You Smell Like Poi

Normally, when one thinks of Hawaii, one thinks of sunny, sandy beaches and blue skies. When one does this, one is clearly not thinking of the city of Hilo. For all intents and purposes, Hilo is located in the middle of a tropical rain forest where, at minimum, it rains twice a day. Through most of the day, there are simply light showers but, at least once a day (normally around dusk) there is a torrential downpour. There are, of course, times when the sun is shining brightly but, this week, that has been rather sporadic. From what I have been able to glean from locals, the amount of rainfall this week has been above average but it still rains almost once a day most of the time.

In addition to raining quite a bit, the beaches here on this island are mostly rocky, filled with jagged lava rocks that slice your feet when you walk on them barefoot. There is the occasional sandy section of shore that allows easy access to the water. One such section is located at Richardson's Beach Park, about five miles outside of Hilo. I have spent a great deal of time at this beach this week, snorkeling there at least twice. There is a cove that is protected from wind and most of the high surf that has been prevalent this week and, in this cove, there is a rather impressive coral reef which I have spent hours exploring and where I have seen countless types of fish and other marine animals including a trumpet fish and a green sea turtle.

Yesterday, my parents and I drove over to Kona because I was determined to attend a genuine tourist-trap luau, complete with a pig cooked in the ground and hot hula dancers. On the way, we stopped at Kealakekua Bay, where my dad and I spend an hour or so snorkeling among the coral reefs there.

The luau was held at the Royal Kona Resort and began at around 6:00. Once they had pulled the pig from the ground and sent us all up to get our food, it began to pour down rain. Consequently, all the attendees carried their food over to the breezeway and ate it standing up. Unfortunately, this meant that they were unable to continue with the entertainment portion of the evening, so I didn't get to see any hot hula dancers. The bright side, however, was that they refunded everybody's money because the show had been cancelled, so we got to eat for free. (I would have rather seen the hot hula dancers, of course.)

My time here has not been all relaxation, of course. Last Sunday, the day after I arrived, my parents and I made a visit to Volcanoes National Park where they have real live volcanoes. While there, my dad and I made a 3.5 mile hike across the Halema'uma'u Trail, which descends through a rain forest and then travels across the floor of the rather desolate Kilauea Caldera. In addition, we also paid a visit to the Thurston Lava Tube, which has a section that is lighted for tourist as well as an unlighted section that goes for about a mile underground. As I did not bring any spelunking equipment with me, I was forced to stick with the safe part.

No visit to the Volcanoes National Park would be complete without seeing actual lava, so my parents drove me down to where the lava flow has destroyed the road on its path to the sea. Once we got there, I had to hike for over three miles across terrain that looks like this. Since my parents are old, they waited at the car while I made the almost three hour round trip journey. The trip was worth it, as I got to stand about ten feet away from something like this. Not to wax philosophic or anything, but it was somewhat humbling to see new earth being created right before my eyes, and to hike across rocks that are actually younger than I am. Truly a sight to behold.

Life here in Hawaii is extremely slow-paced...more so than I am used to, with all the rigamarole of daily life in Los Angeles. There are no freeways here, hardly any traffic, and nobody is in a hurry to get anywhere. I have only managed to find one radio station worth listening to, and it plays a rather eclectic mix of music. The other day, out of boredom, I made a list of ten songs that they played, in the order in which they played them.

1. U2 - Vertigo
2. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
3. Third Eye Blind - Jumper
4. Bob Seger - Main Street
5. Jackson Brown - Roadie Song
6. Fiona Apple - Criminal
7. Elton John - I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
8. Boston - Amanda
9. Jack Johnson - Sitting, Waiting, Wishing
10. Beatles - I Am the Walrus

As you can see, there is little rhyme or reason to this station- seems like that just play whatever the feel like. In a way, I guess it's kind of cool that they aren't beholden to some Clear Channel playlist...but it is still odd.

One final aspect that bears mentioning is the language spoken by the locals. In addition to standard English, most natives of Hawaii speak a form of pidgin that is a blend of English and Hawaiian. Occasionally, one of the locals will begin speaking to me in pidgin and, after seeing the confusion spread across my face, will switch to standard English. It is always clear, however, than I have lost a bit of respect in their eyes. The funny thing is that, when I lived on Oahu from 1978-1981, I actually was able to speak pidgin quite fluently. In the past 24 years, however, most knowledge of the language has escaped me.

The other day, for example, while I was at Richardson's, a local asked me, "How da wata warm?" Now, in print, one can clearly determine that he was asking me about the temperature of the water. When it is spoken, however, the accent and inflection can make it quite difficult to understand. It took me a few seconds to realize what he was asking me and then a few more seconds as I weighed whether or not I should attempt to respond in pidgin or just come out and admit that I am not from here. In my mind, I knew that they appropriate response would be "Da wata plenny cold, bra." However, I was so self-conscious about getting the accent and inflection all wrong that I just replied, "Oh, it's pretty cold." Of course, he immediately switched to standard english, and I probably lost the opportunity to make a new friend.

Well, since this is my last full day here, I need to go figure out what I'm doing today, as well as try to find somebody nice enough to pick me up from the airport tomorrow night. Chances are, some of you might be receiving a phone call soon.