A Concert & A Send-Off

We had a bittersweet weekend. The sweet part. My parents and Jon and I had dinner Friday night at a super yummy Brazilian restaurant in the city called Yemanja. I highly recommend it. Jon says, "It is the best Brazilian food I've had in a long time. The best empanadas. Really good caipirinhas. The only bad thing was they didn't give me enough rice with my feijoada." The best part was they gave us free pão de queijo (cheesy bread) even though it's not even on the menu.

After dinner, Jon, my mom, and I went to the Lucas School House for a great concert. It certainly wouldn't appeal to everyone but we all really enjoyed it. We went to see Jake Shimabukuro, an amazing ukelele player from Hawaii. Considering the show was just "an Asian guy playing 4 strings," (Jake's words), it was an incredibly diverse show. He used his ukelele to imitate a Japanese koto, a snare drum (which he used to play in his high school marching band), and a banjo. He covered Cyndi Lauper, Led Zeppelin, and the Beatles, and played bluegrass, classical, and Hawaiian.

After the concert, we got the opportunity to go up and shake Jake's hand. He's very generous with his time and it was great to chat with him for a moment. My mom tried to take some pictures - all I can say is that we're going to have to have a camera lesson because this is what we got for the shot of me and Jake together.

I did get my ukelele signed and my copy of hula girls, a Japanese movie that Jake composed the music for. (By the way, the ukelele as been signed by several awesome Hawaiian musicians - Cyril Pahinui, Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom, Eric Gillion, Patrick Landeza, and Willie K.

We ended the evening with a trip to channel 5 and Jon's first visit to the set. This is the SportsPlus set that my dad helped design.

The bitter. On Saturday, we went to a good-bye party for our good friends Matt and Vicki. They're off on their adventure to Guam. You guys will be missed. We expect lots of posts/pictures/skyping/etc. Have fun and hopefully we'll get over there to see you sometime soon!

My Weekend

We haven't had a Hawaiian Minute on this blog in a while. This weekend, I had about 840 of them as I attended my halau's annual hula and Tahitian dance workshop. We had participants from Tulsa, Dallas, Chicago, Indianapolis and we were so fortunate to have hula instruction from Kumu Hula Keali'i Ceballos of Halau Keali'i O Nalani, Tahitian dance instruction from Riki Liufau and her daughter Tiana from Nonosina Polynesia Inc., and Tahitian drumming from Derek Keil of Teriki's Polynesia. Believe me when I say that this was a big deal. It may have been snowy and cold outside, but inside the community college we had a little taste of the Pacific islands.

^^^ The beautiful ladies of Halau Hui Hula 'O Punahele.

^^^ All of the participants that had hula on Day 1 dancing "Ka Ua Kilihune," taught to us by Kumu Keali'i, danced as a tribute to my kumu, Dori. That's me in the bright pink and blue dress.

^^^ What an honor. Me with Kumu Keali'i Ceballos.

^^^ Girls in the Tahitian class. The ones in lime pareos are from my halau.

^^^ Tiana Liufau teaching Tahitian dance.

Obsessions, Part II

I need a new pair of shoes like I need a whole in my head. Even so, I may not be able to resist these.

These are a limited edition re-release of the 1965 original Vans Duke Alohas. They come in 5 colors and are also available as slip-ons.

Big Fun Wedding In Hawaii Days 5 & 6

Sadly, this is our last update from Hawaii. We are sitting in the gate area at the Honolulu airport waiting to board our flight.

^ In the walkway outside our hotel, leading to Kalakaua Avenue and the beach.

^ Lunch today at Ono Hawaiian Foods. Front row: rice, kalua pork, pipikaula (Hawaiian beef jerky, oh so yummy). Second row: onions and lomi salmon (sort of like salsa with salmon). Third row: the only new item is the one on the far right. It's a coconut dessert called haupia. We also tried poi.

^ At Ono.

^ With another random dog friend, this one was on the pool deck at our hotel. I don't think his owners liked the fact that he seemed to like us so much.

^ Me in front of the Duke Kahanamoku statue.

^ Yummy snack right before we left for the airport. POG (passion fruit/orange/guava juice) and spam musubi (don't knock it until you try it - it's really pretty tasty).

^ At the Honolulu airport waiting to board our flight.

Big Fun Wedding In Hawaii Days 4 & 5

I'm supposed to be getting in the shower, not blogging, so I'll keep this short and just tell you about the pictures.

^ Hula dancers in the Pan-Pacific Matsuri Parade, the second parade to march past our hotel in as many days.

^ After dinner #2 at Roy's. Both times they hooked us up with complimentary congratulatory desserts. And once again, the food did not disappoint. This is the original location but there are several others including one in Chicago. Definitely check it out if you get the chance.

^ Jon getting ready to snorkel at Shark's Cove. Thanks for the recommendash, Matt.

^ Me at Shark's Cove.

^ Shark's Cove. By the way, after we went to Shark's Cove we went back to Ehukai and our random dog friend was there again.

^ The name of this business means "Wet Butt." At first I thought it might be a bar or something, but it's much more clever than that. They sell waterproof seat covers.

^ Harry Potter (and Borders) is everywhere, apparently.

Big Fun Wedding In Hawaii Days 2, 3, & 4

Let's see, where did I leave off in my last post? Oh yeah. So...we got married. And it was wonderful - just what we wanted. I'm needing food and the hunger is keeping me from being particularly clever so I'll just throw up a bunch of pictures for now.

^ Pastor Matt Dirks from Harbor Church Hawaii Kai officiated. He is a friend of a friend of friend. The beach is Waialae Beach Park in Kahala.

^ The rings.

^ The Kiss. It's official. As Jon just said, the good part.

^ At Halona Blowhole and Cove.

^ Dinner at Roy's afterwards with Jon's friend Jake who was nice enough to come and be our photographer and videographer. Literally, he had a camera in each hand. Thank you, Jake! Roy's was so good that we are going back there for dinner tonight.

^ Beautiful flowers sent by Neal and Angie. Thank you! What a wonderful surprise!

^ Me in my "Just Married" tank, courtesy of one of my brand new sisters-in-law Rachel. I did wear it out briefly.

^ This is our random dog friend on Ehukai Beach on the North Shore. He just trotted up to us, friendly as could be, and presented his rear end for me to scratch. When he was done with us, he trotted off to the next family.

^ At Ehukai Beach, location of the famous Banzai Pipeline.

^ Our somewhat trusty Tracker. Notice there are no back windows. Jon conveniently forgot his glasses so I have been the primary driver.

^ After church this morning at Kawaiaha'o Church. Today's service honored King Kamehameha the Great. Tomorrow is actually a state holiday honoring Kamehameha - no school, no banks, etc.

^ That's Jon paddling out on his surfboard in the light blue boardshorts in the middle of the picture. He said, "It was really crowded but I caught a couple of waves and it was really fun."

^ Kuhio Beach in Waikiki, directly in front of our hotel.

To the Happy Couple

Jo and Jon!

By my clock, the happy event should have occurred.

Jo, it's smart of you to limit your wedding party to two- this way you avoid what happened last night at the wedding I went to- someone forget to bend and locked their knees. Yep, we lost a bridesmaid. Unfortunately, it was on pavement so she had to go to the emergency room for a busted chin. But she's okay and it was pretty exciting (I know, I'm bad.)

Go Jo!!

I can't wait to see pictures of the wedding, Jo! What a romantic place to get married. Hope y'all are having a magnificent time!!!

Big Fun Wedding in Hawaii Days 1 & 2

We are here. In Waikiki. In just 5 short hours, I will be married. I would be lying if I said I wasn't freaking out just a little bit, but in the best possible way. I don't think that's bad because getting married is a huge thing. But I'm totally looking forward to it and I am so happy to be here with Jon, starting our life together in this beautiful place.

Yesterday was a veeeerrrry long day. I hate LAX and Northwest Airlines. Well, actually, maybe it isn't Northwest itself that I hate, but just the kind of people they attract to fly their airline. That's harsh, I know, but so is sitting for 5 hours next to a screaming child that, as far as I could tell, had no reason to be screaming. Also harsh? Being delayed 2 hours due to engine trouble although I'm certainly thankful that they fixed it before sending me over the Pacific Ocean.

Today has been great, though. Besides dealing with Honolulu traffic, everything has gone smoothly. Everyone we've had contact with has been so nice - Blanca that met us at the airport and went and got us ti leaf (to ward off bad spirits and bring us good luck) when she found out we were getting married, our porter at the airport who also turned out to be the guy at the car rental place today (he works a lot apparently), our waitress at Cheeseburger In Paradise who was from Arlington Heights and whose sister teaches at Wheaton North, Sherrilyn at the marriage license place (she was soooo nice), and the guy at Cindy's Lei Shoppe who got us totally hooked up and even gave us a free lei. Everyone is friendly.

Oh. And our room is awesome. We are on the 18th floor with a huge lanai (that's a balcony/deck) overlooking Waikiki Beach. There are no buildings blocking our view, it's just a gorgeous expanse of water over which hung a huge rainbow this morning. Jon is itching to rent a surfboard but it is awfully crowded out there. Seriously, though, this hotel has totally met our expectations.

Here are a few pictures.

^ All of us at breakfast before leaving for the airport. It was early.

^ My feelings about LAX.

^ Jon falling asleep over his cheeseburger when we got in last night. It was only about 9:00 p.m. but our bodies were telling us it was 2:00 a.m.

^ At the famous Cindy's Lei Shoppe in Chinatown, buying our wedding leis.

^ Our view. Eat your hearts out.

Robbie Speaks

We found out on Friday night that my brother's cancer has spread to the lymph nodes behind his kidneys. He spoke about it in church today and instead of trying to describe it I'll just let you listen for yourself. I don't think it will stream - you'll probably have to save it and then open it with iTunes or Windows Media Player or something.

Robbie at Mid-Rivers on March 4, 2007

Today's Hawaiian Minute

Click here to see a recent TV feature on one of my favorite kumu hula, Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu, and the dancers from the Academy of Hawaiian Arts in Oakland, CA.

Today's In-The-Moment Picture

This is me while posting on the blog in the cafe at Borders today. The wonders of wireless. I promise I'll stop playing with the camera but it's hard because it's just right there.

Countdown to BFLW: 24 hours!

In just 24 hours, most of us will start converging on Fort Worth, moving on to San Antonio on Saturday. I am almost packed and I've already printed my boarding pass. An updated itinerary will be arriving in your inboxes shortly. There's lots of fun and frivolity on tap for the next several days. Shopping, eating at Chick-Fil-A, laughing at the people at Hot Dog On A Stick (please, someone remind me to take a picture this time), drinking lots of sweet tea, playing with Sophie, challenging each other at the Anne of Green Gables Ultimate DVD Trivia Game, bowling, partying it up with Kristy & Christa, etc. I already have an excuse for my sure-to-be poor showing at bowling on Friday night. I was walking down the steps last night with my dry cleaning and completely skipped the last step, turning my ankle pretty badly in the process. I don't think there's any real injury there but it is really sore. So that is, of course, going to interfere with my approach during bowling.

Ray & Tristan

Last Thursday night we went to the Ray LaMontagne concert at The Pageant. It was a great show from beginning to end. A girl named Tristan Prettyman opened - check her out if you get a chance. Tristan, if you ever google yourself and stumble across this blog, I'd appreciate it if you would please record "Just In Case" and "All I Want For Christmas Is Us." Thanks!

Ray started with one of my favorites, "Barfly." I can't say that I was surprised, but I was pleased to find that Ray sounds even better in person than on his recordings. "Hold You In My Arms" came up around 3rd or 4th in the setlist and if the show had ended then I would have considered it worth the ticket price. If there is a baby boom going on right now, we might as well just name it Generation Ray since his music has got to be setting the mood for many an amorous couple.

It was a great night and I'm already looking forward to the next time Ray's in town, but we probably would've enjoyed the evening even more if the U City Bread Co. had not tried to poison Jon. Okay, they didn't really poison him, but we ordered our usual items and something he ate made him feel bad the rest of the night. That was on top of having to wait over 30 minutes for a crispani. The manager was nice about it and gave us a coupon, but I think I'll stick with my strange-but-safe Zumbehl location.

Hawaiian Minute
The Surprising Similarities Between Blogging and Hula Dancing
by Dave Taylor, The Intuitive Life Business Blog, 5/3/2006

Maybe someday soon the Hawaiian Minute will actually come to you from Hawaii.

I know it's been warm lately (warm being in the 50s) but I really don't think that's a reason for the air conditioning to be on in my office. It's freezing. I must leave it now. See you ladies tomorrow!

More Trouble At Bread Co.

I am a regular patron of St. Louis Bread Company, and will continue to be, but there are a couple of things I've noticed each time I've been there that are a bit irritating. (You can read my original Bread Co. rant here.) First, I know they are trying to be nice by putting a couple of napkins right on the tray with my food, but this is just a waste of good napkin. My soup or the condiments from my sandwich always drip on the napkin, making it unusable. This is something that has bothered me since my first visit there years ago. Why put the napkin on my tray if I'm only going to have to get a different (clean) one anyway?

Also, the particular Bread Co. that I usually go to seems to be a bit disorganized with their system for alerting the customer when their food is ready. Or maybe they are just trying to cover all of the bases. Let me give you an example from last night. Jon and I walk in and place our order: bowl of soup, half salad, crispani, a couple of drinks. They ask for a name. Jon gives them his (but they always spell it with an 'h', which bothers me but not him). They hand us a receipt which has Jon's name and an order number, a tall number on a stick to place on our table for the crispani (because it comes out 10 minutes later), and a beeper. I assume the beeper is to alert us when the first part of our order is ready, but before the beeper ever goes off, the guy at the counter just yells out, "Jon!" So the beeper and order number are entirely unnecessary if the guy is just going to call out a name, but I guess they like to have a backup method for getting in touch with people to tell them their food is up. We haven't really been able to figure out the logic or pattern in this and it is always a little humorous.

Hawaiian Minute
This next item won't be of great interest to the other participants in this blog, but every once in a while someone googles "hula" or "hawaii" or "merrie monarch" and ends up here and this is for them. Kumu Hula Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu, from the Academy of Hawaiian Arts in Oakland, CA, has a new podcast called Hana Lima. You can watch it on YouTube, subscribe via iTunes, or access it directly from the AHA website. According to the AHA newsletter, Hana Lima is "a series of instructional videos...showcasing the art of Hawaiian craft-making." The first episode is about how to make a pahu (Hawaiian drum). Some of you may remember that I sorta kinda got to meet Kumu Mark during my trip to Hawai'i in June. Here's the link to that story if you are interested.

New Links
There are a few new links on the left that I'd like to draw your attention to: a new blog or two, my Kaboodle wishlist (ladies, you should make one, you can add things from anywhere on the internet), and a couple of live webcams (Waikiki Beach and a watering hole in South Africa - thanks for the heads up on that one, Rach!). Enjoy!

Hawaii, Day 8

Tuesday: This will be the last post from Hawaii, but I will do a recap and post some pictures within the first couple of days after I get home. Today has been a bit frantic. We got up and packed, then I ran out to do a little shopping before returning my car. I went to the local Goodwill store and scored a Matsumoto's t-shirt for me (saved $12.50 over buying a shirt there) and an aloha shirt for my dad.

(Haha, the 'r' key isn't working very well and I keep typing shirt without it. Luckily I keep catching it.)

This afternoon I took two of our little girls with me and just wandered around Waikiki for a while, getting last minute pictures and souvenirs. We'll be leaving for the airport in about 90 mintues and our flight is in 5 hours. It has been a wonderful action-packed week and I am so glad I got to come. On the other hand, I am ready to unpack and relax. This has been the kind of vacation that you need a vacation after.

Sars, sorry about the Mavs. I just saw the last couple of minutes of the game.

Hawaii, Day 7

Monday: I can't believe we leave in just over 24 hours. While it seems like forever since I was in Missouri, this last week has flown by.

Today was quite an adventure. I went with 3 other families to Diamond Head first thing this morning. We were on the trail just before 7:00 a.m. and made it to the top in excellent time. I realized I am not in as good of shape as I was 11 years ago when I did the same hike. Then again, 11 years ago I was 18 and played church softball and was cheerleading.

After that, most of the families were heading to the Polynesian Cultural Center. I didn't really want to spend a whole day there so my idea was to catch a ride that far and then take a bus the rest of the way to the North Shore. Well, I needed to shower after Diamond Head so by the time I was ready, I had missed the early wave of departures and was going to have to wait quite a while for the next wave. So on the spur of the moment, I decided to rent a car for the day and take myself to the North Shore, and that way I could stop along the way and see a few other sites on my list. My little Geo Tracker has seen better days but it was the perfect vehicle to get me where I needed to go today. I started at the Royal Mausoleum. (Side note: the concierge at my hotel did not know what this was when I asked him about it the other day. I had to explain to him that it is where all of the Hawaiian royals are buried. And he's a local.) This was a beautiful place and I had it all to myself except for the caretaker. I wandered the grounds a while and then went down a flight of stairs to the gate enclosing the tomb of the Kalakaua dynasty. It was really quite moving to be standing there at the final resting place of King Kalakaua, Queen Kapi'olani, Princess Ka'iulani, and Queen Lili'uokalani.

Next I stopped and took a quick photo at Queen Emma's Summer Palace. After that, I continued on Pali Highway to the Pali Lookout. It is a beautiful spot (and extremely windy) with a grisly history. It was here that Kamehameha the Great defeated the O'ahu armies to unite the Hawaiian islands by sending the warriors over the cliff.

I got back on the road and missed my turn so I ended up going all the way up the leeward side to Wai'anae. That cost me about 45 minutes or so but I soon found myself back on track and driving through central O'ahu. I passed the Dole Plantation and went through beautiful coffee fields. I stopped to eat in Hale'iwa Town and got shave ice at the legendary Matsumoto's. (I even ran into another family from my group there.) Then I drove on up the coast a bit more to Ehukai Beach Park, the site of one of the most famous surfing locales in all the world, Banzai Pipeline. I haven't had much beach time on this trip so I laid out for a couple of hours and watched the surfers. (Prime surfing season here is in the winter, so the beach was relatively deserted, but the water was still rough - and cold! - and there were a few guys out there trying to catch a wave.) I headed back into Hale'iwa and got some yummy garlic shrimp for dinner out of the side of a truck. I poked around in a few shops and then started making my way back to Honolulu. I still have the car for a few hours in the morning, so I think I'm going to be able to hit all of the major sites that I had on my list.

Sunday Update: Yesterday after church we sat and chatted a man while we waited for the tour guide. (I use that term loosely. She was a charming auntie that came and talked story with us for a while, but there was no tour.) Anyway, this man was very friendly, asking us lots of questions and telling us how he was raised in that church. When we told him we were going to be seeing Kumu Rich next, he said to tell him "hello from Brickwood." This man had seemed slightly familiar to me to begin with, but at the time I remember thinking he must just have a typical Hawaiian voice and look. Well, there was a reason he seemed familiar. He was Brickwood Galuteria, famous in Hawaii for all sorts of things (see the link). In fact, he is featured on a DVD I own called Hawaiian Rainbow. I wish I would have realized at the time who he was so I could have gotten a picture.

By the way, I bought a great book before I got here called Oahu Revealed. There is a similar book for each of the islands. This book has become to me what Rick Steve's was to Kelly & Kristy when they went to Europe. The authors are now like trusted friends. Highly recommended.

Interesting fact of the day: There was something that had been bothering since my last trip here 11 years ago. I couldn't figure out why Hawai'i has interstate highways, and I never remembered to Google it. Our bus driver the first day was the one to finally explain this mystery. With several military installations here, there was a need to move people and machinery, and therefore interstates were built that are funded by the federal government. Here is a slightly different explanation.

Here is a link to the live webcam in front of the Duke Kahanamoku statue on Waikiki Beach. I walk in front of it often so check it out sometime tomorrow (or even tonight) and you might see me.

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.

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.

Hawaii Day 4

Friday: Woke up really early this morning after sleeping about 11 hours last night. Had plenty of time to finish making my lei (our homework) before meeting up with everyone else. Caravaning with 6 cars in a congested, unfamiliar place is not easy and it took us quite a while to get where we were going which was Kualoa Park on the windward side of the island. The long drive gave us plenty of time to enjoy the amazing views of the green mountains on one side of the highway and blue ocean on the other. Today, Uncle Clifford ran the show. He taught us all of the steps for making our own ipus (hollowed out gourds that we use as a small drum/implement in hula). We all already have ipus that we ordered a while back, but these will be much more special to us since we did all of the work on them. Here are the steps: pick out the gourd that best fits your hand, saw off the top (Uncle Clifford did that for us) clean out the inside using rocks/shells/files/etc., wash the gourd in the ocean with salt water and a scouring pad, clean and sand the inside and outside some more, rinse and tumble in the ocean again, let dry, stain, add string for wrist.

All of that took many hours but we got to enjoy beautiful scenery and weather while we were there (except for one brief shower). We had a great view of Chinaman's Hat, a small island off Kualoa Point. After we finished a few cars stopped for shaved ice on our way back. We were absolutely starving by the time we got back to Waikiki so even though we had been in and out of the ocean all day we didn't even bother to shower. We just changed clothes and hopped right back in the car to go to dinner. I went with two other families to a local favorite called Ono Hawaiian Foods, which is actually quite close to our hotel. (Ono means delicious in Hawaiian.) We are trying to avoid any restaurants that we can eat at in St. Louis and this was a perfect choice. I had kalua pork (yummy, juicy pulled pork), lomi salmon (basically fresh salsa with salmon), rice, pipikaula (Hawaiian beef jerky), and haupia (coconut-flavored stiff pudding). Oh, and poi. Everything was really good except for the poi. It wasn't terrible, but as they say, it is certainly an acquired taste. Our waiter told us that many people put sugar or soy sauce in it. I'd try it again altered a little. The folks at the restaurant were so nice - we got there just as they were closing but they stayed open just for us and explained everything to us (repeatedly).

I was talking to someone about Hawaii's mountains before I left and they asked if they were real mountains, or the large hills that we call mountains down in Southern Missouri. The mountains here are real and here's an interesting little tidbit to prove it. Mauna Kea, on the Big Island, is 33,476 feet from sea floor to summit, which would make it the tallest mountain in the world. It is Hawaii's only "white mountain" and if you want to ski it, you'll need a driver and a good vehicle. There are no lifts.

I'm off to find some good kona coffee before I go to bed, then we're up early to go to the swap meet at Aloha Stadium.

Hawaii Day 2 & 3

So, I promised a post everyday, but it is hard to find the time. The business center at the hotel has very limited hours and we are gone doing hula stuff for most of them. Plus, the other day when I tried to post, I got halfway through and my session timed out. I didn't have time to start over. Here's a quick rundown of the past two days.

Wednesday: Several of us got up early and had prayer on the beach. When we finished and turned around, there was a rainbow over the ocean. Very beautiful. I went on a Starbucks run after that and stopped in front of the Duke Kahanamoku statue and waved at my dad (there is a live webcam on it at all times). After that, we all met Kumu Rich and a few of his students in the lobby and we set off on our day. I actually got to ride in Kumu's car and it was really cool to chat with the Hawaiians. We went to a heiau (sacred place, sort of like a temple but there is no actual building) for a blessing and we spent several hours there learning to chant. In the afternoon, I took the bus up to Punchbowl where there is a national cemetery and I visited Sailor Jerry's grave (the tattoo enthusiast's out there will know who I'm talking about). I took the bus back to Honolulu and spent a couple of hours in the Hawaii section at Borders. I kind of thought the employees there would think it was cool to meet a fellow bookseller from St. Louis but they didn't seem to care. They probably see a lot of employees from all over the country.

Thursday: Yesterday we all caravaned around the windward side of the island to several destinations. First, we went to Blowhole to practice chanting over the sound of the ocean and wind. Then, we went to Uncle Clifford's house to pick our own ti leaves from the plants in his yard. Then, we went into the forest to pick a type of fern. For some reason, that part was the most interesting to me. After that, we went to a botanical park to learn to make the specific kind of ti leaf leis that Kumu Rich's halau uses. I don't think I had fully adjusted to the time - I had been headachy since I got here and I suspect I may be allergic to something as well - so I slept yesterday from about 6 p.m. to 5:30 this morning. I hated to waste the evening, but I feel so much better today.

Okay, I'd love to write in a bit more detail but I have to be downstairs in 3 minutes. We have one more day of instruction with Kumu today.

Hawaii, Day 1

Aloha! Made it here safely. Day 1 was more of a success than I could have imagined. The flights were smooth. The kids were happy and well behaved. All persons and their luggage arrived in the same city at the same time. We were greeted at the airport with leis. It was all very nice. As we were milling about in the hotel lobby waiting to check in, I found a flier for a concert by one of my very favorite Hawaiian singers, Raiatea Helm. She burst onto the Hawaiian music scene about 6 years ago at the age of 18 an has received numerous awards and honors since that time. Anyway, I almost couldn't bring myself to look at the date on the flier. I was sure I had already missed the concert or that it was going to be happening after I left. I had to stifle a squeal when I saw that it was tonight(!) at the Waikiki Aquarium. So, just like that I had made my plans for the evening. It was a great time. There were just a few hundred people there, all sitting on a grassy area on the aquarium grounds, right on the beach. Raiatea's voice was just as angelic in person as on her CDs and she performed many of my favorite songs such as 'Alekoki, Kimo Hendeson Hula, and Haole Hula. Which reminds me, as an added bonus, she danced hula to Sophisticated Hula, which was a treat. There was a meet and greet at the end so I got her autograph and a picture with her. Yeah for Day 1! After the concert, I just wandered around Waikiki a bit, going to the beach, the Duku Kahanomoku Statue, and the International Marketplace. Two other gratifying things that happened: 1.) 4 or 5 different local folks (including Raiatea) complimented my mu'umu'u, which was nice because I think the colors are a bit obnoxious. 2.) My tan is darker than Raiatea's.

I'm beat. The clock says 10 p.m. but my body says 3 a.m. and we have an early morning planned. I'll add pictures to this post at another time. They don't allow you to hook anything up to the computers at my hotel so I'll have to find someplace else that will let me hook up my camera. I'm getting kicked out of the internet room. Until tomorrow.

Hawaii Day!

It is unreal to me that my plane will be taking off in just 3.5 hours. Dori mentioned being at the airport 2+ hours early but I'm going to assume that is for the families with small children and relax a bit. As promised, here is a summary of our itinerary.

Tuesday - arrive in Honolulu at 2:30 local time. The rest of the evening is free.
Wednesday - sunrise prayer at the beach. Hula instruction with Kumu Rich Pedrina. Evening free.
Thursday - Hula instruction with Kumu Rich. Evening free.
Friday - Hula instruction with Kumu Rich. Evening free.
Saturday - Aloha Stadium swap meet. Makaha Sons 30th anniversary concert.
Sunday - I plan to attend the Kawaiahao Church. Eo! concert and hula performance in the evening.
Monday - free day.
Tuesday - free day. Leave at 10:30 p.m.
Wednesday - arrive home around 1:30 p.m. local time.

The next time you hear from me, I'll be in the land of aloha. Sorry this post is so boring, but I am sleepy and still have a few things to throw in my bag before we leave. Just a reminder - the time difference from St. Louis/Chicago/Dallas to Honolulu is 5 hours, so please keep that in mind when you call or text me. Be aware that if you call me before 2 p.m. CST, I will probably be grouchy.