that we "genetically engineered" (really just "transformed"). We inserted P-Glo plasmids, ampicillin resistance genes and green flouresence genes into some E-coli bacteria. To put it simply, we made the cells glow florescently. :-) In one of my answers on my paper I even put "They glow like a San Fransisco rave". Haha...I bet my teacher will just looove that answer.


Here are the transformed cells under a blacklight..pretty cool that I did that eh?


So from there my next class only got better. Microbiology Lecture class. We got our midterms back today and guess what...I got a 107/110 points. One of the top scores in my class of 67! Woohoo! I really like that class. And, my teacher is learning how to windsurf...so I am spending a good chunk of my time in that class discussing windsurfing basics.

I just ended my evening with the boys: Juan, Andres and Jan. We ate pizza and watched The Windsurfing Movie. You know the song on there called Club Foot by Kasabian? Well I love that song and those shots...has me all excited to windsurf again.

After a dry 3 days of work and school for me, the wind comes back tomorrow and I am going to sail after work. Can't wait to get in the water again!

Cheers and Aloha!

what inspires me to "grin like an idiot"

I know sometimes I smile a lot and usually its because I am happy. You know when I am not happy, you can read it on my face in an instant. And if you can't, then you are probably just stupid because I'm like an open book when it comes to my reading my face.

The inspiration behind my happiness comes from my four legged furball, Rocko Chops. If you know me, you most likely know my dog too. He goes by the names Rocko, Chops, Chopsticks, Pork Chop, and Small Fry. If you walk into Kanaha Kai/Hot Sails, you can almost guarantee tripping over him while he pretends he is the doormat for the entrance. If you are down at Kanaha Beach much, you know who Rocko is. The little brown guy sprinting back and forth along the waters edge, hunting for sandcrabs. He happily stand-up paddles, windsurfs on the start boards and has recently taken up longboarding.

I can say with complete assurance that he has the best life a dog could ask for. Even when he stays home he has 2 acres of fruit trees and jungle at his disposal. He is incredibly happy and you can see it on his face. His eyes hold so much emotion. Rocko gets that stupid "I'm a dog I'm a dog I'm a dog" look on his face and you know he is the definition of carefree joy. When I see him like this, it makes me want to simplify my life and focus on the things that really matter. Find out what it is that really makes me happy and go with it. Forget the details and make the most of what is in front of me.

Next time you see Rocko, watch him carefully and think about it. You'll know what I mean.

life without music....I can't go on.

There are a lot of important things in my life that I realize I don't want to live without. Music for one. A song for every day, every emotion, every time in my life. A song that brings me back to good days and bad. Sometimes I hear just the right song on my drive home and by the time I am home, I feel almost drunk with emotion. I love music, I love the effect it has on me. I feel like music brings all of the parts of my day together. All these things I do in the day, strung together by songs.

Another thing I realize I cant live without these days is the ocean. It brings a whole new element to my life that I never had before. Everyday I get in the water it clears my head from the pressures of life, school and work. For at least a short time its only Me against Me, and I like that. Lately I have been feeling a lot of Me against School and that is frustrating.

Yesterday was my second day at Hookipa :-) A tiny bit bigger than last time I went out, a few head high sets were breaking by the rocks. I am so silly...I stood at the edge of the water for ten minutes or so, trying to get the nerve to go. The shorebreak scares me the most. At last I decided it didn't really make a difference to wait, since the water wasnt going anywhere and my stuff was rigged. I pushed my gear through the shorebreak as best as I could...waterstarted. Yay! Made it! And, the sets were past and I had a clear straight shot to the outside. Feeling a pretty impressed with myself I got too comfortable. I hit a piece of chop and over the boom I went. Oooops :-) Guess nothings perfect. I am still getting used to my new board (only my 3rd time on it!). I had a minor incident with my footstrap, and after fixing it on the beach I went back out. The wind died and I had the most amazing slogging session of my life. Sooo annoying! But I still came out of the water smiling. I had an awesome time.

One of my favorite things about windsurfing is having friends around. There is nothing better than being on the water and hearing someone give you a shout and cheering you on. It makes it so much better, to share the stoke for even just a second.

Here are a couple of pictures to refresh your brain after listening to my rant...

When I opened up my new board last week. Its supposed to be my inspiration to get out in more waves. So far its been fun getting used to sailing it! Some people don't like the graphics. I think its beautiful.


Another sunset, Hookipa.

"Every day is better than the last"

In an attempt to keep my ever-growing group of friends and family up to date on my life, I have decided to start a blog. Who knows if I can keep it updated and chances are, it won't really even be worth reading. But, if you never try you'll never know, right? So here goes.

One of the most important things in my life right now is that "every day is better than the last". My bestest friend out here (Laura!!) and I came to this conclusion a couple of days ago. Everyday we find new and ridiculous reasons to laugh harder, smile more, and wake up earlier the next day. Are we on some kind of lucky streak? Could it possibly be good Karma? Or maybe we are just idiots...could be a combination of it all. Either way, we can't get enough of this island.

Here are a couple of my recent accomplishments/moments of satisfaction/reasons to be happy to be alive:

First off, I got accepted into Nursing School. Yay! After months of anxiety, stress, and working an extra job (Nurse Assistant), I finally got my letter. I start the program in January. My grades were excellent (4.0 last semester) and I scored in the 92nd percentile in U.S. on entrance exams (woohoo!) but even then I had a few setback making me think I wouldn't get accepted. Well, I got in. In 2 years I will be an R.N. Which really means work hard a few days a week, and play harder on my days off! Take more vacations! Travel! This also means I have an excuse to hang out on the rock here for another 2 years which means....more windsurfing!

Another recent accomplishment was just a couple of days ago. I did my first run at Hookipa!!(Finally!) I really had planned on this happening months ago...but...life kept me busy this last summer and windsurfing was put on the back burner. Not to mention the wind was a huge disappointment during summer.

Well, I finally did it. The waves were umm..well about as flat as it gets at Hookipa. Anklebiters really. But perfectly challenging for me. I got "washed", swam my gear, went out over waves and tried to ride some back in.

My only setback was swiping my foot across a sea urchine on my entrance. Ouch!! Spines stuck in my foot and all, I wasn't about to head back in and I sailed anyways. I guess it wasn't such a big deal to sail Hookipa on a day like this, but I still love how much it reminds me that I am improving. My next big step will be when I sail out at Hookipa when there really are waves. That will be a good day :-)

Here is my foot, not so bad after picking out the spines!




And here is me with my super wonderful coach of the day and friend, Juan.


Today was another sweet day for me. After school and work, I could hardly keep my eyes open and all could think about was getting into some nice cold salty ocean water, or taking a nap in my bed. Luckily the ocean won me. Down to the closest beach I went, to trusty Kanaha. Kanaha is like a big brother to me. Faithful, reliable and safe but every now and then picks on me and pushes me to a new limit. My first ocean swim of my life was just 2 years ago at Kanaha, and everything I know about the ocean, Kanaha has taught me.

With expectations of no wind, I planned to stand-up paddle. Some new windsurfing friends of mine called me up and invited to to go. Heck yes! Well, the wind came up and I rigged my favorite sail, my 4.8 DD. This was the first time I have ever sailed on a standup/longboard! Whoa...who knew I could make all my tacks and jibes?!?! Haha...too bad I can't get that on my shortboard. I sailed out today and quickly gained confidence.

.....Good sized swell at uppers: Aim between weird wave and uppers..yep...theres my spot...wait...waves breaking...okay..mmhmm...its flat...GO!!..... sweeet made it out past the break safely. Turn around... ooh...here's a swell....going faster...and faster... pump my sail...WEEE!!!......

Caught my first couple of waves on a longboard/sail! :-) Mind you, they were on the edge of the break...not the big dogs that everyone else was on. But pretty good size! Especially for ME! And to be on a gigantic board!

I also had the perfect view of all the other sailors at uppers. I can't wait until its me ripping across those beautiful waves :-) Someday....

A little blood is a good thing, right? Somehow it makes me feel tougher!


Here is Laura, my friend, roommate and beach buddy.



Another amazing sunset on my drive home today. Another reason to be thankful I reside on the rock.


Ok we'll see if I make it to post 2!