Aloha!

I don't know how much of a common knowledge this is, but 'aloha' means 'hello', 'goodbye', and 'love'. I'm using it in the 'goodbye' sense in this post, because--yes, I leave Hawaii tomorrow to return to my home and hearth.

There are exactly 31 minutes until my final Philosophy exam, so I cannot write as much here as I would like; I want to get to the exam early and do some last-minute studying. But I wanted to say farewell from Paradise before I left for my own personal Paradise--home.

Hawaii has been remarkably good to me. I've found good friends, read good new books, and have been relatively successful academically. I also adjusted to seeing cockroaches scuttling about, and the blazing hot sky, and the rainstorms that surge from the sky without warning. I have not yet adjusted to the normalcy of geckos running around the apartment I'm living in; I still get so excited and think they are adorable.

All my friends--lucky blighters--had their last exams on Wednesday, so they're already gone. I'm almost done packing my bags; I'll finish today. Oh, Laura and Kat, I did send your Christmas gifts; I hope you get them.

Will I miss Hawaii? Well . . . yes, I will. I'll miss the Barnes & Noble that I haunt every weekend; we became very good friends over the course of the semester. I will also miss a couple of my professors--but I am very glad at the prospect of never seeing some of them again! I will also miss my weekly walks to the library, and the geckos, and the friends I've made here.

But I am still eagerly looking forward to going home. And my mom tells me that my siblings are all counting down to the day of my return instead of Christmas, isn't that funny? One of my first acts as reinstated eldest child will be to make cupcakes with all the little ones; that should be an adventure. And I'll practice my Irish dance every day, and enjoy my time home with all my heart.

After all, I should. In just three weeks, I will be back here . . .

Anyway--love to all, and Mele Kalikimaka!!