Last night I saw this incredibly large snail, which I think is a Giant African Snail. It looked to be about oh maybe 4-5 inches long. I mean this puppy was easily a handful! I was definitely shocked to see thing, and it wasn't the only one. There were more than a few scattered about the lawn. After seeing these monstrous little guys lurking around I thought about adjusting to this new place. I was sort of feeling a sense of culture shock. I was a place where I knew very little about the people, culture and environment. I didn't necessarily feel scared or overwhelmed, but I certainly felt out of place for a moment.
I thought about the conversations I had throughout the week with Jo and Alex, and how insightful they had been. Their place is located in the Kahului/Wailuku area of the island, which is predominantly made up of people of Filipino and Portuguese descent. I also noticed (and as pointed out by Alex) that not all their neighbors acknowledge us (by us I mean Alex and I). However, they all acknowledge Jo, who is Filipino American. I must say that their immediate house neighbors who I met were incredibly friendly, and amazed at how I had decided to just up and move here for a while. I noticed that the many of the churches in the area held their weekly masses in Tagalog, which is one of the native languages of the Philippines. I remember Jo telling me about her neighborhood. She loved the fact that everyone in the neighborhood looked like her (which wasn't the case where she grew up). This was the first time she had ever experienced this, and through our conversation I could see how much she truly appreciated it
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