Log 63: To your union

Tomorrow will mark the end of my 10th week on Maui. I like my little daily routine: I have oatmeal for breakfast, sit outside and watch the Hawaiian geckos climb up the palm trees, hop on my moped, go to work, make shaved ice, come home (home?), eat dinner on the beach while I watch the sunset, chat with whoever's new at the hostel, and go to bed.

That said, my days do sometimes deviate from this standard schedule, as they have for a couple days this week. Yesterday, Daniel and Dominique (the hostel owners) got married! They had a small ceremony in Kapalua, and stayed there for the night with friends and family. The two of them are somewhat shy and quiet, so they didn't make a big deal out of their special day before they left. But weddings are a big deal!

While they were away, me and Diana, who is the newest work/stay participant at the hostel, got some supplies and made a few congratulatory signs to hang up on Daniel and Dominique's door. Then, we asked everyone staying at the hostel to write notes wishing them well on little paper hearts we had cut out. Lastly, we blew up some balloons, placed them accordingly, and put some fresh flowers in a vase on the kitchen table.

I was at work when Daniel and Dominique came back the next afternoon, but when I walked in the door, Dominique was there, and she gave me a big hug. She told me she cried when she came home and saw our surprise decorations.

Highlight: At the shave ice shop, me and my coworkers, who, ethnically speaking, are all some mix of Hawaiian and/or Asian, were talking about how often people mistake their ethnicity. “I bet people get you wrong all the time!” My new manager, Emi, laughed. I chuckled. “Actually, for most of my life, people have mistook me for Hawaiian,” I told her. She and my other coworkers got a kick out of that.