By the time we were supposed to be leaving, however, Alex and I still hadn't managed to drag ourselves out of bed. We were so exhausted from doing EVERYTHING in the house that we just kept right on sleeping. Sometime before seven, Diana came into our room and woke us up, telling us how lazy we were for sleeping so late... I promise, the irony was not lost on me. We threw our stuff together, packing beach gear and clothes for after the beach, and we left.
Leaving Iroquois Point (our gated community) was heaven. Even though it was early, we turned up the music loud and rolled our windows all the way down. That's when it hit me -- maybe Diana felt just as stuck as we did. Maybe that's why she was so belligerent and hostile toward the world. Maybe it was all just about feeling trapped. I stared at her from the backseat of her BMW and wondered why she insisted on having children when that was clearly not making her happy. And then I had an epiphany that was even better: I didn't care. I didn't care why she had chosen to create the life for herself that she had. All I cared about was that she quit making my life a contentious place to be.
Alex, Diana and I shopped the swap meet for about an hour, but the swap meet that Diana had taken us to was not at the Aloha Stadium, so it was small and exactly what we on the mainland would call a "garage sale." I'm not much for shopping the "gently" used items, but Alex was able to find a Power Puff Girls backpack that was really cute. Diana just shopped for her daughter-to-be. I was bored and ready for the beach.
Eventually we finished circling the tents, so Alex and I got some cash from a nearby ATM and then hopped on the bus. We weren't really sure how to get where we were going, but we were so stoked to go! After a $2.50, a few wrong buses, and sweet bus drivers who gave us extra transfers, we finally made it to Waikiki. The only problem was that there was a parade going on down the strip, so Alex and I had to navigate our way to the beach. Luckily we met a sweet local boy, named Jon, who instantly fell in love with Alex and (after exchanging numbers) guided us to the beach across the street.
Waikiki Beach!
Me at Waikiki Beach for the first time! I am pale here, but SO excited!
Waikiki beach surprised me. I normally can't handle tourists, and I like to take the path less traveled while playing tourist, but the camaraderie was so existent between the other beach-goers and me that I didn't mind that I was probably swimming in mostly washed off sunblock and pee. Maybe it was the fact that I was finally getting a break from the crazy contention of Diana's house, or maybe it was just that I was finally around other sane people again, but I felt so freaking happy to be around other people! The waves of Waikiki weren't crazy huge like those of the north shore, but they were fun enough in a tame, wave pool kind of way. The sand (imported from Kawaii, if Google taught me correctly) was hot on the bottoms of my feet, and that heat pulsed through my whole body until I had no choice but to jump into the cool waves.
After playing at the beach for a few hours, Alex and I went to the mall to change into dry clothes, and Alex surprised me with tickets to the Republik Music Festival! I was so tired from getting up so early and being in the sun and water all day, and it was such a perfect surprise! I didn't know who any of the bands were, but I was so excited to be cultured! There are few things I love more in life than Hawaii and music, and the fact that Alex combined my two loves just proves how awesome of a sister-in-law she is!
You probably can't tell, but there are a TON of people behind us, and we are in the very front row!
We were lucky enough to watch The Throwdowns from Maui, The Green, The Dirty Heads, Rebelution, and Matisyahu. I know most people were there to see Steel Pulse, but by the time they were due to come on, we only had ten minutes to run to the closest bus stop so that we would make it home that night. Am I disappointed we missed Steel Pulse? Heck no. I had so much fun that it didn't matter to me.
Even though emotionally I was going through a lot that week with saying goodbye to Joshua for who knows how long, meeting Diana, and being in a semi-new place, that Saturday was the best. If you want to hear some great island music, check out those bands, and you will be in heaven.
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