Hawaii, Day 6

Sunday: Lots of highlights today. Six of us got up and went to church at Kawaiaha'o Church, right across the street from 'Iolani Palace. It is quite historic - many royal funerals were held there, among other things. It is now a Congregational church. What a wonderful service! There was beautiful music with a pipe organ and choir, and so many sweet people. I could write a little more about this but I have some other stuff to tell you all about and I have very limited time before they lock this room.

After the service, we wandered around in the cemetery for a while and visited the graves of several important people in Hawaiian history, including the tomb of King Lunalino and two of the original missionaries, Juliette Cooke and Hiram Bingham. (I'm probably going to have as many cemetery pictures as beach pictures.)

For lunch, we went and bought plate lunches at the fundraiser for Kumu Rich's halau. I got to see my new friends (Auntie Deb, Kumu, Uncle Clifford, Mahine, and Satsuki) one last time and got a picture with all of us.

I wanted to get to the beach this afternoon but didn't have quite enough time since I had to be ready for tonight's concert by 3 p.m. So I did laundry instead. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon in Hawai'i and I did laundry. Anyway, the concert tonight was an annual remembrance of Kumu Hula Darrell Lupenui. It was four hours of music and hula and it was a great time because there was so much variety. There was kahiko (ancient) and 'auana (modern), keiki (children) and kupuna (elders) and everything in between, and all sorts of wonderful live music. I got my mom a wonderful souvenir there: an autograph from Moon of the Makaha Sons. He was there as a musician and also joined in to dance hula at the end. Moon is my mom's favorite of the three Sons so when I saw he was there I knew I had to make it a point to see him. I found him at the intermission and actually said to him (I can't believe I did this), "My mom is going to be over the moon that I met Moon." Ugh. Anyway, he was very nice and signed an autograph to my mom and posed for a picture. Then, when I thought things couldn't get any better, they did. I was sitting out in the courtyard having a snack (the concert was 4 hours long) and chatting with two aunties next to me. I saw Mark Ho'omalu making the rounds but didn't want to pester him since his group hadn't performed yet. Plus, I don't know what the exact protocol would be since he knows my hula instructor. Anyway, he kept getting closer and closer and stopped to greet the two aunties I was talking to. And then, he said aloha to me and kissed my cheek and we exchanged a few words. I really admire him and his halau so this was quite special. But I played it cool, which I think relieved my instructor when I told her about it. Anyway, his group performed right after the intermission and it was wonderful again.

What else? I have not cracked a book since the plane landed. I don't know why I thought I might run out of reading material. I love the Hawaiian practice of greeting with a kiss (like many other places in the world). It makes you feel instantly like someone's dear friend when you say hello with a peck on the cheek. Tomorrow, if all goes as planned, I'll be hitting Diamond Head and the North Shore. I'm starting to get a little panicky about running out of time to do everything I want.