The First Week

And now, for a very non-sequitur update…

Well, we made it.  After all the packing and planning and travel logistics, we made it.  With three large suitcases, two small bags, and two backpacks, we moved to Pearl City, Hawaii.  While we have been extremely busy getting settled, we have most definitely been enjoying our time here.  We were even blessed to have Cole’s parents here for the first week to help us get settled.

The view from our back porch

 
 
 
It has been so fun exploring the surrounding areas.  Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, warm ocean water will never get old to me.  Every time we swim here, I can’t get over the extraordinarily blue and amazingly warm water.  So cool.  We have so enjoyed trying some of the local restaurants and soaking up all the aloha spirit (can you say “live music and hula dancing during cocktail hour”??).  But, lest you think that our time here has been nothing but paradisiacal, let me give you a snapshot of our week.

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A few years back, another Optometry student who was here on rotation bought a car; and it has since been passed down to student after subsequent student.  We were thrilled to hear of this arrangement and relieved to have an answer to our transportation problem.  The arrangement sounded great and we planned to pass it on to the student after us, until on Sunday night, just 4 days after Cole had inherited the car, it went belly-up on him.  The downside to the whole car arrangement was that this breakdown was inevitable and we were the fortunate students upon whom it decided to conk out.

I arrived on Monday night and spent the first day here at the mechanic trying to solve the issue while Cole was at work.  Long story short, it would have cost more than the car was worth to repair.  So, Wednesday was spent with my in-laws looking for cars.  By God’s grace, we found a decent replacement and have already beaten a path between Pearl City and Waikiki. Needless to say, dealing with car issues is one of my least favorite things.

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We are living in a residential area about 15 minutes from the beach. Cole absolutely loves his placement and attending doctor. And our little studio apartment has a washer and dryer.  This is all far more than we could have asked or imagined.  We are so very thankful for this adventure and for the way that the Lord has showered goodness upon goodness – even in a dead car – on our time here.  We are so excited to see what the next three months have in store!

Again, lest you think every day here is sunshine, palm trees, and Mai Tais on the beach, we are currently experiencing our first – and quite blustery! – Hawaiian rainstorm. I may or may not have a sunburn that is thankful for a day out of the sunshine…  Don’t let our pictures fool you, it gets cloudy here too!

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