Well it's been an interesting last couple of days.  Work at the farm has been going very well.  I'm becoming more and more comfortable each day and Maui is beginning to feel like home.  We had another "farmily" dinner at Thomas's the other night and it was entertaining to say the least.  Him and Eva have a really nice home.  He made a great stew dinner his grandmother always used to make and some appetizers as well as fruit for dessert.  Then came the rum...we did some rum tasting (Thomas' recent drink of choice) and below you can see a picture of him and the "Menehunes" or elves of Hawaii haha.  He said if I'm really good they may milk the goats for me in the morning when I'm not looking....I guess I wasn't good because the goats sure weren't milked.  

The next day I worked alongside Dan and he taught me hoof care.  He worked on Daisy (our only pet goat) and showed me how it's done but I didn't get to try or finish because Angela our farm manager wanted to take pictures for the website. I guess I'm gonna give it a go on Saturday.  One of the goats Rosalee in Bobby's herd also needed some treatment.  She had a swollen joint, probably from a sprain, and so we separated her out for the day to monitor and give her DMSO (a steroid).  The goofball kept jumping up and climbing on the black shelf in the stall.  It's amazing what the goats can get into and climb on.  I also got a picture of one of the goats "surfing".  

Tuesday I did the AM milking with Erin...I'm up to 8 goats now!  Almost there.... Everything went well and Erin didn't even need to supervise me much.  I almost stepped on a nasty gecko you can see below.  I'm always taking pictures of the bugs and things I see here...I found a huge cockroach that day but it turned out blurry.  Those buggers sure are good at hiding in our kitchen. GROSS!  I also did deliveries with Annette again since this time they were in Wailea. Thursday I'll be doing them on my own...I'm sure it'll take me forever since I'm for sure going to get lost.  Thank god for my iphone and google maps.  I also got to talk to Christina and others in AK.  Way overdue.  Christina get a new phone already! haha. It sounds like things in AK are going well.  Hopefully someone sends me a picture of the babies soon.  I also went to a BBQ with Annette from work and her friends. She's been here in Maui since 8th grade.  It was nice to meet locals and hang out with some new faces.  They were so welcoming and friendly.  I can definitely see the difference between people here and people on the mainland.  They tried to teach me some pigeon talk (Claire your still the one that taught me "pau") they only thing I remember is "that's cherry" for when somethings cool.  If your wondering what me and Rich are doing with our hands below its the "shaka" or the "aloha spirit".  It still throws me off when people greet me by saying aloha.   

Today was my day off so I was able to sleep in and take the car.  I ended up getting grain with Erin just to see how and where.  Then I headed out to big beach for the day.  I was only there for 2 hours though because it was so windy I got absolutely sand blasted.  I ended up leaving and checking out the shops in Wailea and eating at an outdoor restaurant Cheeseburger Island Style.  I had a BLT that had avocado on it...I've never eaten so much avocado in my life.  I've never eaten at a restaurant by myself but I gotta say it was kind of nice and relaxing.  Very independent.  I'm hoping Dad will be able to make it out in Feb though : ) I also stopped at the grocery store and bought some Pog and a Maui Gold Pineapple....best pineapple ever.  They are so sweet and not too acidic.  I was pretty happy because I didn't have to use the maps app on my iphone...I'm learning my way around the island.  

I also got some interesting news today...I got into a volunteer program to work at the Thailand Wildlife Sanctuary for next Nov.  It'll cost me a bit but they provide housing and food and it's 12 weeks long.  I'll be doing work similar to the conservation center and will be able to spend three days volunteering at the elephant sanctuary.  Still deciding on whether I want to do it since it'll be expensive to get there and I'd have to get a passport and shots and all but I think it would be an amazing experience.

Well off to bed...big day of delivering tomorrow : ) fingers crossed I don't get lost!