Kokoleka!

Today I would like to talk about... chocolate. And other things. But chocolate.

It's a very stressful point in the semester, and about the time that I throw up my hands and wait to go home, but in the meantime I consume quite a bit of tea and chocolate.
Chocolate tea is a lifesaver. (And slightly less fattening.)

It's also been pouring down rain, which is typical for Hilo, but it has been pretty sunny up until a few weeks ago, so it's quite a change. It gets cold when it rains. I know it's snowing in California, but it's still cold when you don't have a decent jacket and tend to wear shorts and are stuck in classrooms where the A/C is STILL blasting away.
Thus, hot chocolate!

Of course, if I eat TOO much chocolate, I may not be able to fit into my Kapili dress anymore, and that would be sad. I've only worn it once, for our concert in Honoka'a on Monday night with a Norwegian youth symphony orchestra. They were quite amazing. We were pretty okay.

I am ashamed to admit that I skipped class today. It's something that has happened far too often this semester, but I decided to go to work instead. The program leader was swamped with testing and paperwork, so I was helping him out with things. Their schedule's a bit different, so it's finals week for the ESL students.
Today I also had my Japanese midterm, which was hard, and needless to say I was very happy to be over and done with my oral interview. (I also came out of Hawaiian class into the midterm, so that was stressful too. But I love Hawaiian.) Between that and the chocolate from one of the very nice ESL teachers (New Orleans chocolate, no less!), I felt like I was almost floating on air.

Now to study for my final midterm... a hui hou!