Obama Presidency

(This was supposed to be written when Barack  Obama initially became President...however it is now almost 5 months later...)

Where to start...me and politics DON'T go together...AT ALL! This Presidential election was one that will be remembered forever. It's one of those "you'll always remember where you were when you found out." Just like the Columbine shooting, or the September 11th attack, as clear as day I can remember where I was when I heard the news. And just like the shooting, and the terrorist attacks, when news of Obama winning the election hit, I was in a classroom. In fact, my professor was in the middle of a lecture in my night class and a few students started receiving text messages, "OBAMA WON!" Next thing you know, I'm being told to take the rest of the night off and go celebrate. My 3 hour night class was over in 50 minutes. But wait a minute, what if I'm not excited about this, what if I'm not a Democrat, what if I didn't want Barack Obama to take office??? I found myself walking home that night, I just wanted to be alone and think. What did this mean for our country? Was it as great as everyone thought it would be? I mean wow, I can't believe that I was able to witness the 1st African American become President of the United States, that IS awesome, no doubt about that! Maybe not everyone has broken down those racial barriers, but as a nation we have. 

It's okay Davina, he's going to do great. Everyone loves him and they're excited about what he's doing, and plans that he has. So why is it that I can't join in the celebration with everyone else? What's wrong with me? Then I realized it's so much deeper than all they hype, deeper than him becoming the first African American President, because why should that matter? Aren't we all human, made in one image? I realized that no matter what, I can't sway when it comes to MY morals, MY beliefs, and MY values. There are some issues that Mr. Obama and I don't see eye to eye on. I'll leave out details for the sake of unnecessary debate, but bottom line, I'm not the biggest Obama fan, and I didn't have a smile on my face the night that I got out of class early. 

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!?!?

"Happy Cinco de Mayo"! What the heck is that supposed to mean? Well, then again, people say Happy St. Patricks. I still don't quite understand why it is that the United States celebrates Cinco de Mayo...or at least the non Hispanic folks. Is it just an excuse to get wasted off of Mexican beer and Tequilla shots? Please, somebody tell me, I really am curious! It's amusing because people in Mexico don't even recognize Cinco de Mayo as a holiday, actually, it's not even that big of a deal to even celebrate. Many people believe that Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day...well, amigos sorry to disappoint you, but THAT is September 16th. That is 4th of July for Mexico. Here is a little history for you to share next time someone says, "Oh yeah, isn't today like Mexican Independence Day?" on May 5th...

http://clnet.ucla.edu/cinco.html

http://www.vivacincodemayo.org/history.htm

Mexican Flu

Yep, that's what they're calling it. The Swine Flu is commonly found in pigs in the midwest U.S., Mexico, Canada, South America, and a few other countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. It's uncommon that such an influenza would pass from pig to human, but, it has happened before. It's been nearly 90 years since such a thing has happened. 

This year's Swine Flu epidemic has people scared, mainly because we have no idea of the origin. Claiming almost 50 lives, and over 1,000 infected, how do we stop it, what should we do in the meantime? It's slowly beginning to make it's way around the world, starting in Mexico, and making it's way to the southern parts of the U.S. including Texas and California, spreading throughout the states, and spilling over into other countries. (So far no confirmed in Hawaii). People are being asked not to travel into Mexico, and with summer just around the corner, Mexico will lose a lot of business to it's tourist hot spots. 

Spam Jam

I've lived here in Hawaii on the island of Oahu for 3 years now, why is it that I have never heard of Spam Jam?! Today was the 4th annual Spam Jam down in Waikiki. If you noticed a bit of a traffic jam near the Ala moana area all the way into Waikiki, well that's why. Kalakaua was closed off from 2-11pm. I'm not big on spam, in fact I hate it, but I had to go to the festival and check out what was going on. I was surprised to see that it wasn't as big of an event that I thought it would be. Thanks to Happy Madison production 50 First Dates, a lot of people associate Spam with Hawaii, I was shocked to see that nothing spectacular was going on. There were a few restaurants like Dukes, Margaritaville, and Gordon Biersch who had booths up selling dishes with spam mixed in one way or another, and there was also live entertainment on two stages. It was fun for 10 minutes, then I was over it.

ZUMBA!!!

ZUMBA

It's the new craze that's taking over the fitness world! Not only is this spicy, aerobics based Latin dance class great for BOTH men and women getting into shape, it's also fun! If you're not the type to get excited about going to the gym to workout, and step aerobics just isn't doing it for you anymore, I encourage to try something new. If you don't like it, you can go back to running on the treadmill and lifting free weights at the gym. 

Zumba is a fusion of the Latin dance and music world. On any given day you can find yourself learning Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia, Bachata, Cha-Cha or the Samba. Slow and fast easy moves that work your entire body that sculpt and tone your body all while burning fat. 

History: http://www.zumba.com/us/about/

Celebrity fitness trainer, "Beto" Perez, stumbled upon the concept of Latin inspired fitness in his native country of Colombia (South America) in the mid 1990's. One day, he walked into his class and realized that he had forgotten his aerobics music, and his only option was to grab whatever tapes he had in his car. Beto's tapes were comprised of the songs that he loved, the traditional Latin salsa and merengue music with which he had been raised. But it was a challenge to improvise a whole class on the spot using non-traditional aerobics music. Beto rose to the challenge and from this last-minute improvisation was born a revolutionary fitness program – Zumba®! The class soon became the most popular class at his fitness facility.

Now 10 years later, it's stronger than ever with over 30,000 trained instructors all over the world. The best part about that is there are 12 locations right here on the island of Oahu. 

The closest to the downtown campus is located:

Fit for a Goddess Studio

320 Ward Ave. Suite 201

Honolulu, HI 

And the closest to the Windward Campus is located:

Kailua Movement Studio

776 Kailua Rd.

Kailua, HI

Here's a glimpse of what you can expect!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf0q6qtThF4

or just visit youtube and find Zumba

Sinking Ball of Rust!

Ahhh, The Navy...a wonderful branch of military. Of course, don't say that to a Marine! I don't know what the big deal is between all the branches, each one plays a very important role. Anyways, I must say, I have a great deal of respect for men in the Navy, and specifically those on submarines. I have a few friends in the Navy, friends that I met here in Hawaii, and it wasn't until I actually knew men in the military that I actually became interested in what they do. Naturally, they can't say what it is that they exactly do...quite frustrating when they're grumpy and complaining about what a long and hard day they had at work. When you ask them, "well what did you do?" You never get the answer. 

I recently had the opportunity to tour an active submarine here in Pearl Harbor. All I can say is WOW! Talk about getting comfortable with a person, so much for personal space! I can't see how these men get any sleep! And I can't even begin to imagine what it's like when they go underway. 2 months at a time, 6 months at a time, you are completely shut off from the world, you see no sunlight, you have to talk to and see the same hundred and something guys...how can you NOT go crazy! I applaud all submariners who have to endure this kind of suffering. I say suffering because I have not heard 1 person say that they enjoy that journey. As my friend once put it, "it's hell in that sinking ball of rust!"

Thank you gentlemen, officers and sailors.

Feet, Big Deal!

As I was sitting and waiting for the bus today, I happened to look down at my feet. Now I'm not big on doing the whole pedicure thing, but I'd like to think that I take pretty good care of my feet. Here in Hawaii, the majority of people where slippahz (slippers), or more commonly known in the mainland, flip flops. And then, I started to notice everyone else's feet. People waiting for the bus, people walking by, people on the bus, people on Fort Street... EVERYONE was wearing slippahz. I don't know why I never thought about before, but golly! This can't be good for our feet! I realized that over 90% of the shoes sitting outside my front door are slippahz. There is no support for our feet, and my feet are so flat that it's not that comfortable to shove my foot into heels anymore (not that it ever was before). Take a look at your slippahz, do you see the imprint of your foot? We wear them so often that there is a permanent indentation of our foot, not to mention there's probably no sole left on the darn things! 

Okay, so enough about the support, what about the protection? Slippahz provide no protection for our feet at all. Our feet are left uncovered to gather dirt, or just begging to be stepped on, stub a toe and split it open, or in my case, mosquitos have a field day on the tops of my feet.  We leave them open for bacteria, and we all know that Fort Street isn't the cleanest place in the world...I mean imagine standing on the corner waiting to cross the street, or simply walking down the street and someone close by happens to spit. That nice ocean breeze we love so much picks a little bit of that spit up, and next thing you know...you've got someone's saliva all over your uncovered foot. Uhhhh can you say GROSS! I suppose that's the risk we take when the island wear is shorts and slippahz...