Oh, I don't know you? It's okay, we'll be best friends anyways.

So I've already mentioned before that native islanders are EXTREMELY friendly, and they love kids. Every time I walk while holding my two year old nieces hand, people stop us, ask if she's my daughter, and then say how cute she is, and they all say "hi" to her, and she often times says "hi" to them without them even saying anything to her yet. Piper is loving all of her new friends.

I went to the grocery store with my family a couple of days ago and my niece Andi and I were in the produce section picking up a bunch of vegetables. I was over by the avocados feeling it in my hand, making sure its firm, and its not going to go bad soon (everything here is shipped on a boat from somewhere else, so food goes bad a lot faster, ice cream is often freezer burned, chips are sometimes stale before you even open the bag, so it's always smart to be overly cautious about produce) and all of a sudden this guy who works in the grocery store and is stocking up bins of fruits walks over to me while I'm checking this avocado and says, "Ah very nice! You know how to correctly check the avocado to make sure it's good!" I just stand there kind of awkward, i'm not exactly sure what to say, i've never before been complimented on my producing freshness checking skills, I give my niece a "is this real life?" look and just smile at the worker whose just complimented me. He grabs an avocado himself and squeezes it and says, "Yes, you were exactly right. Good job checking!" Then the guy puts his fist up for a fist bump, I smile and bump his fist and start to walk away. A couple of minutes later I walk back through the produce section to get some bread, I'm purposely walking in a way that will avoid the worker, he didn't offend me or anything, I just wasn't feeling another awkward encounter, even though my entire life is one giant awkward encounter, and I'm actually amazing at being awkward. Ask ANYONE who knows me. I grab a couple loaves of bread and hear the worker again and I think "Crap! He's spotted me!" He walks over to me and says, "You need to try the platanoes, they're giant bananas, and they're so sweet. You want me to grab you some?" I told him we were good and walked away, and I hear him yell back that if I ever change my mind and want to try some sweet bananas that he's always working. I got in the car after the grocery store and just started laughing.

On the car ride home we saw a lady balancing an entire basket of fruit on her head with no strap attached under her chin, I told my family that it'd be really funny if somebody pushed the basket off, or if she fell, and they said that was a messed up thought. That's when I realize I have the weirdest thought processes ever, and I told them all that they'd be terrified to be inside my mind for even an hour. I always think about the weirdest, most un-obvious (pretty sure that's a made up word)things.

Today my nephew wanted to go snorkeling with some of our friends, so my nieces and I walked him to the med school campus where they were all going to meet up. On our walk back, this man walks past us and says, "I like you" I recognize the man, he works in the resort we're staying in, they're doing construction on the unit RIGHT next door, and we see him all the time. He always says hi to Piper and smiles at us, and that's pretty much it. So his random stopping us on the street was pretty out of the blue. I told him I liked him too, I figured, hey, he's an islander, they're all really nice, we're just talking about liking each other as friens, right? Wrong. He then asks me how old I am, asks if I have a boyfriend, not gonna lie, I lied... I told him I had a boyfriend. This always seems like the smartest reply to when I'm asked out by someone I'm not comfortable saying yes to, it seems less like straight up denial, and the simplest scapegoat I can always think up...I start to walk away when he asks me where my boyfriend is, I tell him he's home in Minnesota (at this point I'm totally ready to spew all these imaginary details of my made up boyfriend. I have tons of guy friends and I'm seconds away from being prepared to answer all his questions about my made up boyfriend, as to not show that I'm lying), then the man asks if he can see me tomorrow, I told him I had a boyfriend. The man goes on and on about how it doesn't matter if I have a boyfriend because my boyfriend isn't here. Now I'm starting to get annoyed, my 13 year old niece, and two year old niece are both just standing in front of me awkwardly, waiting to keep walking. After explaining to him that even though my "boyfriend" doesn't live here, it wouldn't be honest to go on a date with him, he tells me I'm sweet, and finally we're walking away. Now I sit in my apartment afraid to go outside because I know the man is working in the unit right next door, always there doing construction, and I'm not quite ready for another awkward encounter quite yet. Besides, there's this gorgeous man who works out in the same gym as me, and I'm pretty sure I'm staying available for him ;)

The island is so fun this way, I already have had so many funny conversations with people, and culture differences, my mom laughs hysterically at me every time I call home and tell her about it. Love the island, 'mon.