ladysprite | Hawaii, Days 5 & 6

Monday and Tuesday were, at least from a touristing perspective, the least interesting days. I managed to spend nearly all day both days in lectures - learning fascinating and useful things, but probably not as much of a thrill to any spectators reading about this excursion in paradise.

All touristy rambling aside, though, I do have to state that the conference itself has been truly excellent. At almost every schedule-block, there has been at least one talk that I wanted to attend, and I’ve gotten useful and clinically applicable information from just about every lecture – and those that haven’t given me hands-on tips and tricks have at least left me with a better understanding of the science behind the medicine, details that had managed to slip my mind since I left the classroom for the office. And the lecture schedule was also arranged in such a way that, unless you were devoted to milking the exhibit hall for every possible molecule of free promotional merchandise, you could spend at least an hour or so between lectures lying on the grassy patios around the convention center soaking up sunshine and reading trashy paperback novels.

My enjoyment was also helped significantly by learning the traffic flow at the local plate-lunch takeout stand, so that I could manage to pick up my yummy Hawaiian-style lunch and actually have time to eat before having to march back in for afternoon lectures.

Monday afternoon was originally going to be dedicated to exploring the mega-giant shopping mall down the street from the Convention Center, but after wandering past a floor and a half or so of ramen stands and Aloha shirt stores, we allowed ourselves to be coerced out of the shops to join friends for dinner at Cheeseburger Waikiki, an amazing restaurant that is also, as far as I know, one of the only places where you can order a cheeseburger topped with pineapple, teriyaki sauce, and sliced avocado. (I was not, in fact, brave enough to actually do so, but the friend who did told me it was wonderful.)

Tuesday after lectures, my sweetie (who had spent most of the time I was at lectures wandering the length and breadth of the island) and I decided just to walk down Waikiki beach and back, to see what we could see.

Waikiki beach is a fabulous place to watch. The people-watching is amazing – watching the surfers is like watching Poseidon play a life-sized game of Whack-A-Mole, as people on boards constantly pop up in random scattered locations along waves, topple over, and are replaced by identical-looking hopefuls. There are always street musicians, and people in every shape, size, color, and clothing style. The stores are almost as colorful and noisy, the flowers and trees are even brighter than the people, and the birds are marvelous – I wish I had managed to learn the names of more of them, but eventually I had to resort to giving them my own names. My favorites were the pointy-headed tree-circlers (brown, with black heads and white spots under their wings), though the cardinals (red heads, with grey and white bodies) were beautiful and utterly different from anything I had seen before. You can also learn a surprising amount from the statues and monuments that seem to appear at almost every corner in Honolulu – and it was a strong reminder to myself that I need to pay more attention to plaques and statues like that in my own city and state.

Eventually, though, we wandered back to our hotel room. The next day would be the last day of the conference, and then I would truly be able to vacation with wild abandon.

Hawaii, Days 5 & 6

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