Sunday, June 18, 2006

Hawaii, Day 5

Saturday: Today we all got up early (again!) to go to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet. There are many booths selling all the same kitschy stuff, but then there are the hidden gems with great stuff at good prices. I can't go into details because I don't want to spoil any surprises, but let's just say I did a little damage. But to be fair, I haven't really done much shopping (besides for food) until today. For myself, I got some silver heirloom jewelry (much cheaper than the traditional gold), some beautiful prints, some shell jewelry, some beautiful fabric for a new dress and pa'u skirt, I could go on but it might get embarrassing.

On the way back, the folks in my van decided to go straight to 'Iolani Palace, the only royal residence on American soil. It was so beautiful and a great way to connect our hulas to Hawaiian history. We also took some pictures in front of the Kamehameha statue, which was much smaller than I imagined it. After that, it was already time to get ready for tonight's concert - the Take A Walk In The Country/Makaha Sons 30th Anniversary Concert. (By the way, I must say mahalo nui loa to Virginia H. for doing a fantastic job doing last minute alterations on the dress I got on ebay so that I could bring it and wear it tonight. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!) What a treat to see all of my favorite Hawaiian music groups in one place: The Brothers Cazimero, Ho'okena, Hapa, the Makaha Sons (of course), and several others. The highlight of the evening (and dare I say, maybe even my whole trip so far) was the performance by Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu and his dancers from The Academy of Hawaiian Arts in Oakland, CA. They did one number that probably lasted 10 minutes with Kumu Mark chanting the whole time and the dancers chanting along with him at times. He is considered a bit of a renegade but you can't deny he is extremely talented (see this post from April). I really think that he makes the kahiko (ancient) style of hula accessible to anybody. I ended the evening with some coffee from the Honolulu Coffee Company at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider and a walk on the beach. All in all, a great day in Hawaii.

I was really very intentional about going tanning before I left and I really didn't think I could get any more color but I actually have gotten a bit more tan over the last couple of days.

Tomorrow is chuch at Kawaiaha'o, a fundraiser for Kumu Rich's halau, and the Eo! concert.

Oh, by the way, I won't be posting any pictures while I'm here or sending any picture postcards like I had hoped. I only trust Ritz or Wolf with my pictures and their machine is apparently broken. Bummer.

1 comment:

kel said...

I have a one inch strip of tan on both of my feet, plus a few more freckles. Jealous yet?

I think it is so cool that we are on different sides of the same ocean.