Peter and I just arrived in Hawaii. Being two blocks away from the beach is utter luxury. Although after a morning of swiming, floating, and lazing on the sand, my skin is sending me messages... no major sunburn yet thank goodness. We were playing a bit of shadow tag with the palm trees, which since I am not as thin as a plam tree leads to creative adjustments. In addititon to the entertainment of watching different bodytypes walking by, kids squeeling in the water, I love watching the surf boarding lessons. I haven't figured out if the squeels and the different styles of surfing (the ridgid corpse pose on a plank ...to the willowy ladies) serve as inspiration or deterent. At this point, I am considering of venturing out too. Peter hasn't indicated either way, perhaps hoping to capture incriminating photos.
I am struck by the high number of Japanese people in Waikiki, and am taking in the sights and sounds around me. Hopefully it prepare us for being in Japan next week. Although unlike germanic and romance languages, I can't even remotely guess the meaning of much of what is being said, or written. It will be interesting to be in a culture that is so dramatically different than what we are accustomed, and in which we are clearly the minority. But that is for later e-mails.Right now we are enjoying the sun, water, and relaxed atmosphere.
California was a great primer for the sun and scenic views. San Fransico is definitely up there now as one of my favorite cities. I enjoyed combination of the hills, the bay, highlighted by the sun. Also, it felt like a very accessible big city . Envigorated by different neighbourhoods and not dominated by sky-scrapers or malls. Our views were expanded further by other unexpected views - cheeks in leather chaps in a local leather parade. We were able to sample a variety of activities in addition to our own hectic trip preparations - a book reading by Salmon Rusdie (sp?), good food, and a trip up to the Napa valley vinyards. Peter's main observation was "there are lots of grapes."
On a more practicaly note, we were successful in selling the car! We had several appointments set up prior to arriving to San Francisco, and luckily the first person who saw the car wanted it. (Her partner was swept away by the fact we had tapes of "This American Life" in the car). Those of you needing to sell your car.. take not good props are aparently helpful. Although the sale itself went smoothly we had a few added moments of excitement. We realized as they were test driving the car there were drug deals going on next to us. Then later, on Monday night when Peter dropped off the car, he cycled through a high crime neighbourhood with several thousand dollars in cash. Glad I did not know it at the time!
Prior to San Fransico we were in LA. My friend Lisa was very patient, and probably smelled us before we even arrived. There we initially focused on scrubing the layers of desert dirt that had collected on us and our stuff. Our touristy stint included the Getty Museum. A place I would highly recomend to anyone if they have not seen it. The architecture alone is fantastic ... the simplicity is both calming and stunning. The nooks of water fountains and courtyards framing views into LA, the ocean and the hills between various building housing the other visual arts provide a dramatic effect.
Overall it was wonderful to see friends during our travels in the US. Thanks to all of you who put up with us, when we may have overwhelmed your senses and household. We know all of you have your own schedules and stresses. We appreciated the recomendations for places to go (be it the car-wash or cool site). It helped us tremendously. Most of all though, we enjoyed catching up with friends, seeing their lives, and having them get to know Peter. Unfortunately we were unable to see everyone we wanted.. even a month was not enough. :( Hopefully there will be other opportunities!
I hope the rest of you are doing well. Please e-mail us and let us know how you are doing!
Ciao Trish and Peter