New Friends!

Yesterday after work, the grad student who I'm working with, Anna, invited me to go out with her and some of her friends. Another UH grad student, Christina, drove us down to Waikiki for happy hour at Indigo's, just outside of Chinatown. At first it was just us three but more and more people continued to show up until there were at least 11 people in total. It was an interesting mix of people, all united by their deeply passionate love (obsession?) for surfing. Some were grad students at UH, others worked fulltime at unknown jobs, and others were just chilling out. One was a lifeguard and another was a glass blower. It was so fun to hear them all talk about how much they love to surf and when they were going to go next. They had apparently just come back from a really great day out on the waves so they were all really pumped up.
After $3.50 martinis at Indigo's, we headed to another bar in Waikiki somewhere. We played darts, pool, and danced. I can't believe I danced in front of these people who I had only met a few hours before! Some of them saw the scars on my knee and we started comparing sports injuries. One of them was a gymnast for years, he made it sound like before he broke his back he was really good (he used to travel with most of the current Olympians). Anyway, I didn't believe it until he did several standing back tucks on concrete in flip flops. They also taught me some Hawaiian words and hand signs. When they spoke in pidgin, they sounded like true locals! I thought I was only going out for happy hour, but we ended up staying out for most of the evening. Eventually one of them dropped me home and I had a great time!
Most importantly, they promised to show me around the island. They said they would take me surfing and put me in a "barrel" (term for one of those really nice waves that you see on TV...it really just looks you're surfing through an empty barrel), take me hiking to some secret locals-only spots, and show me some of the best places to eat. Who knows if I'll ever see any of them again, but I hope I do! I was a little too shy to take pictures, but maybe next time, if there is one...Anyway, it was a great night! a hui hou