Smiling

Ahola from Kalani! It's currently 9:42 PM and I am exhausted after a truly wonderful day. I can tell I'm going to love it and feel right at home soon enough. I'm just smiling sitting here.

I got into the Hilo Airport around 9 last night and was greeted with much needed hugs from Kalani staff. Kalani was only 45 minutes away and along with free shuttling I got the lay of the land from Lily, another volunteer and the bus driver. Checked into Hale (house) 2 so I don't have to set up my tent for another couple of days until I get settled in. I have two roommates for now, who both work in the kitchen. This morning I got up and promptly stuffed my face (Continental charges for everything) with delicious wheat pumpkin pancakes, eggs with spinach, fresh fruit, and local coffee. A massage therapist from Germany kindly sat down with me and we talked for a while over breakfast. I took a nap, walked along the stunning coast, and ate a slightly more reasonable meal for lunch before heading to my one-on-one orientation with Jean, a volunteer. The orientation made me think it'll be hard to try everything before my time is over. There's an art room, salon, outdoor meditation circle, pool, 3 large centers (EMAX, Rainbow Room, and Blue Moon Room), hot tubs, sweat lodge, lounge, fields, and more things I can't even remember. In the afternoon I took a refreshing swim in the pool and then headed to an incredible yoga class. It felt really good to move my body and stretch and even better to hear the koki frogs croaking and the ocean crashing in the background as I moved through the asanas. Yoga was followed by dinner and then by a 'Mystic Thought' talk - topic: Spirits. I saw the post up earlier and people I was eating dinner with were going so I decided to check it out. It was actually really interesting; stories were told, a few debates, exploration of the pendulum (kind of a simpler alternative to a ouija board), and everyone came with an open mind.

Open minds seems to be a common theme. Everyone here is so friendly in the purest sense. Introductions are warm and hold meaning, and just passing by someone grants a genuine hello. And while I'm still adjusting, I've already met a lot of people and can't wait to get into the my groove here. Well, that's it for now - tomorrow I have kitchen orientation and a trip to the volcano park! I'm almost too tired to be excited but I'll go to sleep looking forward to it.

Aloha (which means hello, goodbye, and love)