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aloha julie where on island do you live that it takes 20 mins.to get a loaf of bread?
what you describe in your first 3 weeks sounds more like culture shock and adjusting how easy your lifestyle was, compared to how it is here. I am guessing you are on the wailuku side which has less "activity" than the lahina or kiehi side which has more to offer someone used to having most things quicker at hand.
being pregnant, working, having a hubby that works, only one car. being away from fast food and the beauty of the island would well be an adjustment.
your first post is the same story that many people tell who have transplanted here for years and years now. it isn't that you should expect less in life here than there. nor is it that people here, live less a life here than there. it is just a different way here.
simplify your life if at all possible. do what you have to to be the most compfotable, consider moving maybe kihei where you have a safeway and many places to go out to eat and the beach is right there.
again for years and years, the hospital has always been lacking no matter who you know. do what you have to do to make your baby safe even if that means having the baby on oahu or russia or california. that is most important.
make time to meet new people, new moms something to make you happy. you need to look forward to your days. you need to have a "life" other than everyday crap.
I would also suggest looking at the islands with a different "eye". shoeless, toothless and unbrushed people live in every place in the world hawaii is no exception. I do brush my hair and mind my teeth but I prefer shoeless everyday of the week as do most people here.
see people with an island eye and you will not worry about the "gansta" kids you see. for the most part just teenagers expressing their youthful style.
c*ck fighting is a crime in hawaii you can do your part to stop this with your support of the maui humane society.
whites/caucasian here are called haole's which translates to stranger, foreigner, which we are. learn about the islands it's history, the culture, hula. you will be more at ease. this is a beautiful culture. stop and smell the tuberose. this is one place on earth that values ohana/family more than most places. you will find aloha here if you look for it. I hope you can find happiness here.
Juliahuff,
If there was something I could write to make your life happier I would. It is always sad to hear such terrible experiences for people who relocate here and end up having a bitter taste of the realities of Hawaii.
I'm not here to judge or point out what you should have done. Honestly I think you came with preconceived images of what you WANTED Hawaii to be like, and not prepared for what it really was.
If you do decide to stay in Hawaii, and try to make the best of it, please consider that there is no such thing as paradise as you SAW it in a postcard or photo, it completely is in your hands and frame of mind and attitude to change things 180. I was born and raised here, and I get sick of seing the bad stuff, and constantly weigh the good and bad everyday, as I check online for other possibilities and opportunities that may be out there at other places.
If you get over that, you might see the good side of Hawaii, but if you don't it'll eat you up inside, and trust me I know what it is like to wonder why is such a pretty place so terrible to live in? The answer is that everyone wants to live here, and if you wanna live here, you have to see things in hindsight and weigh the good and bad (ex. its more relaxed, quieter, and less dense than NYC but you gotta deal with the expense, and the mokes from the countryside). Thats life here, but I bet that is how it is everywhere. You just gotta weigh the good and bad.
It all depends on what is vital to your life. Not all are suited to this island living, but when I came here almost 40 years ago, I found home. With all it's faults and all it's wonderful challenges and beauty, it resonated with my soul. I greatfully accepted and have been content. I couldn't live anywhere else.
This isn't the Mainland. It has it's good and bad points, just like all places. If it is not for you, I hope you find a place that works with you, but Hawaii doesn't sound like your place to settle down for your future.
In the mean time, enjoy a different lifestyle before you move back. In the future, you may look back on this experience with some fond memories. You never know but Hawaii has a way to define things for people of what is really important in their lives. I wish the best for you.
Sorry to hear about your keiki. Especially after going through the effort and expense of in vitro to get it. Auwe. Each person who moves to Hawaii usually has some sort of surprises, yours seem a lot harsher than most folks, though. I don't know if you could have been prepared for it, either.
Hawaii just isn't like the other states in so many ways and the folks that live here don't know what the other states are like so we can't really compare them very well. We can tell folks that we just don't have things here but it just doesn't get absorbed by the folks hearing it since it is just too foreign of a concept.
In my case it is quicker to bake bread than to go get it at the grocery. And at the cost of a loaf of bread these days, we prefer to not get it at the grocery. Yesterday we went to the store and looked at the things in our cart and were guessing it would be around $50 to $60. It was $90! Which is about what the inflation rate has been lately especially since we don't go to the grocery store much anymore. So, the high Hawaii prices you are seeing are even higher than usual. I haven't a clue if and when they will come down. We are eating very low on the food chain and about the only way to eat cheaper is to not go to the grocery at all. We've already cut down to two trips a month, pretty soon it will be one, I guess. For you, since you've just moved here and are setting your pantry up, it will be more even more expensive.
Have you tried shopping at a health food store for spices? They have them very inexpensively in the bulk jars but then you either have little bags of spices in a pile or have to find small jars to put them in. Years ago I found a rack of empty spice jars and refill them and relabel them as necessary. That has saved a lot over the years as well as being able to grow a lot of herbs and spices. Do you have any local neighbors you can ask where they get their stuff from? They may have different sources for things.
hotzcatz. thank you for your advice, but i dont think i will be staying here, not with the horrible medical care. i will be moving back to NY. I dont want to think about the cost of bread and milk, and eggs, and think shoudl i go to the beach or not-because it is $10 round trip in gas...we spend $100 a week on gas. it is sick. this place it is just not worth it. there are millions of beautiful and cheap places with great medical care. whats the point of staying here and struglling? we wont save any money, wont be able to buy a home, plane tickets to russia are $3000. it is just not worth it.
I am also from New York and my husband and I just moved to Maui and it's amazing how differently we are viewing life here. We have met such wonderful people here from our real estate agent to a sweet 92 year old women in a local market. People are friendly, helpful, just wonderful. We are renting in a place with lots of dogs who just bark, bark, bark and chickens and you know what who cares! - I'm in Maui, life is beautiful and I'm greatful to have found this place because I have three cats! We left a leather day planer in Costco and we went back to the store about two hours later and someone actually turned it in (never would happen in NY) We are in Pukalani and I don't know if that makes any difference but I just love this area. Prices I find are VERY similiar to New York (we come from Westchester) so I find it a bit odd you are saying how high the prices are here and you seem shocked and surprised. You just have to shop around, like you would in New York. We also found a house in this area and we close next month and I am so looking forward to moving in and living here. We got health care and the local folks we spoke to said it was fine (now I guess this is dependent on what one needs) we looked into car insurance and home insurance and these are much lower than what we were paying in NY. Of course the yearly tax savings (on the home) are much, much lower here. Honestly from the moment we got off the plane and took the ferry over we just love, love, love it here. I guess it's also about the attitude you bring with you and you seem to have had a rocky start. I feel so totally humble and blessed to be given the chance to live here, it's been a dream for so long. I'll post again in a month or so and let you guys know our impressions.
... go to the beach or not-because it is $10 round trip in gas...we spend $100 a week on gas. it is sick.
Come on Julia! You are 10 minuts from beach! Even car I drive (Toyota Tundra 4x4, 5.7 engine) not eat that much gas.
BTW: I spend $100 every week on gas only going to work! ... and if I go for windsurfing to shore: every trip - $40 gas + $7 tolls on bridges + 1.5 hours drive in one direction.
I don't know how you spend $10 on gas going to the beach on Maui... you just can't possibly live that far from a beach!
When I was in LA, I filled my (13 gal) tank 3 times per week, just going to & from work, one trip per week to the beach, and whatever fun stuff I did like visiting friends. Here, I do all the same stuff, but I fill my tank about once every three weeks. So let's see... that's about $50 every three weeks versus $140 per week (adjusting for slightly higher gas prices here), which means a savings of about $490 per month in gas alone. That buys a lot of milk and bread!
I think Ms. Huff is just exaggerating a bit again, probably from all her frustrations with having to move here against her will.
Gas here is about $4.35 to $4.39/gallon. Even if her car only gets 10 miles to a gallon, she could travel over 20 miles one way to the beach. I thought she said she lived in Kahului or thereabouts. Maybe if she's upcountry she will have a longer drive, but still....
Julia, I hope you find happiness where ever you relocate. You never did want to move here, and it probably better for everyone that you go where you are happy.
Lady from New York-you are not from NY, you are from Westchester. you are used to suburban life! and something tells me, you have more money then we do, if prices here dont shock you. I moved here from Manhattan, i lived in Gramercy Park for 10 years, I cannot adjust to driving everywhere. I miss the city, being able to walk to the bank, groceries, wonderful and cheap restaurants-on our block alone there were 20 restaurants. i never cooked, now i have to cook every freaking day-3 times a day. this is life is just not for me, i am a city girl. I like to dress up and meet friends for coffee, i like my job, which i had to leave to come here. I just want my life back, thats it. Plus crappy medical care-the best doctors are in new York, not on Maui
Yeah, there is a beach here, wow, big deal, there is a beach in NY too! Long Island is gorgerous, and in the winter you can always go to the Carribean.
MadRussian, you would not understand, we moved here from Manhattan! we NEVER used a car, unless we drove somewhere like skiing or beach on the weekend. and I miss walking to placess, and shopping, and going to my favorite french bistro for lunch. I wanted a slice of pizza yesterday, we drove for 20 mintes, and when we got it, it was crap, compared to what you can get in NY whitout having to drive anywhere. There is nowhere to dress up, no places to go to, shopping is awful, i went to Macys-they sell complete crap, for 10 times more then it would cost in NY.
Yes, it will be better if i go back, and i am, on Friday. both me and my mom, she got here two weeks ago, and she is absoloutely miserable-she has no freedom to go anywhere, unless i drive her. and she is suffocating from the heat-there is no air conditioning in our house. I am very upset, because my husband will have to stay here alone for some time, i will miss him like crazy, but i cannot give up my whole life-my job, my friends, everything.
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