This trip, I'd consciously done no reading up on Hawaii....none at all. It was after all, a long, three week visit and I was happy to stay open to being surprised.
And so much to be surprised by. It's got a mix of such different climates and landscapes and terrain. It's at one time the greenest ever, and then the volcano rocks are never far off, the dark sullen powerful black, literally creation......sunny and humid and rainy in quick succession.... houses so pretty.... people from everywhere....actually it's best I take that a bit at a time.
The newness and amazement hit right at the airport. Hilo airport is so small, that we get off the flight, walk down a flight of stairs and before we could make ourselves presentable, there they were...aunty and Bablu. Forget restrooms, even the baggage pick up is after you meet them, the conveyor belt runs outside the airport building. So quaint and cute.
And so much to be surprised by. It's got a mix of such different climates and landscapes and terrain. It's at one time the greenest ever, and then the volcano rocks are never far off, the dark sullen powerful black, literally creation......sunny and humid and rainy in quick succession.... houses so pretty.... people from everywhere....actually it's best I take that a bit at a time.
The newness and amazement hit right at the airport. Hilo airport is so small, that we get off the flight, walk down a flight of stairs and before we could make ourselves presentable, there they were...aunty and Bablu. Forget restrooms, even the baggage pick up is after you meet them, the conveyor belt runs outside the airport building. So quaint and cute.
Airport to home was a ten minute drive, and everything Bablu was saying about Hilo seemed amazing. I was like, so how big is Hilo....and he says it has a population of 40,000 (that's less even than Jangareddigudem), and of ethnicity from across the globe (in fact it has only 17% white).
Day 1, we were up early and aunty, diksha and I did a lovely early morning walk to the ocean which is just five minutes from home. And then we walked to a supermarket to pick up some croissants for breakfast, and I see this shelf of doughnuts....both my favourites, and aunty's like "no, no, no...you look good, you're not getting doughnuts, or maybe just one the day you walk :)"
Actually let me do it through pictures, no not of doughnuts.
That's their house from up front:
The backyard, with diksha peeping out the door
Another view of the backyard
They actually have a river running through their backyard, and the bright patch at the far end of the picture is the ocean
Bablu and uncle, showing Sailesh and Marion Joe the cocoa pods from their trees. Sailesh and Marion came down from Phoenix for the week. And it's so wonderful how he can't stop talking about Grammar school, and Johns bakery, and ganne ka ras and pani puri and mirchi bajji, his house in Sanjeev Reddy Nagar, even the bus numbers he used.... he hasn't been to India in 29 years, and thats the last I met him.....it's so wonderful to hear him go down the nostalgia lane.
Aunty harvesting ladies finger from her garden for today's lunch
Uncle getting the karepak
The palm trees that forms a border between them and their neighbors....the trees seem to redefine tall
Inside....uncle and diksha, deep in conversation
Marion Joe, Sailesh and aunty at dinner
Me at the porch, it's one of my favouritest places in the house, especially when it's raining
That's the backyard when it was raining, and it rains a real lot. It's right now around 10 at night and I can hear the rain outside, not to talk of the frogs ofcourse :)
That's their house from up front:
The backyard, with diksha peeping out the door
Another view of the backyard
They actually have a river running through their backyard, and the bright patch at the far end of the picture is the ocean
Bablu and uncle, showing Sailesh and Marion Joe the cocoa pods from their trees. Sailesh and Marion came down from Phoenix for the week. And it's so wonderful how he can't stop talking about Grammar school, and Johns bakery, and ganne ka ras and pani puri and mirchi bajji, his house in Sanjeev Reddy Nagar, even the bus numbers he used.... he hasn't been to India in 29 years, and thats the last I met him.....it's so wonderful to hear him go down the nostalgia lane.
Aunty harvesting ladies finger from her garden for today's lunch
Uncle getting the karepak
The palm trees that forms a border between them and their neighbors....the trees seem to redefine tall
Inside....uncle and diksha, deep in conversation
Marion Joe, Sailesh and aunty at dinner
Me at the porch, it's one of my favouritest places in the house, especially when it's raining
That's the backyard when it was raining, and it rains a real lot. It's right now around 10 at night and I can hear the rain outside, not to talk of the frogs ofcourse :)
And if I thought this was a beautiful house, which I fully do and love, Bablu's house is like a piece of art....multi leveled, a huge lava rock on one side, stilts on the other, vines and tall palm trees, a river with a natural pool, two goats as pets....... quite amazing.
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