I’m staying with my co-workers Paul and Ann until I find my own place here in Maui. Paul teaches middle school Math and Art, and Ann is the principal.
They had planned to go to church in the evening because Ann plays piano for a service in Lahaina (on the southwest end of the island). That left the morning open. Paul had planned to go snorkeling with his neighbor Bob. He also invited me. Awesome! Of course I said yes. Paul had an underwater camera.
Here’s me:
Here’s a turtle:
Here’s me and a turtle:
The snorkeling was AWESOME! There were many cool fish and corals and urchins, but the highlight was the turtles. We saw three of them. They were very tame. They’re protected by law, so people don’t mess with them. I just hung in the water, breathed through my snorkel, and watched. I was five feet away from one of them! On top of all that, we could hear the whales singing when we went under the water. So… cool…
After snorkeling, we went to get a popular Hawaiian treat called shave ice. There is no “d”. It is wonderful… ice cream on the bottom, finely shaved ice in the middle (soaked with three flavors of your choice), heavy cream on top. I had grape, cherry, and dreamsicle.
In the evening, we drove to Lahaina for church. It’s about 30 minutes from my hosts’ house. On the way, we saw some whales spouting in the water. Cool! It’s just the beginning of mating season, so the whales will be even more active in the weeks to come.
Church was nice. We sang two songs in Hawaiian. I think I did an okay job of pronouncing the words. There were many visitors. One couple was from Lincoln, Nebraska! I didn’t get their names. The husband owns a steel-working company and the wife works for a collection agency. They are both big supporters of Lutheran churches and schools, including Lincoln Lutheran, where Lloyd teaches. Ha!
Everybody wore shorts to church, including me. I’m glad I didn’t over dress.
Sorry the post was so late, everybody. I set it to post for 6:01am Eastern time, which is 12:01 here, but I should have set it for 00:01. I didn’t remember the website software uses military time.
I am sooo excited for you!!! (even though my heart has been sliced into little pieces) You know how much I’d love to swim with sea turtles AND even more so, experience whales. I can’t imagine how AMAZING it would be to hear the whales underwater!! You’re living my dream! I hope you get the chance to see a whale breach….something on ‘my list’.
And I can’t believe you did all this the very 1st day! I would be most happy to experience just this one day. Just one. Great pictures byw!
PS Did you go off the shore or from a boat or is this their backyard????
Paul and Bob love snorkeling and go to any new place they hear about. This one was new for Paul, but not for Bob. It was about 20 minutes from their houses. There are closer places, but this was their plan for yesterday.
Mind. Blowing.
Amazing.
I’m so jealous! I have always wanted to swim with the whales! I’ve heard dolphins clicking underwater when we were swimming in Mexico, but I imagine the whale sounds just vibrate off of your body. How awesome to be able to snorkel and see new fish and other creatures everyday. Say hello to “Crush” for me.
How are you going to top this post? You have so many adventures ahead, thanks for taking us along.
Mahalo for sharing your day with us, Brad!!!
I think perhaps we need a Hawaiian word of the week from you, yes??
Yes. Indubitably! A Hawaiian Word of the Week. (…bad memories about that phrase are flooding my mind right now, but I digress…)
Let’s start with ohana (assuming I spelled that right). “Lilo and Stitch” taught me that one years back – I believe it means family , yes? Well, your Maryland ohana is very glad you’ve gotten off to such a busy start. Pace yourself, though – you don’t want to run out of new and exciting adventures before those five months are over, do you? (Like that’s possible in Hawaii, Carol…)
Any idea what sort of whales are in their pods there now? I’m most familiar in the Pacific with the greys, but I only know of a migratory path between Mexico and the Northwest (Washington, Canada…) there – no idea if they travel even farther west int he Pacific than that.
I am with Michele and Kim. I also hate you, and how on earth are you going to top this? Is everyday fantastically amazing in Hawaii???
You are the luckiest duck in the flock. Except for the ocean stuff. I can skip that. *jibblie*
Snorkeling is one of my favorite things to do, but I’ve never seen turtles or heard whales. And I have to travel more than 20 miles to get there.
How’s the time change going ?
Isn’t our God amazing! All the pain and anguish of last year’s end has been blown away by this one amazing day with the promise of even more wonders ahead (kinda like one immovable stone was blown away from a certain tomb). I’m so happy for you, Brad. Thanks for letting us live vicariously through you! We love you.