Hilo is the town that I am living in to attend the University of Hawaii at Hilo. It is the second largest city in the whole state of Hawaii. I think population is somewhere around 43,000. The town overlooks Hilo Bay and you can see both of the Volcanoes; Mauna Loa (active) and Mauna Kea. Hilo is also home to Mauna Loa Macadamia nuts.
The climate here is "tropical rainforest climate". It rains an average of 271 days out of the year. However, 2/3 of the rain comes during the night. It is a constant 80 degrees during the day, and cools down to mid 60's during the night. It is blue skies and sunny pretty much all morning, and in the afternoon the clouds roll in and it rains for just a couple of minutes. (Rain as in sprinkle). It has poured just a few times, but it does not last more than 5 minutes. Everything is green, and of course there are such beautiful flowers. Hilo is famous for its Farmer's market that occurs every wednesday and saturday from 6 am to 4 pm with over 200 local farmers and crafters. All other days (monday tuesday thursday and sunday) over 30 farmers and crafters are there. Its a pretty neat place. Downtown Hilo is so cute. It is situated right by the Bay and just looks like a mix of old and new stores. I live pretty close to both downtown and the farmer's market. So close to the water actually, that I am located in a tsunami evacuation zone.
The people here are just so content and happy. It has a small town feel because everyone knows everyone. People are always smiling and everything is so chill.
The University is really nice. Most all walkways are covered, so walking between classes you are covered if it is raining. It is up on a small hill, and the buildings are all white, with reddish colored roofs. Its pretty darling. Surfing is a pretty popular thing in Hilo, but there is only one beach you can actually surf on. Paddling is also a popular sport, I met a girl who used to row and now she paddles, she said the biggest difference for her is that it seems so old fashioned and ancient. What's really crazy is you can see the sun rise from this side of the island. It literally rises out from the ocean. And when we were on the other side of the island (Kailua-Kona) you can watch the sun set into the ocean. The sunrises and sunsets are so fast yet so beautiful.
My little apartment is so cute. It is painted all white, with light wood floors and medium-blue doors. When you walk in the front door to the right is the kitchen in front is the living room. The kitchen is open to the living room. Through the living room is the bedroom connected to a "lanai" (back porch). The full bathroom is behind the kitchen. Because of where I am located, and the University is on a hill, we spent the first few days here looking at the difference between bicycles and moped's. But through all the conversations with university people, and others we found out that it would be more practical to get a car. So we began car searching. I purchased a 1999 VW Jetta with a lot of miles on it, but I figure I won't put too many miles on it in 2 years and turns out it was the right decision to get a car. Things are more spread out than I had thought, so that is that! I am trying to wait to post pictures of my apartment until it is all put together and stuff. Hopefully that will be soon! :)
