nostalgia, part two

Year Two (Or, the Year in which she cuts her hair off, learns lots of life things, and unsuspectingly stumbles upon the career path she'll end up following in four more years)

Back in Laie, I moved into the only house I'd ever visited. It looked like some kind of Dr. Seuss creation, with rooms coming out of every direction. Thirteen girls lived there technically, but there were usually a few more sleeping on the couches. Tiny ants became part of every meal, and the rats and cockroaches were just extra roommates.

No longer a Music major, I just took classes that sounded interesting. The Bible as Literature, InterCultural Communication, and so on. I became friends with Erika, and then her roommate Collette, both of whom had completely intimidated me, but we bonded over gluten-free noodles, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and late night drives on Kamehameha Highway. I was less invisible in choir this year, and I somehow started playing the organ. Some other girl named Alyssa had signed up for organ practice times, but they thought it was me. So then, there I was, playing this giant organ for the choir and for university devotionals. I quit writing for the paper (which means I quit making up quotes), and started working as an English tutor at the Reading Writing Center, where we never could agree on the proper use of the subjunctive. 

We had adventure after adventure with Hawaiian public transportation. For just two dollars, The Bus would transport you to anywhere on the island you had a desire to go. Thankfully, all of these adventures were documented second to second by our friend Ting, who has never let a moment go unphotographed. Then all of a sudden I had a tail, and was dancing across the stage as a Bird Girl in Seussical. Now that I think of it, the lyrics to that song from Grease that I auditioned with were probably the raciest that stage has ever heard, but I was still transitioning from small town naiveté and had no idea. Thanks for not expelling me. 

I ate a lot of spam musubi, pake cakes, and Fruity Pebbles, and did pretty well avoiding gluten. I made friends with Anna (another girl by whom I was completely intimidated) and we bonded over gluten-free chocolate chip cookie dough. (Food has always been a very large part of my life, clearly. How would I make friends without it?). We climbed mountains, and then sent in applications to go live in Israel, after which we would both return to Hawaii, duh.

(disclaimer: three paragraphs in no way recap all that happened, and if I don't mention you, please don't think you were any less a part of my life. As if you read my blog, whoever you are. Wishful thinking on my part. But for reals, I totally love you.)