AHHH -
Well, when I arrivd it was just about dawn, and I couldn't see the island as we landed. Then as we walked down the stairs onto the runway (there is only 1) and saw the terminal (which was only a bit longer than the plane I flew in on), the sun began to rise. The smell was the first thing I noticed, not of the sun, but of the islands - the fruit here is amazing, and you smell it everywhere, that and an earthyness, kind of heavy. You don't smell the ocean unless its windy or you're on the beach. I did some snorkeling the first day, and I saw some beautiful tropical fish: foot long, six inch tall, thin blue fish, smaller striped black and yellow fish that came up to within a foot, and a ray sliding along the ocean floor. The hostel is very nice, not too crazy, with some wonderful people, all in different stages of traveling. My roommate Paula, a german girl, has just come from some of the places I'm going, so she has given me some great advice. There is a Swiss couple who make everyone laugh and are always planning an outing, and a spanish couple that met traveling (very sweet) - Patricia and Pepe. Pepe looks a bit like a pirate, and when I told him that, he laughed and said he'd heard it before. Patricia is a hair dresser, and yesterday she cut my hair a bit - nothing drastic, but I now have some bangs, which I think are fun. I can't post pictures of Anything here because the internet is too slow and expensive, but when I get to Auckland I'll update the pictures. The phone cards here are also horrible. My wonderful friend Leeanne gave me a great international phone card as a gift, but it won't work here! AND - the phone cards you buy from the local phone company are horribly expensive, and you pay for a 5 min call, or an hour - nothing in between. I didn't know that until I'd paid for an hour and only talked for 11 minutes. Horrid. Now I'm on my way to "town" with a couple of the girls from the hostel. We stopped to use the internet, and then we'll hitchhike in - this is apparantly one of the only places in the world that Lonely Planet recommends hitchhiking. There is 1 main road, and people are so friendly, but no worries, we don't do it at night - not worth the risk. Saturday is the local market, and I'll see some traditional dancing and music. That should be really cool - oh, and a few of us did the cross island hike (trek) the other day - it was beautiful, but not for the faint of heart. Between climbing roots up, and sliding on our bottoms down (in the mud), there were some close calls - it was really worth it - so gorgeous. If you're interested, ask me about the rooster at the needle the next time you see me.
