Traveling to Hawai'i [hah wai' ee] or [hah vai' ee], isn't as simple as it sounds ("sound" being the operative word here). It should be as simple as A, B, C, but in fact, it was as difficult as A, E, I, O, and U.In Hawai'i, simple local pronunciation is an art which challenges the unfamiliar user with breaking up each word by its vowel -stops. If you think that's a mouthful, try getting around Kona without tripping over your tongue. Here are some of the words I learned:
aloha (ah-LO-ha). Hello and goodbye, as well as love. Can be used to express sympathy, if more stress given to the first syllable.
'aina (EYE-nah). Food. Of which I ate plenty!
ahi (AH-hee). Tuna. Best eaten sashimi style (raw) with shoyu, which I had for lunch twice. Very yummy.
hale (HAH-lay). House.
haole (HOW-leh). Originally, all foreigners. Now usually refers specifically to white people. Generally NOT a compliment. I learned this from Kavika, a homeless man who slept on the steps of a snorkel establishment with his seven dogs.
kahakai (kah-hah-KIE). The beach.
kahuna (kah-HOO-nah). Hawaiian priest. Christian priests or ministers are usually called kahu (KAH-hoo) or kahuna pule (kah-HOO-nah POO-leh). Pule is Hawaiian for prayer. I learned this when I went to a sunrise Easter service.
kalua (kah-LOO-ah). Hawaiian style of cooking where meat is placed in an imu (EE-moo), a fire pit, and buried until done.
keiki (KAY-kee). Child.
luau (loo-OW). Hawaiian feast, party. We went to one on Wednesday night.
lani (LAH-nee). Heaven or heavenly. Seen in many combination words and names.
mahimahi (mah-hee-MAH-hee). Dolphin, the fish, not a porpoise. Delicious.
mauka (MOW-kah, MOW rhymes with pow). Literally, toward the mountain. Used constantly when giving directions. Example: "My house is on the mauka side of Ali'i Drive."
makai (mah-KIE). Literally, toward the sea. Opposite of mauka.
mahalo (MAH-ha-lo). Thank you. Seen and heard everywhere.
nani (NAH-nee). Beautiful. Another word seen in combinations and names.
ono (OH-noh). Delicious. Also the name of a local food fish which is also delicious.
ohana (oh-HAH-nah). Family, relation, kin.
pau (pow, with a bit more oo sound on the end). Finished. Done. Over with. Which is similar to the use of PAH in the Deaf Community which I found interesting.
Now that you have an idea of how tongue-twisting travel to Hawai'i can be, I'll attempt to give you a tour of all the stops Ardith, (Jayne's mom), Lois (a cousin), Lisa (Jayne's niece, who lives on a mouka, and I made on our whiriling-dervish trip to Kona.
Ardith, Lois and I met in Phoenix to travel the last 6 hours to Kona. Ardith had flown in from Detroit, Lois from Arkansas and I came in from Tampa. Travel tid-bit: Don't wear an under wire bra going through security at the airports. I was detained about 10 minutes in Tampa until they finally figured out that both my metal eye-glasses and my Bali 18-hour boulder-holder caused the scanner to go haywire.
Once in Hawai'i, our pending jet-lag was over-shadowed by our excitement. When we arrived at the airport in Keahole, Ardith rented our car, meaning she could be the only driver unless we wanted to go back and pay an additional $10 a day for an extra driver. Thus, poor Ardith did all the driving in a huge Dodge Durango with 4-wheel drive. Parking proved to be hysterical, 3-point turns became 8-point turns and the 4-wheel drive really got a work-out traveling up the mountain to Lisa's place (if we could go over 15 mph that is). Travel tid-bit: Don't buy Ardith a GPS for Christmas; she doesn't believe them. That's all I'm saying.
When we arrived at the hotel, Lisa was there with her friend Josh where they gave us leis.
Since jet-lag finally did catch up with us, we were in bed by 9p (which was really 3a, our time).Friday - Day 1 - Every morning, I awoke with the birds before the sun rose over the mountain and walked 3-miles along the water-side. This ritual was one I began to look forward to everyday. On my walks, I'd learn the language, meet the locals, make friends and enjoy the culture. Visiting Kavika and his seven dogs would be my first stop. Each dog would "spoon" each other across the small stoop of a local snorkel shop. To reach Kavika, you'd have to step over 7 various breeds of Labs, the last of which would be snuggled close to Kavika. He'd get up around 6:30a, hose off the mats and pillows they used to sleep on, hose off the dogs and the sidewalk, then sit and drink coffee and chat with everyone who walked by. He taught me about Hawaiian culture and etiquette and I admired his knowledge. They say you can judge a person by the way they treat their dogs; each dog was collared, leashed and licensed, by the way, and all were well-fed. He said he really didn't consider
himself homeless at all, and that the owner of the store paid him to protect his property. At left is Kavika.After my morning walks, I'd stop everyday and get coffee at Hula Bean coffee, where, after the first day, the owner Gwen, started giving me a discount since I had become a "regular" customer. She'd watch me walk up the hill, and by the time I came back, she'd have my "skinny latte" ready. On the way back to the hotel, I'd stop and watch the Ironman athletes practice swimming their 2.4 miles while the hotel cook made me egg-white omelets every morning, and every morning he'd say "lucky customer after you get extra yolks in their breakfast."
The first day, we drove Highway 11 about 11 times. Finding Linda Bong's (where Lisa cooks fantastic, healthy food), proved to be our first challenge. Once we did find it however, we enjoyed a delicious lunch including a tomato-based soup, a wheat-wrap with quinoa, fruits such as dried mango and apple bananas. Then we were off to see The Painted Church, a black sand beach and Pu'u Honua O Honaunau - The City of Refuge (now called A Place of Refuge) where we saw wild dolphins dancing backwards on their tails. Travel tid-bit: Road signs can be deceiving. Always stop and ask a local directions. The weather was fantastic, gas was $3.80 a gallon and we were in bed by 9p once again.
Left-to-right: Linda Bong's where Lisa cooks, The Painted Church and one of its cemetaries.
Saturday - Day 2 - Travel tid-bit: Wal-Marts are everywhere, even in Hawai'i, as are Salvation Army stores. They tend to have cheaper souvenirs! We visited a local Wal-Mart for coffee and macadamia nuts and various other necessities. We also went to the Salvation Army. More on that, later. Today, we packed a health-food lunch, picked up Lisa at the foot of her mountain and drove to South Point which was utterly breath-taking as it sits at the southern-most point possible. We spent the morning there and tail-gated our lunch. We then went to another black sand beach, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park where we walked through a rain forest (and it was raining!) and the Lava Tube. Lisa entertained us in a hotel lobby by playing the piano and belting-it out Bob Marley-style. As we were leaving the volcano park, Lisa noticed a fantastic rainbow behind us, so we pulled the Durango over and all jumped out to take pictures of the most beautiful rainbow I've ever seen. Later, we stopped for some great fish for dinner at Shaka's (named after the famous "Y"-looking handshape used in Hawai'i as a greeting or an acknowledgement).
Left-to-right: Windmills at South Point, the Rain Forest and the rainbow at Volcano Park.
Sunday - Day 3 -Easter - This morning's ritual went a different route as I decided to walk to a Sunrise Easter Service - Hawaiian style. Having never been to one, this was a real treat. By 6a, the Old Airport Field was filled with over 2000 people. Most people brought beach chairs and werewearing cut-offs and flip-flops. The service was an inter-faith ceremony which included a live band/chorus, hula dancers, a drama and a phenomenal sunrise over the mountain. Truly choreographed by God. I was moved to tears. After the ceremony, I went my regular route for coffee, breakfast and then I sunned by the pool with a huge family from Hilo for a good part of the day. Later, Lois, Lisa, Ardith and I took a drive north to see King Kamehameha's statue. We took Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway for what seemed like forever but saw some beautiful resorts along the way. Our goal was to catch the sunset at North Point. Travel tid-bit: Always fill up your tank when you're 3/4 full just in case you can't find a gas station anywhere along the way. We did eventually find a gas station, the statue, a beautiful sunset and a great restaurant for dinner. The bartender flirted with Lisa, gas was $3.95 a gallon and our bellies were full as the gas tank.
Monday - Day 4 - Oahu - My friend Casey from Barnes & Noble recently moved to Oahu to be with his girlfriend, Brianne. A great way to see all of Hawai'i is by air, so we all flew from the Big Island to Oahu so I could visit Casey and Brianne. Lisa had never been there and Lois and Ardith wanted to sight-see. Travel tid-bit: Don't wear a rasta crown to stuff your dreadlocks in while attempting air travel. Security will search your hair for drugs and swiffer your hands for some drug dust. Lisa was delayed because of her hair but it didn't seem to stop her from turning cartwheels and standing on her head in the airport once they released her.
Oahu was a busy city bordered by a beautiful beach. We learned quickly how The Bus (the city's public transportation system) worked, and traveled easily around the city. Travel tid-bit: If you're waiting at a bus stop and looking for something to do, find a plastic bag in the garbage can and clean up the bus stop around you. That's what Lisa did while we were waiting for a bus and it was a much cleaner, litter-free bus stop when we pulled away.
Mostly everything was bi-lingual in Oahu; signs and receipts were in both English and Japanese. It was an interesting change from Tampa where everything is in Spanish and English. We met Casey and Brianne at a B&N in a huge mall and had lunch. Lois, Lisa and Ardith went sight-seeing (and apparently Lisa went almost-skinny-dipping) while I caught up with Casey. We walked the beach, saw some odd birds, and talked all afternoon. He's a very happy poet these days and I'm happy for him. We were lucky enough to catch a sunset-flight back to Kona. For dinner, we went to a French-Vietnamese restaurant where I had purple sweet potato tapioca. I know that sounds odd, but it was so good, I went back three times to have some more!
Left-to-right: Casey & Brianne, all three of us, and ann odd bird. If you click on the pictures, they will enlarge.
Tuesday - Day 5 - Today was a day of rest. After my morning walk, a chat with Kavika, a chat with Gwen at the coffee shop and my egg-whites, I spent most of the morning by the pool with the huge family from Hilo. I say huge because they were an extended family of about 14 and every one of them was the stereotypical Hawaiian-huge. Each child, ranging from 3 months to 17 years old, was obese - morbidly obese. I was fascinated by the size of their breakfasts and lunches and how ritualized their eating was. I was also fascinated by their sense of family; they were joyful, supportive of each other and happy all the way around. Also, on this day, I met a Deaf woman! She was just passing though the pool area and I caught her signing out of the corner of my eye to her companion who was not deaf. Turns out she lives in Kona and the woman she was traveling with lives in Washington state. I signed with both of them for about a half-hour and learned that there are not many deaf people in Kona. Lunch was a real treat. I ordered Ahi Poke and it was so good, I ordered it again the next day. Served with green onions, a lot of garlic and an entire zuchinni diced up, this pan-seared tuna was just gently browned on the outside and a little red on the inside. So, so good!! For dinner, we walked back to the French-Vietnamese place where I of course had some more purple sweet potato tapioca, but I did have dinner which was buttered shrimp with rice noodles. Again, excellent food.
Wednesday - Day 6 - Today we decided to walk into town for a little shopping adventure. We needed to burn off some extra calories before the Lu'au. Besides, Ardith needed to consult with the Verizon tech about her cell phone and it was as good a time as any to find the Salvation Army Thrift shop. Travel tid-bit: Don't charge your cell phone with it turned on and don't fast-charge or car-charge for more than an hour. Another Travel tid-bit: if the GPS says .5 miles to your destination and as you start walking it becomes .9 miles to your destination, you're going the wrong way. Needless to say, we never found the Salvation Army, but we did have a very nice long walk before our dinner.
The lu'au was just wonderful! From the entertainment to the food ,to the cultural and historical content, we enjoyed it immensely. The sunset was perfect and the people at our table were interesting and fun. Travel tid-bit: Get to know the people you stand in line with and as well as all the people at your table. You begin to realize how nice people can be and learn that as different as we all are, we're a lot alike as well. We met people from Canada and Alaska and found out about all the places they had been thanks to Ardith's great people skills!
Left-to-right: The lu'au greeter, dancers and our dinner selection. See the purple sweet potato?
Thursday - Day 7 - Today I broke tradition and ate breakfast at a little Hawaiian-owned restaurant called U-Top-It. One of the families at the lu'au suggested it and it was a great place to sit outside and take in the local scenery. They serve mostly everything on a thin flat-bread which was really delicious. After breakfast, I took a longer walk than usual and went through a local outdoor market on the way back. The fresh fruits and veggies are outstanding. I also found a place to get Lisa a new rasta crown for her dreads which we gave to her later that day and she really liked it. Turned out the shop owner knew her and knew her hair would fit into that particular hat! Since it was the day before our last day in Hawaii, we wanted to go see Lisa's mountain and her farm. We stopped at Wal-Mart first, then we went to The Epicurian and Ardith splurged on a pillow cover and some sweet treats. I splurged on more coffee! We lunched on fish tacos which were to die for at an outdoor cafe. We also tried some abiu, a fruit that's creamy like vanilla pudding. After a full lunch, we drove the hill to Lisa's place. I have a video of us driving up the hill, but it's so bumpy you can't really see the road, and neither could we. Lisa lives in a lush paradise. She gave us a fantastic tour of the land from avocado trees and banana trees to all the native plants and flowers. We saw rainbow eucaliptis trees 100-years old that were humbling and ate from an "ice cream" tree. The land was beautiful and you could live off of it entirely. No wonder Lisa loves living here. Her garden was lush, her tent was comfortable and homey and her view was peaceful and just lovely. It was the best day there having Lisa give nature's grand tour. We watched the sunset from a radio station high up in the mountains and went back to the hotel awed at what we'd just seen.
Top left-to-right: a sign Lisa painted to welcome people to the land, the abiu fruit, the rainbow eucaliptis. Bottom left-to-right: a mountain sunset, me standing next to a flowering tree and a red pineapple-looking flower.
Friday - Last Day - I went for my last walk and said "aloha" to Kavika and Gwen. It was time to print our boarding passes and fly home. Travel tid-bit: Check-in time is 24 hours before your departure and not one second before. We took a drive to the Salvation Army, and this time found it. Finding gas, however was not as easy. We had to leave the rental car's tank full before turning it in, and in doing so, we found ourselves taking a lovely ride around the coast of Kona before leaving. We met Lisa for dinner at Quinn's, a local favorite restaurant, and feasted on ono. We took one last parting shot of Lisa and made our way to the airport for the long flight home. Since we were several hours early for our flight, we found ourselves sitting in the same location we were when we went to Oahu a few days before. There, we three weary travelers sat waiting for our boarding call when all of the sudden, a group of young teens walked by and started turning cartwheels in the same place Lisa had!!! I imagine it's a magical spot in the universe and leave it to Lisa to find it. Karma is a funny thing.
In Phoenix, my sister who lives in Anthem, AZ, met me at the airport for a quick cup of coffee and a bagel. It was great to see her and believe it or not, I forgot to snap a picture of her!
Now that I'm home and homesick no longer here's my last travel tid-bit: travel, turn cartwheels, clean up the earth, learn the alphabet in a different language, talk to a homeless person, make friends with strangers, rise with the birds and sleep with the moon shining down on your pillow. Aloha!
