Maholo

I can't imagine that my life could be any stranger than it is. Firstly, I am twenty years old and a college student. I have lived in four different places in less than a year, a list which includes a green place, a dry place, a snow-covered place, and now a tropical place. My first name has gone from Ronny to Veronica to Vero and then finally, back to Ronny again. My last name almost changed once. I've made a ton of money, saved not even a cent, and not paid my taxes at all.
Now, I live in Hawaii. Did I plan it? No. Had I ever been here before? No. Am I blessed as heck? Why definitely yes.
I have no clue why ANY of this has happened to ME. The good or the bad, I have no idea why. But maybe... maybe I don't need to know any more. Maybe I just need to savor my life as it is right now, and enjoy the things I am learning in the midst of the surprises. With that in mind, here are a few things I have learned about Hawaii that I didn't know before I moved here yesterday:

1 - The time here is three hours earlier than Oregon or California (so don't call me in the morning or I'll kill you)
2 - Maholo means thank you
3 - Kauai is known for having thousands of wild chickens and roosters just running around. This is because they have no natural predators here, and no snakes. As I type this, a random hen just sruts around inside my store.
4 - Did you know that rain can pollute the ocean water so that you shouldn't swim in it? It also kills a lot of chickens and puts them in the water so there's an abundance of sharks after the rain. Gee, I hope the fat man on a floaty out there is aware of that.
5 - I can see the beach and watch the surfers from the back window of my "store", which only has three walls
6 - Everything, even Panda Express, is more expensive in Hawaii.
7 - In Hawaiian, every letter in every word is pronounced. And Hawaii is actually spelled "Hawai'i" and that's why it's not said "Haway".
8 - Chu is a really, really bad word.
9 - Ever heard of "Dakine"? It means everything here.
10 - Pow means done in Pidgeon. Pidgeon is the way the locals talk, and it's freaking hilarious.
11 - Everyone strangely wants to visit me now. Hmm...
12 - I make about half as much as I used to, and it's still just as expensive as Vail. Whoops...
13 - I totally don't care how much I make. I'm just freaking glad to be here.
14 - "Strop", as a name, is also very VERY bad.

And that's what I've learned so far. Oh, also old people do NOT look good in booty shorts. But you already knew that.

Aloha I lub you

Ronnichi, or Wicki Wahini