A slideshow of Hula Hannah's Island tour.

This is the rental car, I considered allowing her to ride on top of the car but it was quite windy that day and I didn't want to damage the paint on the car.

Our first stop along the road that winds down all the ocean. What a view.
This is Hula Hannah riding in the car...no dashboard riding for her.
We made a stop at a very mountainous region...actually it was the wall in the bathroom...(haha)
China Man Hat, a prominent landmark off the coast of Oahu. Can you see how it got it's name?
We were off to the famous Kualoa Ranch. A very interesting place if you have time to stop and spend there. You can ride horses, go on ATV's, take a jungle ride, a boat ride and my favorite the movie tour of the ranch.

Pearl Harbor was partially filmed in the bunker behind the sign.
Remember this log? It was in the movie Jurassic park.
Close up shot.
Here we are at the mormon temple in Hawaii. Hula Hannah had never seen it before.
The North Shore....no waves and very few sea shells to collect...(haha)

Having a Pineapple float at the Dole Factory. It was really tasty.
Hula Hannah wanted to pose with the pineapple. There were too many to choose from so we found this rather small one and she was happy.
She wanted to go swimming with the carp but I couldn't let her....they were quite hungry vicious little fish.
Taking a rest in the shade.
That is the Royal Hawaiian hotel, our next door neighbor here on the beach. Yes it is a PINK hotel.

That concludes the tour of the island for today.

At the beach and the boat.

We spent sometime exploring the beach. Sitting, watching the waves, the people and enjoying the scenery. In the background is diamond head volcano. Hula Hannah was wondering if we would find a live volcano yet to get our picture by, but I think we're on the wrong island for that.
Spending time by the pool is another favorite past time of Hula Hannah's, only because it is not as hot by the pool and the sun is not shining directly down onto you until about noon. So it is the perfect spot in the shade to rest and relax and the pool is nice and cold. Hula Hannah wouldn't go swimming today though.
Hula Hannah wanted to go out on a catamaran ride, so being the island adventurers that we are, we took a chance on this catamaran that parks on the beach near our hotel. The trip was enjoyable with huge swells and big splashes. Hula Hannah seemed to have fun until a fellow passanger decided to lose his lunch all over the deck. Hula Hannah thought she was going to gag but luckily made it back to shore before she lost her lunch.
Docking back to shore...she's glad to be off the catamaran.
We followed our ride with a trip to try some of the local cuisine (hehe). Let's just say it is one meal that will not be repeated on the island. (The corn on the cob though was good.)

Hula Hannah at the beach.

Hula Hannah wanted to go to the beach. Sitting, listening to the waves crash onto the beach is peaceful. She was getting restless though, so she wanted to go for a swim in the ocean.
She insisted I take a picture of her by the water. This picture was taken moments before a huge wave crashed into the beach and attempted to carry her out to sea. The rescue was quite dramatic and hula hannah was quite shaken. Hula Hannah said she would no longer be swimming in the ocean for fear that she might almost drown again.

When we returned to our beach mats, she wanted me to build her a sand structure. Having no bucket or shovel, this turned out to be a difficult task, the only structure I could build was a wall to keep the water off of our beach mats. She just sat and played her ukelele while I constructed this sand structure.
She wanted to go for a walk along the beach wearing my flip flops. I said that it was too hot to be wandering around the sun aimlessly because she refused to go walk down by the water which would have been better because that way you can at least cool off. So we did not end up going for a walk in the sand, she just ended up sitting on top of my flip flops during our stay on the beach that morning.
We did end up going for a walk later on in the day. She found another waterfall that was hidden behind the marketplace. So we took another picture with her and a waterfall.
Along our walk we found some volcanic rocks and plant life. She said her home use to be hidden amongst thick dense jungle and her and her siblings would have to walk miles across volcanic rock to fetch water and fresh fruits such as papaya, mango and banana's to eat. She spent sometime sitting on the volcanic rock reminising about when she was a young girl.
When we got back to the hotel, hula hannah helped write the blog about her day, just to make sure I didn't miss any detail.

Tune in later for the catamaran ride....

Welcome to the adventures of Hula Hannah!

First let me introduce you to my travel companion, her name is Hula Hannah. She is a minature hula girl that I found searching through one of the many bargain places across the way from my hotel. The minute I found her I knew that we would have many great adventures on the island together.
Hula Hannah has unfortunately made herself very comfortable at the hotel that I am staying at. She is a bed hog, she likes her space and likes to be tucked in at night. She never stops playing her ukelele either. There is always a noise coming from her direction....even when I am attempting sleep at night....it is starting to get old and annoying.

In the morning she likes to be out on the balcony to just sit and collect her thoughts with the wonderful view of the ocean from our hotel balcony. During this time she likes to sit and be undisturbed and play her ukelele...so I usually leave her outside for a period of time in the morning while I get ready for my day.
Hula Hannah likes to eat a large breakfast. She likes her pancakes with her hashbrown and as well the orange juice which tastes a bit like something that you find expired in the back of your refrigerator....yes the OJ is nasty. But Hula Hannah is also a huge fan of pineapple. She won't let me take a picture of her eating pineapple, but I will see if I can sneak a picture of her on a different occassion.
After breakfast we took a stroll near the shops and she found these lovely water falls with a mosaic backdrop and giant carp fish. She took photo op's and played her ukelele for money, unfortunately nobody gave her any money for her songs. I guess she really isn't that great of a ukelele player...but don't tell Hula Hannah that.
Hula Hannah wanted me to put a flower behind her ear....as all the islanders and tourists wear a hibiscus flower behind their ears. So we took a moment and took a photo of her with her new flower. It did get to heavy for her to carry, so we left it for someone else to wear.
Later on in the day, we ended up meeting with Hula Hannah's hula friend and they danced the night away and she continued to play her ukelele.

To be continued...Tune in next time for the adventure with Hula Hannah at the beach.

The way it is

So I dream of beaches, laying on the beach somewhere, looking out at the pristine blue water. Hearing the waves just crash as they hit the sand. Looking out every morning and seeing the ocean just steps away from where I was just sleeping. Building sand castles in the sand or even sand pyramids is fun too.
Somewhere that is quiet and peaceful. Where I can compose my thoughts and actually take a bit of time to relax and enjoy doing absolutely nothing. Isn't that what vacations are for? Don't get me wrong, playing the tourist is fun too and I enjoy seeing the sights and adventuring out.

As well the surfing, I do not surf but watching the surfers ride the huge massive waves and hearing the thunderous crashes as the waves hit the ocean....is there a place? Maybe in a day or two I will discover this place :)

8 days

It's going to be a long 8 days I think. I am tired, overworked and nervous. I am currently in the midst of review week and I feel like I should know everything there is to know but for some reason it feels like the information is going in, but not staying inside my head. I am especially not looking forward to the skills lab final, that is a horrifying experience. You basically regurgitate all the information you have learned all semester long from lab to an instructor...I do not do well on oral and performance exams, they are my weakness. So I've already attended 4 hours of practice labs and still do not feel like I know how to properly manage IV's or run secondary medications. But nursing school was never meant to be easy.

My other exams shouldn't be all that difficult. I usually do well on exams and find them not to difficult to do. Then next week friday, I graduate. I am not done my program until two months later, but next friday I get to walk across the stage, get my empty diploma, shake some hands and celebrate my achievement. It's a celebration of what we as students have accomplished and worked towards for the past few years. It's also kind of scary at the same time to think in two months we can work on our own in a hospital setting. We will be professionals...or so we hope.

Well for now I am just going to worry about finishing my finals, and graduating, the rest of the stress from clinical and preceptorship can wait until I am faced with that challenge.

What about the room?

So completely nauseated this afternoon after lunch, I made my way to school. I was dreading every step from my car into the building and up the hallway, up the flight of stairs and down the longest winding hall to the room......yes the room that we as students are critiqued and made a lesson of (basically)...welcome to every nursing students worst nightmare, a place called "THE SPHERE".....in this room sits a robot who is made to simulate a patient in a hospital setting. It is quite possibly the most freaky robot any person would ever see, sort of an ugly bugger. It just stares at you with these huge bug eyes, the mouth dropped open and it just blinks. Constantly blinks at you and it's voice sounds soothing and calm.(the only good thing in this situation). It cannot move its arms or legs, it just lays there with this blank expression on its face.

Anyways today was day one of my tedious task of keeping this robot alive and using my super awesome nursing skills to care for it. Let's just say you are thrown into a room with a few of your peers while the instructors hide behind a wall of two way glass, we can't see them but we know they are there. OOooooh how much I hate this room...by the way the instructors control this robot, they can make it easy, or they can make it difficult. Today was just an example of this. It was so busy. It felt like we were in there for maybe fifteen minutes but by the time we were done it had been nearly 50 minutes....time flies when your in this room.

My experiences there in the past have never been good, in fact have led to me being in tears thinking I am incompetent and dumb. I know this feeling is shared by my fellow peers. So anyways the day dragged on and the patient needless to say survived what we had to do and successfully did not die on us.....THE ROBOT LIVED!!! I guess maybe I might make a good nurse after all. Anyways as soon as our scenario is over we are rushed back to the tiny holding cell.....I mean conference room.....where are we put on pedastals and made examples of, that is quite possibly the most gut wrenching experience but when someone says something positive about you, it makes it worth it really....at least we learn by example and don't screw up in the real world....it is a safe and nurturing learning environment.

Anyways back there again tomorrow, should be interesting. We'll see, maybe tomorrow won't be as scary as today was.