Tsunami!

Last night at about nine, Brian came to the house after a hunting trip to warn us of an approaching tsunami caused by a huge earthquake in Japan.  He took Sydney to run to the gas station and go to their work place, an oyster hatchery located right on the coast.  They had to quickly prepare for the effects of flooding at the facility. They were there until about midnight packing up important books and papers.  One of their coworkers had to take their research boat out into the ocean because the only options to save it were to take it out of the water and drive it away or to take it way out to deep waters.  How terrifying to be on that boat late last night! By the time they got home, we had been listening to the radio and preparing for the worst. We made a trip to the gas station, where we had to wait in line for over thirty minutes before we could get to the pump.  Gas was running out and there were traffic jams at every gas station in town.  When we got home, we packed our bags for evacuation because we found out that our house was in the tsunami inundation zone, meaning it is on low lands too close to the coast to be safe during a tsunami.  The police were ordering evacuations of these zones by two AM because the tsunami was supposed to start hitting the Hawaiian islands around 3 AM.  We took our stuff, Brian's dogs, and sleeping bags up to a friend's house wayyy out in the wilderness.  Their house is about 8 miles out of town, all uphill.  Their road has such a steep grade that as soon as we turned on it we said "okay, we've got to be safe now!" haha. We were tempted to stay up later and watch for the waves (they really live high enough that we could see the coast from their back porch) but I was scheduled to work at eight the next morning so we headed to bed. We got up at seven this morning to drive back down to Hilo. I had no idea what to expect because we had no phone service at their house.  I was secretly hoping that school was cancelled, and maybe even that work would be cancelled. It turned out to be a lucky situation all around.  Hilo didn't suffer any damage from the waves as far as I know.  The police had our road barricaded but we took a detour and were able to get home.  School was cancelled and the shop was closed because as of this morning we were still under a tsunami watch.  It has since been lifted for our side of the island and everything seems to be back to normal.  What a scary, exciting night though! I never imagined that I would be present for a potentially dangerous situation like that. The response here in Hawaii was very well coordinated.  They had sirens sounding through the night to alert everyone that an evacuation was necessary.  They opened up shelters all over the island for families in need.  The police stayed out all night blocking traffic towards dangerous coastal areas and advising better travel routes.  This morning they were still blocking the main Hawaii Belt Road and we had to detour back to town on higher ground.  Overall, I was impressed with their handling of the emergency.  If only Japan could have had the kind of advance notice that Hawaii received.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by the disaster there.  We are forever thankful that we were kept out of harm's way.
Now, I have a full day to clean the house! Haha. Later, when Brian and Sydney get off work, we're going to see the movie Rango!  Poor Matthew still had work today because nothing shuts down Walmart! We called just to see and an employee answered the phone, "This is Walmart and we're open!" haha... They're not a 24 hour store but apparently they stayed open through the night to accommodate the people that were camping out in the parking lot.  Way to make that money, Walmart! Here are some more interesting facts about the Hilo Walmart: It is one of the only Walmarts built that was able to pay for itself within the first year of being open.  The Hilo Walmart does more business (including pharmacy business) than any of the Walmarts on any of the Hawaiian islands.  It also sells more dog food than anywhere in the world. (This last fact I heard from someone in class so it may not be legitimate. I'd believe it though because hunting wild pigs with dogs is a huge past time here) The other facts are true because they were told to Matthew during his training. Interesting, right?
In summary: I'm alive!! Tsunami evacuation is a scary thing but it can be fun when the tsunami never shows. The Hilo Walmart makes a TON of $$.
Love you all!

Update!

It's hard to believe, but the spring semester is nearly halfway over! My grades are high, and everything is running smoothly. I wish time would just slow down so I could spend more time outside! But I'm still really enjoying my job and I'm getting plenty of hours so I don't have to fret about money. Last week I spent more than normal at the grocery store ($200, Ouch!) and spent a lot of time cooking. I made banana bread, cranberry-orange scones, broccoli calzones, two kinds of soup, and cornbread. Not all in one day of course!! One of the soups was surprisingly delicious and super healthy- black bean soup. I know, I know, it doesn't sound exciting. And it won't look exciting either, because it is brown soup. But trust me, it's so flavorful! The best thing about it is that it really only takes 15 minutes to fix, as long as you don't mind dirtying the blender. So here's the recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Black-Bean-and-Salsa-Soup/Detail.aspx
I took the reveiwers' suggestions and added an extra can of beans and a can of corn to the soup towards the end to make it more chunky. The cumin is necessary but green onions are not. I hope someone tries it! I'm sharing the recipe for a reason :P
Since my last post.... we have been to Hapuna Beach one weekend. The waves weren't nearly as big this time but we still enjoyed boogie boarding. On Saturday I went to Onekahakaha Beach Park with Sydney and Brian to collect algae samples. Sydney has an algae project due in one of her classes that requires her to collect algae and press it so it.  We waded along the tide pools and searched for unique algae. We had lots of luck! We also found sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and anemone. It's amazing what you can notice when you're really searching.
After that we had an intense four player game of Phase 10 and while I was close, I didn't win. I'll get 'em next time :P
Guess that's all for now. As soon as something exciting happens I'll let you know! Until then...