Ten months in Hawaii

It's hard to believe that we've been living in Hawaii for ten months already. Time does certainly fly.

Moving during a pandemic was probably not the best idea. We've had trouble connecting with people because of the lockdown. In fact, I got on the elevator with a lady two months ago and asked her what floor -- she said my floor and then added that she was my neighbor. I had never seen her before (and have only seen her once since), even though we have met/spoken to her husband/boyfriend several times. I was a little concerned we might have a "Cruel Summer" TV show-type situation happening here but then I remembered that the apartments in this building are only 709 square feet so there'd be no place to hide her. 😂😂 Still, I pride myself on being pretty observant so I'm a little concerned that I didn't notice a whole person next door for over eight months. 😮😷

I've also realized that visiting a place and living in a place are two distinct things. Hawaii (or Alaska, or Colorado or Vegas or Florida or Indiana) might seem like paradise when you're only visiting for a week or two but it's not when you actually live here. Sure, there are scenic views, beautiful beaches and a very diverse population but if you're working, you don't have a lot of time to venture out and explore. 

Also, after opening up to some kind of normalcy for a few weeks, Oahu has closed back down somewhat due to the rise in cases. Cases here went from about 36 per day to 400+ per day. On September 13th, a new mandate from the governor went into place - only vaccinated or those with a negative test within 48 hours can dine in restaurants, go to museums or other public venues. This has caused a lot of issues - a lot of restaurants have reverted back to take out only. Some restaurants, like the one at the grocery store I work at, have closed temporarily. A few restaurants are offering a 10 minute covid test for $20 but, for tourists, that could get expensive because they would need a new one every two days. 

Before we moved, we spent three months watching you tube videos and researching the area. We thought we were pretty prepared but once we got here, we realized quickly that most of those videos were geared toward tourists. While we were prepared for cramped quarters and high prices, we weren't prepared for the lack of air conditioning, the extremely large bugs (they call them B52s here) and overall lack of things to do that don't involve hiking or the beach. Many of the you tube bloggers that we followed have returned to the mainland. One of Lo's coworkers arrived a month before we did - she's leaving the island on Saturday. As for us, we're not quite ready to leave. We are trying to find contentment in this place God has led us to. There is so much here that definitely resonants with my core beliefs and I really do love the laid back lifestyle. But, I definitely feel like something is lacking and that we are merely existing here. Please keep us in your prayers as we try to figure it all out.