My Hawaiian Name : Kehaulani

Wednesday, Sept, 19th, 2012

Aloha !

Tonight was magical. My Hula Halau  met at Uncle Roberts to send me off Hawaiian style  and to say their goodbyes .  Uncle Roberts Awa Bar is a well loved local hangout . On Wednesdays, there is a farmers market and crafts being sold.  There is always a wonderful live band playing too. It is the happening place !

We had fun . We met, we talked , we wandered to see the different crafts and jewelry being sold,  we drank, we ate  and listened to a great live band .It was such a happy  relaxing time. Kumu gave me a present . It was what was hand written , in her own handwriting that brought me to tears.

On a small piece of paper , Kumu wrote :
"    Molly

Kehaulani :

The dew of Heaven
A cool breeze from Heaven
You are like the cool dew of the Heavens, which no one  gets( has ) enough of ...... "

Kumu has given me my Hawaiian name. This is such a great honour for me , such a wonderful special gift.

Max gave me a massage at Uncle Roberts . Mahiehie hennaed my left hand. She did such beautiful intricate work with henna on my hand. Ariya made me another book, this time, prints of Hawaiian plants. Kumu gave me a beautiful wooden hair pin , some Hawaiian teas and two beautiful cards of photos of some of the dancers.

The Band was playing "  White Sandy Beach of Hawai'i.." and I thought of someone I loved very much . It was his favourite Hawaiian song.  My mind wandered off for a while listening to that song.

" I saw you in my dreams, we were walking hand in hand , on a white sandy beach , of Hawai'i......"

Then the band started playing Holei .

I,  Kumu, Mahiehie, Ulu , Kau'ilani and Jonathan  got up to the front ' stage ' and danced Holei for all the people at Uncle Roberts'  with the live band playing for us. I could see all the stars shimmering above in the dark night sky .  It was truly incredibly magical for me. I was so very happy when I was dancing Holei  I love that song............

Most special of all was Kumu gave me my Hawaiian name. Kumu told me that the Gods told her what to name me.

My Hawaiian name is Kehaulani.......

This is the meaning of Kehau . Lani means Heavens .

Kehau  :

Origin: Hawaiian

Sex: Female

Unisex Name? No

Meaning: Dew.

Soul Urge: People with the name Kehau have a deep inner desire to serve humanity and to give to others by sharing money, knowledge and experience, or creative and artistic ability.

Expression: People with the name Kehau tend to initiate events, to be leaders rather than followers, with powerful personalities. They tend to be focused on specific goals, experience a wealth of creative new ideas, and have the ability to implement these ideas with efficiency and determination. They tend to be courageous and sometimes aggressive. As unique, creative individuals, they tend to resent authority, and are sometimes stubborn, proud, and impatient.

With much Aloha,
x0x0x0x0x0
Kehaulani

Bud

Aloha !

Its my second to last day here in Hawai'i .I leave tomorrow  I can't believe that time has gone by so quickly.  This morning I was going to go into Hilo at 7:30 a.m. to get some last minute gifts but the person I was going to go with  left early. She didn't know I was going to go . One of the persons that was suppose to go ( that told me to be at Guest Services at 7:30 and I will get a ride ) also ended up working  and I didn't know anything about that. I was surprised to see her working when I went up for an early breakfast . This is the way it is at Kalani . Things are loosy goosy around here , time wise. Plans are made and talked about and sometimes never happens. If you really want something, you have to make it happen yourself.  The only thing that is for sure are the meals being served on time . That is always a given .

Yesterday, at breakfast ( or was it lunch ? )  I sat down with Bud. Bud is so very funny . I am always in stitches when I am around him. He loves teasing me too.

We were talking about how loud the coqui frogs were . Bud said that he didn't  hear them anymore, he is accustom to their evening song. He started telling us at the table " You should hear the howler monkeys  ! In Brazil , when you hear these howler monkeys, you'd think a murder was going on . Someone is getting murdered or about to get murdered. Such lawlessness in the jungle.  Actually, you would want to murder them if you hear them, they're so loud and obnoxious . They just don't stop for hours.  You would love the sound of the Coquis if you ever experienced the sound of the howler monkeys ! "

Every time I see Bud , I always know that I will enjoy my conversations with him immensely. I always learn something new ,and I always laugh myself silly because he is so very funny , in a most  intelligent and dry way.  I think he enjoys the fact that I appreciate him too and that no matter what he is talking about or a quick wit that he slips into the conversation , I fully understand and also have a curiosity to learn and know more.  I ' git ' it !

I told him that I was leaving and the first thing he said to me was " When are you coming back ? "  Yes, they all feel that I will be coming back. Kumu  was the first one that directly said to me "  I know you will come back. "

I have yet to see Bud's paintings . I hear that he paints on very large surfaces. He apparently makes beautiful lace too. I would love to see his art.  He lives in his own home nearby that has no electricity . I think he mentioned that he has 18 cats, give or take  His arms are covered in colourful tattoos and so is most of his body.

His raspy voice has a slight hint of sarcasm when he speaks . Often in my conversations with him , I would simply raise my eyebrows in amusement , with my lips slightly curled upward  , sometimes gently biting my lip to keep from bursting out into laughter.

He teases me about being Canadian all the time and threatens to call Homeland Security about me, that  I am hiding out in the U.S. of  A.  " I can stay here for 6 months, Bud . No questions asked. I'm legal  "  I would remind him.  In fact here at Kalani , I get teased all the time about being Canadian. Chef  Marianna  would say to me  when she is asking me to do something  " Do they do this in Canada ? "  I would laugh and say " Speak more slowly and more louder please. I'm not sure I understand your question ! "  And the whole kitchen will all be laughing.

Bud really thought I was Hawaiian. Ha ! I fooled him with that one. He looked at me one day and asked , ' Are you a local? You must be from Oahu and not from around here. You speak too well  , sound educated , to be from around here. You don't speak pidgin . "  He didn't believe me when I told him that I was not Hawaiian. He told me stories about San Francisco China town where he also lived when he found out that I was Chinese. His Mom was a Canadian , born in Kimberley B.C. "  You are definitely B.C . !  " Barcus laughed, overhearing our conversation . We all laughed .  B.C. also means before Christ. Bud is an older gentleman. But wait ! He asked not to be called a gentleman. He wants to me called ' Bud the barbarian ! "
" Back in the day , there really wasn't a Canadian , U.S. border between Washington State and B.C. Not like how it is now.  " Bud said.  " We all came and went as we pleased , Canadians, Americans. "  

Bud really is a walking encyclopedia . Its beyond being an encyclopedia . He is extremely intelligent , probably one of the most intelligent people I have ever met .  But, he is also down to earth with a great sense of humour.  It is way better to ask Bud if you want to learn about something than to google it . It is so much more entertaining , being educated by Bud with his raspy voice.

This morning, he cam up to the Loft and I heard his voice. " Where's Molly's room ?  Is she here ?   "  Jeanine tells him. I hear a loud knock on my door. " Aloha ! Who is it ? " as I walked to my door.

And there stands Bud. What a nice surprise !  " oh good ! i caught you before you left ! I have something for you ! "  Bud hand me a necklace. " Its a Tibetan Buddhist prayer bead mala . Its high end . I thought you would like this . "

Wow ! What an amazing beautiful gift. The prayer meditation  mala  is made of  various shades of smooth  green beads made of jade . At the end of the mala are other precious stones ( yellow and red ) . At the end of the mala  is a red tassle that feels like horse hair.  It is really beautiful . The beads are so smooth and cool to the touch . Delicate, consistent in shape and yet repetiously grounding . A  soft gentle direct intent focus , in this space, in this very present moment.  Remembrance to appreciate the here and the now . Living in the moment. Appreciation..... Gratitude...... Peace...... Love........ .

Bud would be one of the compelling reasons that I would return to the Big Island.

Bud is a true precious treasure to all mankind. A hidden treasure on the Big island of Hawaii who is definitely off the grid.  I am so blessed and fortunate to have met Bud.

World , this Bud's for you !  Cherish him !

x0x0x0x0x0
With much Aloha,
Molly

Mauna Kea , Third Attempt

Aloha !

Today,  the big plan was to go to Mauna  Kea and go right up to the summit and watch the sunset  from above the clouds. I had made 2 attempts to do this previously and both times, the jeep died part way up .

This afternoon , I was all excited as Beth was going to take me up to Mauna Kea along with Helena and Morgan. This was to be Beth's parting gift to me. Twice , Beth and I were in Venetia's  jeep , and twice, we didn't make it and the jeep had to be towed back to Kalani. This time around, Beth bought a jeep from someone who left Kalani recently . She was told that this jeep can make it up to Mauna Kea. All I can say was this person had really bad mojo and I was a bit trepidatious  to go in this car. I did not want to be surrounded by black energy. This previous owner was purported to be part of a satanic order that required him to pledge/ sell his soul to them. This person would sit and study me and I could always sense when he is doing this even if he is not near . The intense dark energy emanating from him was very strong. At times, I would ignore him , knowing that he was studying me , and sometimes, I would return his gaze with a confident powerful white light looking intently into his dark eyes . My gaze tells him to stay away and back off as he could not touch me or surround me with any of his darkness. . He is powerless around me. Absolutely powerless.  Often times , knowing when he is darting his blackness towards me , I surround myself with white light and he is extinguish. There was always a silent energy war between us, even as we exchange casual pleasantries.  Light versus darkness . My stay at Kalani has taught me a lot of my own metaphysical powers . God is always with me and angels surrounding me. Beth has always said that I was pure light.

Beth did an amazing job in ' clearing ' the dark energy from the previous owner of the jeep.  . When I got into her jeep I felt light and peace.

With permission from Chef Mark , I went into the kitchen  and  made all of us roasted turkey breast sandwiches with lettuce and tomatoes and swiss cheese. I also got apples, and mandarin oranges , some trail mix , and with special permission from George , got 4 pieces of yummy Boston Creme cake for dessert for our Mauna Kea trip.  There were also chocolate chip cookies too , also made by George.  We were going to have a nice dinner picnic up at the summit.  I went to Guest Services and got four parkas for all of us.

Once we got to Saddle Road, Beth's car died. We couldn't believe it. She didn't have AAA and was worried about the cost of towing the jeep back to Kalani. The cost would be 200 plus buckeroos minimum. Beth's car died just like Venetia's . She went looking under the hood of the car. We waited a while and prayed that the car would start again and not stay dead like Venetia's car. Hallelujah , the car started up !  We all decided that we would not attempt to go any further to risk the car completely dying on us again and returned back to Kalani without turning the car off on the way home. We all said to Beth that we did not want to make any stops . If the car was turned off, it may not start again. 200 plus bucks is a lot of money too for towing.

We made it back to Kalani in time for dinner. Beth strongly felt that Poliahu, Goddess of Mauna Kea didn't want us to go up  and thus prevented us from getting up there three times. I strongly felt that this  has nothing to do with it and its all to do with old four wheel drive vehicles that can't make the incline climb .

Casis said to us " Three strikes, you're out ! "

I say in this situation " Not. "

 I have only a few more days at Kalani. My Kalani friends are trying to find a way to get me up to Mauna Kea to watch the sunset...........

With much Aloha,
x0x0x0x
Molly

The Climax

Aloha !

Wow !  I am lost for words..............

Today , I danced ancient hula at Volcanoes National Park , on a grassy stage , facing Halema' uma' u  Crater ,in my own lauhala hula skirt , made with my own hands !!!!!

I woke up at 5:30a.m. to get ready for my last performance in Hawaii . I wandered over to the Lanai to eat some toast before I headed off. Chef Mark gave me a good luck have fun hug . As I was sitting at the Lanai all by myself at 5:50 a.m. ( breakfast is served  at 7:30 a.m. )  , eating my toast, Mark came out to give me some bacon.  Yummmmm!  I needed the protein ! I love bacon. So, breakie was toast with butter and apricot jam , 4 slices of bacon , and a hot steaming  strong cup of English Breakfast Tea. And, I was off ! I  headed down to Hale Aloha as I was to meet Malia there to let her car through the gate.  It was such a lovely morning. Nothing was open . Hale Aloha does not open until 7:30 . I gazed up at the morning sky and saw a beautiful rainbow !  What a wonderful way to start my morning. The rainbow representing God's promises , and His Gifts to me , unspoken with words but heartfelt and deep in heart song and dreams  becoming true and unfolding like a beautiful flower .

 I was enjoying the rainbow when I heard the crunch of footsteps on the  volcanic rock path coming towards me. One of the guests was heading down in my direction. . She was waiting for a Chi Qong class that started at 7:00 a.m. . No one was there yet either. Stevie and Craig taught the Chi Qong class.  They are such a fun couple . I had written about them in one of my earliest blog posts . The funky old V.W.  with the interior held together with duct tape and them giving me a ride on a bumpy gravel road to the lanai one rainy morning in May.

I pointed out the rainbow to her and we watched it for a few minutes before it faded away into the blue sky. I told her why I was down there, standing by the gate , about my hula performance at Volcanoes National Park this morning at 10:30 . She was going to try and come watch the performance. ( I did see her there later. ) It was her last day at Kalani .

Malia finally arrived and she drove us up to the Loft where all my regalia ( costumes ) were . I had a lot of dance stuff to pack. I also had 7 dozen chocolate chip cookies that George baked for me , for the potluck lunch that followed our performance. George is such a sweetheart. George is Kalani's master dessert maker and an amazing baker . I felt really special when he said that he would make the cookies for me without hesitation.

" Where's Hank ? " I asked.

" Oh, I don't know  " Malia responded.

" I thought he was coming too."  Hank is Malia's boyfriend.

" Well, I thought maybe we could drive back to my place to see if he came by or if he is waiting there . Maybe I will drive by his place too to see if he's there. "

And so, as we were heading back to Malia's place, we saw 3 cars go by us , all of them dancers heading towards Volcano. A lot of the dancers live in Seaview.

" Oh, good, we're not that late ! As long as Kumu  arrives after us , we're good ! " Malia said with  relief .
So we drove by her place, no Hank and went by Hank's place, and there he was.

" I thought you may have slept in ! " Hank said to Malia.  Time is so loosey goosey here.

Hank jumps into the car. " Oh, it going to be cold up there, right ? " He jumps out of the car and grabs a sweater , and off we went. The weather pattern changes quickly up at Volcanoes National Park.

" I'm  making  salad for the potluck, Molly. I have sliced the onions , cut the carrots. I am missing the key ingredient , lettuce. We are going to have to get some on the way. "  yes, a key ingredient indeed for the kind
salad she is making.

I laughed. Malia is really funny.She started telling me  about trying to buy  kava  plants to give to Kumu and to  three of the dancers .

" So, I was trying to phone around to all the gardening stores, and no one had any. I had to look on line and I found this place that was advertising  kava plants for sale. I called them up and got their address and told them I was coming right over. When I got to their house , I knocked on the door . Someone on the other side of the door asked me what I wanted and why I was there.  I expected someone to come walking out with a shot gun !  I  told him that I was the one that spoke to them about buying kava plants. Then, Molly, I heard a woman's voice inside saying " Papa, get me my t-shirt " in a heavy southern accent . '"  Next thing I know, an old woman opens the door , wearing granny underpants , with a t-shirt on top. Boy, was  I grateful that she put on a t-shirt. It would not have been a pretty sight ! " She had me laughing , especially when she was imitating the woman's voice. The visual she gave me also was not a pretty sight.

" Oh, but they are the nicest people evah !  The old man came out too wearing these weird shorts and a wife beater t-shirt , his huge belly hanging out.  Man, was I glad he put clothes on too as he would have been a worse sight for my eyes if he was naked. "  Too funny . Malia bought four kava plants .

" And you know, Molly, there was a beat up old red fire truck in their front yard. This place is really off the grid. The fire truck is probably made in the 50's and something you would see in a Beatles' movie. I asked one of my neighbours if that area had a fire department and she said probably. What do you mean probably , i asked . Oh, and she told me that they had a fire truck but they don't know if it works or not. Well, it turns out that the place I got the kava plants from, well, that's the fire truck they use in case of  fire. Only thing is, that man has been taking showers with the fire hose, out in his front yard , stark naked, in full view . I don't think there's much water reserve left in the fire truck ! "

Yes, off the grid , for mainland hippies to come and live off the land .  There are definitely some ' interesting ' people that are not Hawaiians that live around here.  " Papa, get me a t-shirt . "

Malia had me in stitches all the way to Volcanoes National Park. We almost went to a hunting store to get lettuce. but her boyfriend Hank talked her out of it . I shook my head and laughed. A lot of things are really off the grid. " There's these strange dead animals mounted on the walls. Not like deer heads  or bear heads that you would normally see mounted on the walls. I think there's a pig on the wall. They probably found it on the side of the road. "

Malia ended up going to a regular supermarket . Thank goodness for that. She dashed in and within a minute, she was out with a head of lettuce. She was thinking about going up to the Army barracks in Volcanoes National Park to buy lettuce.  Apparently, there is a general store up there. I did not know that. I would think that the lettuce there , if they had any , would be a premium price.

When we arrived at the Visitor's Centre at Volcanoes National Park ,  we quickly unloaded and walked to our performance area , trekking our stuff, taking about three trips in all to get out stuff to a grass wooden hut
where we would change and put all our personal belongings. It was such a cool hut. I felt as if I had stepped back into time , at least several hundred years.

The stage that we danced on was a grassy platform. It was outdoors and the view was spectacular from the grassy stage. We were facing Halema'uma'u  Crater , the home of Pele , Volcano Goddess.  I could see the volcano smoke plumes rise from the Crater  as I danced. It was softly misting gentle rain when we arrived and when the performance started, the sun came out and the sky turned from gray to blue , with big fluffy white clouds. It was most magical. The whole time I danced, I looked out to Halema'uma'u , mesmerized , hypnotized , so drawn to its power . It was incredibly spiritual , magical and powerful . We were dancing for Pele , and not so much for the several hundred people that were sitting on the grassy area below , watching us dance.  The sun became intense.

The last dance we did was Halema'uma'u .  E como.  Come to me......It was a dance of procreation . The dance was a visual of beckoning movements and , lets just say procreation movements.

Ayako came to me after our performance and said, " Well, how was your climax ? " I laughed. She did not realize what she said was a double entendre.  I know what she really meant was how was my last big performance , the reason why I extended my stay in Hawaii , to perform on the Volcano......

She realized what she said and laughed. A dance of procreation . My last dance. The moves require no translation. It was ancient hula in its most primal state. I love the dance .

" On both levels , my climax was amazing and out of this World ! " I replied with a happy smile on my face.

And now, I bask in the warm soft afterglow of my amazing journey these past four and a half months here in Hawaii.......... with much much gratitude and feeling so incredibly loved and blessed......

with much Aloha,
x0x0x0x0
Molly
 

The Home Stretch

Aloha !

Sept,11th, 2012

After the ukulele making class on Saturday , Sept, 8th , Karen drove me to Seaview on the way home to pick more hala leaves. I did not have enough leaves to finish my skirt. Kuane had shown me a good place to pick them several weeks ago.

The hala leaves were inside a thick jungle , off road.  I came prepared this time , bringing shoes that covered my feet . I was able to get about 16 hala leaves . I was so thankful for my gardening gloves. It kept my hands from being sharply pierced and ripped  by the ' thorns' on the edges of the hala leaves and also the' thorns'  running along the spine of the leaves. It was the best $3.00 investment I have ever made.
  
 I dragged  the leaves  ( the leaves were about 7 feet long ) to Mark's jeep. Mark had lent us his jeep for the day.  Karen couldn't open Mark's  trunk . Oh oh !

So, the only way was to have  my arms hanging out the window , holding the hala leaves on the ride home.  Karen couldn't help me because of the sharp thorns on the hala leaves and it took some maneuvering   for me to get into the jeep with my window rolled down , and then have all the hala leaves on the outside of the passenger door , holding all of them with both my hands and doing the best that I could to keep them from touching the sides of the jeep . I was worried that it would scratch the paint off the well used jeep .

As we drove back to Kalani from Seaview , both my arms and part of my body was hanging outside of the jeep  , with both my hands handing onto the hala leaves for dear Life ! " Can you drive a bit slower please ? "   I pleaded to Karen. The speed of the car was really picking up the wind and the hala leaves were flying up , trying to strongly pull themselves out of my hands.  The road back to Kalani was a mini roller coaster with one of the most beautiful views ever along the coastline.

It was quite comical. I had to laugh ! The things that I am doing to make my lauhala skirt . " Oh, I wish I could take a picture of you as the car is moving, with both your arms outside the car window , holding the hala leaves ! " Karen said. Wew ere both laughing.

I just wanted to make it back to Kalani with all my hala leaves. Hallelejah !  Success !!!!!

As soon as the car stopped , Karen rolled up the windows with a push of a button . " Hey, stop !!!!! " I said in a panic. She had rolled my arms up to the top of the car as my body went up with it.  It was funny and not at the same time. It hurt .

Jeesh Louise !  I mean, you knew that my arms were outside , still holding onto the leaves . We were laughing about it the whole time.  I smacked her. Ow !!!!  That hurt me !

It was one of those moments that because you do something so routinely , in spite of visually seeing otherwise , you do still what is routine : Karen rolling the windows up as my arms were still outside.......once the car was parked.  I, myself , would not have done this. Just saying .

I brought all the leaves to the Art Shed to clean and strip , using the kitchen hose to wash and wet the leaves first.

Today, I finished tying on all the lauhala leaves onto my skirt. Oh happy happy day !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow, I will hem the lauhala hula skirt , 10 inches off the ground , as I stand with bare feet. Thankfully , all that is required is cutting . Then, the last onerous part begins. I have to iron each individual leaf , on both sides , with a very hot iron , to flatten the leaves. They are all curled up right now and very hard.  Once ironed , there will be a soft sheen on the leaves and the skirt will balloon out like a ball gown.

Yes, I am in for the home stretch !  I still have to make the leis for my head, wrists and ankles  .  Compared to making the lauhala hula skirt , that is nothing.

The big performance at Volcanoes National Park is only a few days away.

Today, as I put the last hala leaf onto my skirt, I watched the skirt dance in the wind , lifting up joyfully with the ocean breeze..........There was Love and Tears on the Lauhala Hula Skirt.........my deepest respect for the Aina.......

With much Aloha,
x0x0x0x0
Molly

Ukulele Making

Sept 7th/ 8th , 2012

Aloha !

Well the day has come ! Karen and I are going off to Hilo to make our ukulele ! Sami  offered the use of her car for Friday and we were fortunate to have the use of Mark's car for Saturday .  The ukulele making class was over 2 days, Fri , Sept, 7th and Sat, Sept, 8th .

We went to pick up Sami's car keys. She had left it on the kitchen counter  at Peace House . When we got to Peace House, we found the keys but her car was not parked outside. Hmmmm, perhaps she parked it at the Lanai . So, Karen and I trekked up to the Lanai , passing by Guest Services parking lot to make sure it wasn't there either. When we got to the Lanai , no car. " Did you ask her where she parked her car ? "  I said to Karen. " No. "

" Lets ask Mark . "  We went to the kitchen   Mark laughed. " Here , use my car to look for Sami's " he said,   handing us his car keys. So we drove around and we finally found Sami's car , parked at the lower level near the Rainbow Room.  " She never parks here , " Karen said. " I didn't even know there was a parking area here. "  I didn't either. I was glad we found her car.

" Oh, its Friday afternoon . There shouldn't be too much traffic going into Hilo. " Karen tells me. Not the case. As it was, we were a few minutes late.

Each one of us was given a small blue box. It was Tiffany blue. A very special gift inside indeed .

" Don't open it . Put you name on the box. Your ukulele is inside. I repeat, don't open the box. Wait until everyone gets their box and we will open it together ! " Ken Makuakane told everyone. Ken was the one instructing us to make the ukelele. He is a well known Hawaiian singer, songwriter and producer.

As I opened my Tiffiany blue box at the instructed time  , I saw pieces of ukulele along with a small zip lock bag full of very tiny parts.

" Don't open the small zip lock bag ! "  Ken said. That was very good instruction. I can see some people losing the small parts needed , before we even got started.

And then it began . We used wood glue, screw drivers ,  wooden chopsticks , elastic bands , a pencil and a ruler and two grades of sand paper. . I sat beside Cora , ( not sure if that was her name )  the Minister of the church I went to . The chopsticks and elastics were used as a clamping mechanism once the wood glue was applied for each part of the ukelele. It was a most interesting and creative use of  takeout wooden chopsticks.

Over the course of 2 days, we glued , clamped , screwed , sanded , stained , strung , strummed  and tuned our very own ukulele !

Everyone was in a happy mood. There were more than 50 of us there, making our own ukulele  . It was wonderful to see all the different ages there . The youngest was 2 years old and his Mom was making his ukelele for him !

On Friday, it was from 4:00 to 8:00 and on Saturday , it was from 9:00 to 12;00 ish.

The ukulele making class was held in the gymnasium of  Haili Church in Hilo. The Church was founded in 1824. It is a lovely yellow Church.

For dinner, we were fed bright red hot dogs. I was hungry but that hot dog did not sit well with me. It was bright red. Seriously.  I was however, thankful that the Church provided some food as I had not brought anything to eat.

On Saturday morning , Karen was running around trying to get her stuff done before we left and we were 15 minutes late . I knew that would happen. Thank goodness they started only a few minutes before we arrived.
Cora and Nancy had given me a piece of paper to write down an evaluation of the class. I wrote them a 2 pager.

They both cried and hugged me after they read my evaluation. They thought what I wrote was so beautiful.

On my 2 page hand written free form evaluation , I wrote of how I stumbled upon their Church . I wrote of how I felt God's strong presence and Love there, in their Church. Of course, God is everywhere, but I felt his presence ever so strong there. I was descriptive of my heart . I wrote of how it was always my dream to come to Hawaii to learn about Hawaiian culture. Here, in Hawaii , I was given and blessed with abundant opportunities with which I grately and humbly embraced . God is giving me a ukelele to give thanks in music and in song. A mahogany ukulele that I will make with my own hands . How beautiful is that ?  I spoke of the song " I want to Praise you Lord ."  I spoke of many things and wrote many things in my 2 page evaluation . The evaluation was my letter of deep gratitude , of meeting all of their church congregation and there love and warmth towards me , and giving me the opportunity to make my own ukulele , fulfilling a Life dream..........

They both cried reading my letter of homage to their church. They both said that my letter was so beautifully written . What I wrote flowed so effortlessly as it came from my heart.  Two full pages, hand written.

As we were leaving the workshop on saturday with my beautiful ukulele , I went to hug Cora and Nancy goodbye.  They were both sitting on benches . I went behind them and hugged them and they both gave me long hugs and kisses.

Cora was the last one I hugged . It was as if I have known her all my Life. As I hugged her, her tears were streaming down her face , and my tears followed . We held each other for a long time. I felt so incredibly loved. This was only the second time that I have met her.............

And this is how it has been for me in Hawaii. I am so accepted and loved by all that I meet. The Hawaiians treat me as one of their own.

It is like going home , a place that you love so very much , after a very long absence........

I feel so incredibly richly  blessed...........

With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0
Molly

Lauhala Tears

Friday, Sept , 7th ,2012

Aloha !

Well , that long long 6 yards of braid that I spent a long time on was useless for the lauhala hula skirt . Jonathan came this morning to help me put me lauhala hula skirt together. "  I'm not making it for you, I'm just going to show you , " he said. That was all right. I didn't expect him to ' make ' it for me. I had only needed guidance as to how to tie the lauhala leaves onto the waistband properly. Kuane showed me several weeks before , but this was all new to me and I wanted to make sure that it was right from the get go . I didn't want to tie all my lauhala leaves onto the waistband and be told later that it was done wrong. And, of course, there was always some sort of protocol involved.

When Jonathan arrived to the Loft, he started looked around my room as to where to set up to start.
 " There's no where in here " I said. " No, you can tie one end of the waistband to a door knob and the other end to the back of the chair "  he replied. " " Neither will be tall enough for the lauhala leaves . We need to go outside . Kuane showed me. He told me to tie a clothesline between two trees, tie the waistband on the clothesline , and then I can start tying on the lauhala leaves onto the waistband , working at a comfortable height , without the lauhala leaves touching the ground. "

We went outside. I went walking to look for the perfect tree and I found it. So, of course, the discussion went around whether or not I needed a clothesline . The tree was so perfect that all I had to do was to tie my waistband between the two branches with the trailing hemp string that I had left on each end. Hallelujah ! Simplified .

Jonathan looked at the 6 yards of hemp braid that I handed him to tie on the lauhala leaves. " That's too thick ! You can't use this ! "

" I was told to braid a six stranded  hemp rope. That is exactly what I did . It took me a long time to braid 6 yards  with six strands and  you are telling me that I can't use this ?  "  I  could feel the tears pooling in my eyes..

Max drove up and was walking by . " Wow ! Your skirt is looking great ! "  I shook my head .   " Hi Max . Could you please call Ayako for me so that I can ask her how the thickness it should be  for the tying ? I just want to make sure as Kuane told me 6 strands of braided hemp . Jonathan said it was too thick  I need to be 100% sure . " I went into Guest Services with Max  to borrow the phone from Guest Services . Max called his wife Ayako , talks to her for a bit and hands me the phone. After a bit of discussion, Ayako offered to come down to Kalani to see if the thickness was o.k. or not.

When I handed the phone back to John ( Guest Services )  he  mouthed the words " You need a hug ? " as there were people around us. He saw the tears in my eyes. I shook my head and silently said "  Thank you " to him , knowing that he could read my lips.

When I went back to Jonathan , who was waiting for me back at the tree he said " Why are you crying,
girl ? "

" Jonathan, I worked so hard in making this 6 yard braid . When you said that I couldn't use it ,  I felt so frustrated and discouraged and drained .I have put so much time into making this already.  Its all the stress leading up to the performance too . All the stuff that I have to do , that I still have to make , and there really isn't much time to do it as I am working. "

When Ayako arrived a little while later, she agreed with Jonathan that the 6 yard braid was too thick. She had  brought a sample of the thickness it should be. Well, that settles that.  At least , it was definitive. I felt relieved.

" The single strand is thick enough " Ayako said. " Where did you find such thick hemp string ? " Great , I didn't need to braid 6 strands. All that time spend and the strands kept twisting .

" Karen went to buy it for me when she went to Hilo.  I guess the problem was that there is obviously different thicknesses of hemp string and no one was none the wiser for telling me . "

Jonathan felt bad for me. " I will help you tie these on, Molly ."  And so , he started , tying them ever so tightly . He helped me tie a few on and then left , asking me if I wanted to join him and Barcus for a burger as they were heading out of Kalani.

" No, I want to finish this . I want to finish tying on all the lauhala leaves that I have. I know I don't have enough leaves , but I will finish with what I have. "

When Jonathan left, my tears came flooding down.............the picking of the lauhala leaves , the cleaning and removal of all the spiky pokies off the leaves , knowing that it ain't over till its over, knowing that I still have to go pick some more brown lauhala leaves and not knowing when I will have time to do this. The leaves should be picked freshly fallen , no bug holes, all even in colour , no rips or  tears on the leaves . Once gathered, they have to be cleaned and stripped.

I stood there for a while , and watched the wind blow through my lauhala hula skirt ,  lifting the leaves up ever so gently. The lauhala leaves made a soft woody sound. I watched the play of sun and shadow as my hula skirt danced in the wind , anchored between the two branches of a beautiful tree. It truely was a perfect spot and the perfect tree . The tree gave me much needed shade while I worked in the hot summer sun.

My tears continued to fall  freely , thankful for the release of all the stress and disappointment so far . Mostly and finally , I felt a wonderful peace and full of thanksgiving , as I watched appreciatively of my hula skirt being gently lifted by the trade winds blowing off the ocean.........dancing in the wind........

With much Aloha,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly

A Lesson in Patience , a Dance with Hemp Rope

Aloha !

I am so happy happy happy !  Its after 10:00 p.m..  I worked the afternoon shift in the Kitchen today ,got off at 8:00 from the Kitchen , showered , and started braiding . I just finished braiding 6 yards of braided hemp string .  Hallelujah !  I am so happy happy happy !  Do you have any idea how long six yards is and how hard it is braid one long continuous braid , using 6 strands of hemp string ? Every time you fold over a plait, the strings get twisted.  All my Loft ladies that I live with watched me in fascination . I had to wind each double strand into a loose ball and put a hair elastic around it so it would not fall apart . I didn't have any elastic bands and my hair elastics worked alright There was a big hook on a wooden beam in the Loft and I wound the first initial inches of braided hemp rope around the hook to anchor it and away I went , braiding , and stepping back as the braid got longer and longer , patiently unwinding the twisted strings , dancing in spirals around me as I braid . " I think the Universe is trying to tell me something. This definitely is a Lesson in Patience ! "  I said to my friends in the Loft. They all laughed. The string will get twisted together , and slowly , patiently, I untwisted each spiraling dancing string . I had to wear gardening gloves as the hemp string is very thick and coarse. It would have chewed my hands up for sure .

This 6 yards of hemp braid will be used for tying each lauhala leaf onto a waistband that I have already braided last week. The waistband was made out of 9 strands of hemp string braided together.  That was a challenge too .

Jonathan will be helping me tomorrow to tie all the Lauhala leaves onto the waistband with the 6 yards of braided hemp that I just made. I am grateful that Jonathan is helping me. After the leaves are tied on , one by one , I will have to trim them to the right length .. Thank goodness that it only involves cutting it  approximately 10 inches from the ground when I wear it.  No sewing, just cutting. However, that being said , once it has been ' hemmed ' I will have to iron each leaf , one by one, on both sides to make them flat. The leaves are amazingly strong . I have already cut strips from a few of the the leaves to make my wrist and ankle leis.

I am so very happy that this part is done. Truly a Lesson in Patience .

Off to bed I go. I have a busy day tomorrow . After breakfast, Jonathan will help me with my Lauhala Hula Skirt and then in the early afternoon , I am off to Hilo to make my own ukelele !


With much aloha ,
x0x0x0x0
Molly

Botanical Gardens and Kitchen Comradery

Aloha !

Another week has come to a close and another one begins . Several days ago, there was a blue moon. The full moon was so bright that the evening sky looked like early morning all night .

This past Friday ( Aug 31st ) some of us went on a staff trip driving along the scenic Hamakua Coast  to Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens , Akaka Falls and Laupahoehoe Beach Park .I was sitting in the front seat. Kami reminded me that a giant cockroach lived in the van that we were in. Yes, I remembered. I went to Hilo in this van, sitting in a lotus position, with my dress all tightly tucked under me . This was after I saw the giant cockroach scurry across the dash board . When Kami reminded me, my feet immediately went up.

There were so many exotic plants and flowers at Hawai'i Tropical Botanical Gardens . We spent an hour and a half there and I took many pictures . One could spend all day there. It was a very full day and we were all tired by the time we went back to Kalani for dinner. I will have many beautiful photos to paint from. I had taken a lot of pictures of the ocean surf. at Laupahohoe Beach Park.  I love painting the ocean.

Tonight ( Sept 2nd ) it was vegetarian lasagna for dinner. Dessert was almond cake with strawberry sauce.
The almond cake was vegan , sugar free and  gluten free . I was sitting at dinner with Elsa and Wendy and we were all thinking the same thing , that dessert looked like meatloaf with ketchup. Vegan meatloaf with ketchup. The strawberry sauce really looked like ketchup. We were all laughing about it.  " Mom ! The meatloaf ! "   a line from the movie the Wedding Crashers .  " Go ask Oliver for more meatloaf , Elsa ! "  Wendy said. " Yeah, we will get Oliver all confused ! "  Oliver was serving dinner tonight. I once confused him when I said " I want a cup and a bowl on a plate. "  When you serve , it starts with the plates and the bowls. Kalani has bowl soup bowls and cup soup bowls. Well, I wanted a small bowl of soup ( cup size ) and I want the bowl to put Coq au Vin in so that I will get all the yummy wine sauce for dipping my bread.

Well, Oliver thought I said " I want the Coq in the bowl on a plate. "  No, cup, bowl , plate and then the food selection begins.

One day, while the kitchen staff was sitting around eating our lunch before we serve , someone asked Oliver ' What's happening in the outside world ?  "  Oliver lives outside of Kalani . " Same as the inside world " he answered. Good answer. He is very funny. Deadpan .

" Go ask Ryan for more meatloaf and ketchup ! He's doing Hobart ."   ( Hobart is the name of the dishwashing machine and there is a busing station where the dishes get bused. )    " Go ask him Molly ! "  We were all caught up in the silliness of it all. " O.k. I will !  "  I replied. " Oh, this is going to be good  ! I'm gonna watch Molly ! "

So, I went to the dish busing station where Ryan was working Hobart. I had Elsa's plate in my hand , her plate with leftover crumbs and strawberry sauce. It really did look like meatloaf and  ketchup ,  especially since it was getting dark and the dining area was dimly light with candles.

I went up to the window where  Ryan as he was spraying down the dishes . I showed him my plate. " Ryan, can you sneak me some more meatloaf with ketchup ? "  Ryan leans forward to take a closer look . " That's not meatloaf and ketchup ! That's dessert ! " I could hear Elsa laughing herself silly behind me. I too was laughing hard , and so did Ryan.  " Was that an initiation ? " he asked. Ryan is new in the kitchen. " No, we were just being silly . You have to admit, you had to take a second look !  "

This morning , when I was on shift and we were sitting around having our lunch before we served , I was eating purple sweet potato salad. It was quite good. Marianna had made it without any mayonnaise. " Its good, Marianna "  Elsa said. " Yes, there's only mustard in the salad. "  Elsa 's face turned red and she was feeling ill. " I'm allergic to mustard " she said solemnly .  " I swear, I'm not trying to kill you !  Not only did I put mustard in it, I put two mustards in it !  "  Marianna laughed .While initially, we were all laughing , it was soon apparent that Elsa really had an allergic reaction . She wasn't joking around this time.

We work really hard in the kitchen. That is partly dued to low staffing in the kitchen right now.  There were times that it is so hot in the kitchen that it made me feel ill and feel like passing out. We really sweat in the kitchen too. Kami said to me the other day , " I've done boot camps in 130 F and I sweat more in the kitchen than I ever did in the boot camp.  That says it all.

There will always be those who work hard and help others and there will always be those that are slackers. Kalani is no different than anywhere else in this regard.  I do very much enjoy with with my Kitchen Ohana. It doesn't worry me when  I know there are newbies being trained or that I am unofficially in charge of a shift. The operation and routine is now second nature to me. If and when I come back to Kalani , I think I would work in Horticulture . I like Horticulture's work hours better. They don't have to start work at 6:00 a.m. , they get Fri, Sat, Sun off every week , and their work day ends at 4:00 p.m. , and not at 8:00 p.m. like the kitchen. Horticulture is hard work . The only thing is the cutting down of trees and thick vines with small hand saws. I don't know if I can handle that . Cutting 12 Hau branches was more than I wanted to do several weeks ago. And of course , the heavy down pour of rain and the hot heat of mid day . You are working outside after all. Horticulture folks smell much more than us kitchen folk after their shift.

Nah . If I come back to Kalani , I will stay in the kitchen. I will negotiate my hours before I come back ! Within reason , of course.

The days are going by quickly. I have less than 3 weeks here . While I was very  tempted to extend a wee bit longer again because of a Lomi Lomi  course being offered in October, I am ready to go home. School starts for me the day after I get back home...............

I have worked out my name plate to introduce myself to class. That is one of the assignments , how to make one memorable upon first intro.  I bought two beautiful wood sculpted hands at Maku'u Market .  Tonight, I was working on drawing on autograph leaves .  I have inscribed " Kou inoa Molly " ( my name is Molly ) on the autograph leaf along with ocean waves and a palm tree. I am working on several leaves, drawing a hula girl on one, a honu ( sea turtle )  on another, a horse running through grass , and a plumeria flower with the word ' aloha .'  The leaves turn a beautiful soft brown when it eventually dries. Where it is drawn with something sharp , it remains light.

Several of the leaves will be placed on the open hands . This will be my intro to my classmates  to my course ' The Business of Art Practice. "   It will be memorable and I am sure no one else will have an intro like this.

Only a few more weeks and still so much for me to do. I am making a ukelele this coming week !  Beth has promised to take me up to Mauna Kea to see the sunset before I leave.

And the world spins madly on as I sit here and contemplate what else I should draw on the autograph leaves before I go to bed......

shanti.....

With much Aloha,
x0x0x0x0x0x
Molly







 

Making Laulau

Wed , Aug, 29th , 2012

Aloha !

The days are going by faster and faster . Soon, in a matter of weeks, I will be returning home and leaving Hawai'i . The performance at Volcanoes National Park is only two weeks away.  On Monday , when I was coming back from Pahoa with Karen and  Rowela , we saw a double rainbow in the blue sky . The moon was also out , playing hide and seek behind the fluffy white and grey clouds . It will be forever freeze framed in my mind. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me. It would have been such an amazing picture.

Hula practice tonight was intense. The days are counting down to Sept 15th  . The days are also getting shorter. Dawn does not break until around 5:45 a.m. and night falls by the time it is  7:15 p..m.  It is dark when I  get up at 5:30 a.m. for my 6:00 a.m. kitchen shift. There is such a beautiful tranquil peace when I walk to the Lanai at 5 :45. The dawn softly lights up the jungle greenery , and everything is in a gentle brightness , slowly waking  up with the sun. The only sound I hear is the crunch of the rocks beneath my red cowboy work boots , as I walked the trail to work . I too, am slowly waking up with the sun.

Thurs, Aug, 30th, 2012

This morning, a group of us got together and made lau laus !  This was one of Kalani's Ohana Month's many activities for the volunteers, to thank us for all that we do !  It was so much fun and quite the production !

About 15 - 20 of us showed up , ready to make the laulaus . Auntie Dottie was in charge, along with her daughter Nicki and her granddaughter Destiny. Little Destiny is six years old. The  sweetheart was absolutely in charge. She gave us each stacks of taro leaves . The taro leaves are huge , the size of baby elephant ears ! It is a beautiful dark forest green in colour with purple veining on the back of the leaves.  We had to cut the thick veining from the back of the taro leaves . Auntie Dottie said that if  the thick part of the purple veining was not cut off, we would get itchy mouths . Suffice it to say that we were all very thorough and diligent in cutting off the thick purple veins on the backs of the leaves. Once the taro leaves were trimmed from the thick veins , it was washed. In the meantime, some of us were washing the ti leaves and once washed, it was de-boned. There is a centre bone on the ti leaf that has to be removed and it runs from the mid- centre of the leaf right down through to the stem . You can feel where the ' bone ' starts on the leaf. The leaf is flipped over on its back side , a small cut ( or you can bite it )  is made where the bone starts , and you bend the leaf where it is cut ( bitten )  and push the ' bone ' up , lifting and separating it from the leaf , all the way to the end of the stem. Ti leaves are about 2 to 3+ feet long  with the stem .

And, the assembly line begins !   The laulau filling was pork and butter fish combined and the vegetarian one were butternut squash .  Yes, pork and fish together . Sounds not so great but it was actually tasty. Auntie Dottie said that once steamed together with the pork , the butter fish melts in you mouth . ( Guess that's why it is also called butter fish ! )  About 15 of us were lined up on each side of very long tables joined together and covered with plastic. First the fillings , then the taro leaves , then the ti leaves. Several people put fillings on the taro leaves, the taro leaves get passed down to several other people and they in turn wrap the fillings up inside the huge taro leaves . Once this is done, these packages get passed down onto others to be wrapped in a two ti leaves. First, one ti leaf gets wrapped around the taro leaf , then another ti leaf is wrapped around the first ti leaf and tied tightly with the stem of ti leaf into a pretty bright green organic package. Once this is done, it gets placed in a steamer and steamed for at least 5 hours. Auunti Dottie brought a humongous steamer , about six racks high and it was fueled by a huge propane tank. This steamer held about 100 laulaus.All in all, we made about 180 laulaus !

MMMMmmmmm ! They were good. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to try the vegetarian one as I had my dinner saved for me . The steamed taro leaves  melts in your mouth . The ti leaves were not eaten ( nor would you want to eat them ) . As it was, I wasn't at Kalani for dinner as I had hula practice and dinner was saved for me. I shared my laulaus with Po , the resident 14 year old black Lab who is mostly blind and mostly deaf. She sat patiently beside me , and looked at me with her filmy milky eyes.  I wonder how much vision she has. Po almost ran into me in the dark one time. For that matter, I almost ran into her !   I gave her the pork from the laulau . Po would put her head on my lap to remind me that she was still there, waiting.

I love how everything gets used in Hawai'i . It was great that there was no string involved in tying up the laulaus . The ti leaf stem that was attached to the ti leaf used for wrapping was used to tie the laulaus.

So there you have it !   Laulau making ! Endless possibilities with endless fillings !

With much Aloha,
x0x0x0x0x0x0
Molly

The Making Of a Lauhala Hula Skirt/ Angels Around Me

Aloha !

The day had come. I somewhat dreaded having to this. I dreaded making the lauhala hula skirt that I will be wearing on Sept 15th's performance.   I was thankful that Kuani offered to help . Three of us went over to his home in Seaview, The initial plan was for him to show us a spot where we could gather the lauhala leaves and then quickly give us a demo on how to prepare it to attach to a waistband made of hemp cording to make a hula skirt.  Well, it ended up being six hours of continuous work , of which I am so very grateful both to Kuani and to Ulu .

When we arrived at Kuani's home, he walked us down the street to jungle land . I wasn't prepared to walk into the ' jungle ' as all I was wearing was my flipflops. And well, instead of wearing jeans so that I don''t get bitten by mosquitoes and fire ants, I was wearing a strapless short dress. This was what I wore every day if I wasn't working in the kitchen.  Never expected to have to actually get the brown  lauhala leaves , only expected to be shown the location , as that was all that was implied. Well, we had to walk into the jungle just a tiny  bit to get to the hala trees . There were long lauhala leaves everywhere . It was the best place to get the fallen brown lauhala which is what was needed to make the hula skirt. Some of the leaves were more than 7 feet long. Some were probably 10 feet long. The reason I dreaded this was because the lauhala leaves have very sharp spiky ends on both sides of the leaves, and also tiny sharp ones on the back spine of the  leaves . Oh fun. I had brought 10  brown lauhala leaves that I had picked from Kalani. We use the brown fallen ones for the hula skirt. All in all, by the end of the day, I had gathered an additional 35 more brown lauhala leaves with the help of Kuani . I dragged them to the truck , literally. They were very long , and menacingly sharp. The lauhala leaves picked had to be simular in shade of colour, no holes or rips in the leaves. They had to be perfect. That took time to find the good ones.

Kuani showed us how to strip the spikies. We used gardening shears to cut the spikes off each side of the  leaves , and then a small towel to rub against the spine spikes in the opposite direction to remove them. But first, we had to soak the leaves in water to soften them to make them more pliable to work with . We used the hose and Kuani had a huge garbage can that he filled with water so that we could soak the lauhala leaves in. When I say leaves, imagery of maple, oak , apple and peach comes to mind. Lauhala leaves cannot be compared to them visually. Its like comparing lychees to watermelons. Speaking of which , Kalani has huge avocadoes growing near the Loft. Huge. Huge , organic and delicious. I mean huge. but it looks like avocadoes on steroids. But back to lauhala .

Kuani tied a clothesline between two palm trees. He then tied a prepared waistband made out of braided hemp ( length measurement of one's waistline plus 5 inches on each side , ten inches in total , using 9 lengths of hemp cord and braiding them using three strands per section for braiding , to make one very long braided thick braid to be used as a waistband. ) He marked off where the actual waist measurement would be , going   in 5 inches on each side. Another braided hemp was done, this time , 6 yards long , but thinner than the waistband braid. With this 6 yard braided hemp cord, he went 5 inches in and started tying the lauhala leaves, first tying a knot several times to secure it . and then tying on each lauhala leaf on  one by one , folding each over the waistband , with the smooth spineless part of the lauhala leaf being front facing. When you reach the other marking for the 5 inches remaining on the waistband, you stop, and tie a few knots to keep the entire lauhala ties from shifting. Once it is all tied on , it is trimmed to the right length, approximately 10 inches from the ground or just below a pa'u skirt that is worn underneath.

I was so grateful that Kuani helped me Soraya and Ulu with the lauhala skirt. Towards the end, he stripped a bunch for me and both him and Ulu helped me by removing all the tiny spikes from the lauhala leaves spines.

It was 6 hours of straight work. I now ahve all my lauhala leaves prepared. I have made my waistband. Now , all I have left is to make the 6 yards of hemp braid  , tie on the prepared lauhala leaves and then trim then . What a great relief !!!!!!!! After the trimming , I have to iron the lauhala leaves on the skirt flat with a very hot iron. The lauhala skirt looks very primal. It is beautiful when you dance with it on as it makes a soft  woody sound and moves with every subtle movement of one's body . I danced with a borrowed lauhala hula skirt at Puuhonua o Honaunau .

Oh happy day !  Didn't have lunch but all the lauhala leaves are prepared !!!!!! So very happy happy happy !  And better still , no injuries !  I was wearing some tough gardening gloves !

And earlier in the morning, as I was waiting for Soriya to pick me up , I was walking just outside Guest Sevices and I missed getting hit by a falling palm frond  by a mere 2 feet. That's pretty damn close for my liking. Scared the daylights out of me. Its not like you get a warning or anything. The palm fronds are huge . I know they weigh a lot . This one fell from a very tall palm tree.  I asked Barcus at dinner how much a palm frond weighed and he told me between 50 to 100 pounds, depending on the size. Well, the one that fell a few feet away from me probably weighed about 75 pounds . Its length was the width of the road , that's how big it was.  Holy crapola ! It could have killed me. Seriously .

I know I have angels all around me. Thank you God for keeping me safe !

With much Aloha,
x0x0x0x0x0x0
Molly





.

Luau , Volcano Trip, And Joel the Hugbot

Aloha !

The last few days have been really hot here on the Big Island of  Hawaii . The heat just zaps the energy out of me and all I want to do is take a nap in a hammock. " The dog days of summer "  someone said to me today .

Joel left for Burning Man this morning . I took his picture before he left. I told him that I wanted to take a before and after picture . He is going to have a  complete makeover when he is at Burning Man .Burning Man takes place in Black Rock Desert, Nevada every year. Joel said ," I 'm gonna tell them ' today I woke uip, looked in the mirror , and I saw a hippie ! I need a makeover please, do as you please ! ' "  Joel ' s hair is long, well past his shoulders . And then, there's also a long scruffy  beard . It makes him look much older than his 41 years. I told him if he wants to be radical , get a wall street look . He laughed. " What if they give you a spiky mohawk ? " " I'm o.k. with that " he replied. " But that's high maintenance . You will have to gel it to get it to stay stiff. That would be way too fussy for you . "

It was really funny as I did bring my camera to breakfast . While waiting to get served in line , I turned around and there was Joel standing behind me, wearing  a one piece skin tight  silver suit that completely covers him from head to toe . It is so tight that you can see his glasses poking out , creating an interesting frame for his face. And, as Malcolm said, " Its so tight that you can see all his junk. "  It true. We all wondered if Joel could see this , that his genitals were clearly defined fully in this suit. No subject to interpretation there. Joel is going as a ' hugbot '. In fact, he has written hugbot  in small letters on the top right side of his suit. He plans to go around Burning Man giving hugs. Someone said " I mean, would you let you kid get hugged by a man in a skin tight suit that shows all his junk ? "  But , apparently, anything goes at Burning Man .

Now, I back track and write down the things that has transpired in the last week . Last Saturday ( August 18th )  I performed at a Luau to celebrate Volcanoes National Park Observatory's 100th Anniversary. I spent the morning of the Luau making my leis from  freshly picked ti leaves . Beth went with me in the morning to pick plumeria blossoms . We picked a small bucket full of plumeria blossoms. The plumeria blossoms were to be put into clusters for the dancers to wear on our hair when we do the auana . ( modern hula dances ) They were also for making leis for the men .

The luau was manic and fun. There were a few tense moments as we were getting dressed to do the kahiko ( ancient hula ) portion of the performance . When we did the second part of the performance and the ladies all changed into sarongs , we were all more relaxed . I wasn't that hungry so I did not end up eating much of the luau food . So, now, I have a Luau performance in Hawaii under my belt ! :)


The day before the Luau , I went on a staff trip to Volcanoes National Park   We hiked the Kilauea Iki trail . It was a beautitful hike . There is a lovely Gallery next to the Visitor's Centre .  We also went to Jaggar Museum and at the Kilauea Caldera Overlook , we could see the smoke coming out of Halema' uma' u crater.  I was told that when we perform at the Volcano on Sept, 15th, ( my last  dance performance in Hawaii )  the stage is facing Halema' uma'u . Halema' uma'u is believed to be Pele's home. There is definitely great energy that emanates from the Land ...............all surrounding .

On this trip , we also went to see Thurston Lava Tube and the petroglyphs  When we arrives at a beautiful spot to see a sea arch , I said to Michael " Do I have to walk down with you guys ? Can I just stay here and wait for you? This place is so beautiful . I just want to stand here and watch the ocean. "  I though the group was heading for the washrooms and I didn't want to walk with them and wait .

" Molly , this is Holei . "  Michael said smiling. " you know, the song " O Kalapana....."   "  Really ?   I love that song ! I am doing a hula at a Luau to that song tomorrow ! Wow !  This gives it even more meaning when I dance tomorrow !  "   Oh, Holei is so beautiful . Holei , the place, is so beautiful , and Holei , the song and hula, is also so beautiful. On an earlier blog , I attached a link to the song ' Holei ."

Here it is , " Holei. "  This one is different from the one previous.  It is a beautiful hula. The ukelele and guitar paying is awesome .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn5h7vgSilU

Here is another two versions to the same song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmVGxgMPk9Q


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_vQX7pX7Dg


And, last but not least, this is the best one of all ! I can't believe I just found this !!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Literally just found it right this moment . This is the one I am dancing to !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6JhWFDIv4o


" Holei is my favourite hula. The connection of being right there in Holei and also dancing to the song makes it so very special and meaningful to me.

We saw the Sea Arch in Holei and walked down further and saw where the lava covered the road in Kalapana .........

Tomorrow, I am gathering brown fallen hala leaves to make my lahala hula skirt. It will be a lot of work and I have 3 weeks before the dance performance. I have also braided the waistband that the hala leaves will be attached to . Fun. While I am not trying to manifest injury by speaking of its possibility , I can foresee that there will be a few . The hala  leaves have sharp spikes along the edges  I just discovered that there are also tiny sharp spikes along the spine of the long leaves. Oh fun. I have to strip it all . Oh fun . On Saturday, I will be given a lesson on making the lahala  hula skirt.  I have to make it as that will be what I am wearing for the performance on Sept, 15th !

O.k. I am caught up for now !  Kind of ! Little Ariya brought me a beautiful shell from the beach yesterday.
He gives my great joy.

With much Aloha,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly





.

Today's Talk Story : Painting An Outdoor Wall Mural

Aloha !

The days are going by faster and faster. I haven't been sleeping well the last few days and today , I slept in. I didn't show up for breakfast until almost 9:00 . Breakfast ends at 8:30 , although because there is a Yoga Teacher Training going on all month , the breakfast bar is left out for them to have their breakfast at 9:15. I had only wanted toast . I went into the kitchen area anyways , through the breakfast bar and asked Mark if it was o.k. for me to get some fruit as technically, the regular breakfast was over. I told him I wasn't feeling very well and I had slept in. Good thing I wasn't working today. Mark Ceranski is such a sweetheart . He told me that I was V.I.P. and that I am always welcomed before hours or after hours. I adore him. He is my favourite chef .  He offered to make me anything I wanted to eat for breakfast. I didn't want to trouble him . I had only wanted some pineapple and watermelon to eat with my toast. I also took a very tiny piece of spinach and cheese frittata that was in the hot breakfast bar area.  . It was more than enough , along with my cup of Kona coffee and orange juice.

When I sat down , Liz, the resident artist came towards me, with a frown on her face. " I though you were coming to paint at 8:30. "  She was looking at her watch and we both knew full well what time it was. We had made tentative plans the day before to meet to paint on a wall mural that she is overseeing . She had wanted to go to a early morning yoga class and said to meet at 10:15 . At the same time she had said that, she wanted to go to another class also that started from 10:30 to 12:00 . So, it was a mix up of times as she didn't not relay to me that she had changed her mind and wanted to go to a later class. I was taken off guard by her annoyance . 10:15 a.m. means 10:15 a.m. . I was actually early , by the way I see it.  Nonetheless, after her wanting to go to the 10:30 class and some frustrated decisions , I quickly ate my breakfast and started to paint . I had no plans. I was in no hurry to get anywhere. I was ready to paint at the appointed time: 10:15 .

Liz is here at Kalani to do an outdoor wall mural along the outside kitchen wall where the dishes get bused . It is great as that wall space really needs to be beautified .  My portion was finished today. I painted a hula girl by the volcano and also an i' iwi bird in flight , with its beak in a lehua blossom . I had wanted to paint an ocean scene of the Point but there is not enough time . I am happy that I was able to paint what I did . This was my way of giving back to Kalani .

Another one of my dreams was fulfilled today. Before I came to Hawaii , I wanted to paint outdoors in Hawaii . Well, while I have not painted pleine air technically , I would say that painting a wall mural outside is painting outdoors, wouldn't you ?  I was using outdoor paint. I was not fond of the limited colour choices , and there was no black , nor white, but I made do with the colours that we had.  The blue colour was not a true blue but a gray blue , the red colour was not a true red but an orange red , the yellow was o.k. but on the light side , and the green was a flat pale olive green , and last but not least, a flat dull Barney purple. And thems all the colours, folks !  If at least the colours were true, mixing new colours would have been alright, but as it is, the colour tones were not very good to begin with so the mixing of colours were not so appealing either. Working on a nubbly wall was interesting also. I was happy to participate. Liz said " Well , if I get commissioned again to do a big wall mural, I know who to call . Molly in Vancouver and Hanna in Hamburg . "  Hanna joined us in painting also. Hanna is a really good painter and has sold a lot of her work.

The second attempt to Mauna Kea several weeks ago was unsuccessful as Ventia's car broke down again . I performed at a Luau last week . It was manic and it was fun . More about the Luau performance in another  later blog. I am going on a road trip this next week and will be going to Hawi . I am working on my lahala skirt for hula , for the Sept 15 performance on the volcano.  More about the lahala skirt in a later blog. As you see, much has happened .

Today, for Hawaiian Cultural Studies , Uncle Fai O  came to talk to us. He came to ' talk story ' to us. He talked about his childhood in Kalapana . It was really interesting . He showed us a slide show of old pictures of his grandfather and grandmother and family.........I love those old black and white photos. In the background of the slide show , the song " Holei " was playing . It is a beautiful song. I learned a hula to Holei and performed it at the Luau last week. It is my favourite hula.

Here's a version of the song. Uncle Robert's Awa Bar is not far from Kalani .  The hula performed here is not the same as the one I was taught. The guy's pretty good !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lavq_DtQOL8


I visited Holei last week, just one day before I performed at the Luau........more about that too on another blog at a later time . Holei is a real place, very beautiful.

Maggie, the intern chef here at Kalani is leaving tomorrow at 4:00 a.m.  She is an amazing chef . I am so very proud of her . Maggie is in her early  20's  .  " I love you " she said to me when we were hugging our goodbyes. Those three little words brought tears to my eyes . They were spoken to me so sweetly and sincerely.  I sat at the dinner table crying after my goodbye hug with Maggie. I was deeply touched by her saying that. I felt loved. There was so much  dinner chatter all around me , and Joel was sitting across from me. He was looking at me with great concern . " I'm o.k. " I said to him. He saw me and Maggie hugging. I just sat there and cry . I will dearly miss Maggie very much.  She was like a daughter to me. Through my tears, I saw  Joel's  fork heading towards my plate from across the table . I laughed. " Go ahead, I was going to offer it to you anyways. "  I had left some purple sweet potatoes on my plate. I love purple sweet potatoes but I wasn't fond of the coconut milk and the ginger the chef had mashed it with . I like my purple sweet potato plain , especially baked . When it is baked , it retains its deep amethyst purple colour.  I pushed my plate towards Joel and he quickly ate my purple sweet potatoes.

There had been many leaving Kalani to go back to the real world , and new people coming weekly .

Soon, it will be Autumn........and another Season . My time too is numbered here in Hawaii.........for now.

With much Aloha,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly

Pu' ukohola Heiau Cultural Festival / Black Sand Beach/ Hapuna Beach

Aug, 12th , 2012


Aloha !

Wow !  I had such a great weekend already and Sunday is not even over yet !  I am on my Morning Kitchen break so I will write as much as I can as I will be heading off to Mauna Kea this afternoon  to watch the sunset and also watch the Perseid Meteor Shower . There really is no other better place to see this than way up on Mauna Kea !!!!!   Shooting stars !  Wow !  Awesome ! I can hardly wait. Parkas have been reserved from Guest Services and camera battery getting charged as we speak . Got to find me some socks , throw a hoodie in a backpack with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some trail mix and water, and I good for the rest of the night up at Mauna Kea !

I slept well last night . Thank goodness for that as I didn't sleep at all the night before , but I will get to that.
Venetia , Beth, Karen, Michael and I   left right after breakfast on Friday, Aug, 10th and it was our weekend on Kona side. We left Friday , spent the night in the A-frames ( aka huts . )  at Kapuna Beach and then spent the whole day at Pu'ukohola Heiau where there was a weekend long Cultural Festival  happening .

We were all so happy heading out of Kalani  Friday morning !  Our first stop was Punaluu Black Sand Beach . Oh, there were so many honu(s)  on the beach !!!!!!  They were all sun bathing either on the rocks or the beach . This was the first time I have ever been really close to one. I was mere inches away and took some great photos. These big beautiful turtles ( honu )  have such a gentle aura around them ,,,,beautiful old wise souls. Some were swimming out in the ocean , some were trying to get onto the black sand beach but getting swept back into the ocean from the strong returning tides. Palm trees swaying , jagged lava rock , black sand beach with white frothy ocean lapping the shoreline , soft grey and brown honu ( s)  and the many colours of the blue ocean surf and waves .... Oh , it was simply beautiful . Picture perfect , freeze framed in my mind forever.

We spent about an hour at Black Sand Beach . Our next stop was Punaluu Bake Shop where we enjoyed their famous malasadas . It was so nice to sit outside in the gazebo, surrounded by beautiful gardens.

Then, off to check in at our hut and to Hapuna Beach !  Hapuna Beach is close to Mauna Kea Beach where I went a few weeks ago. Sorry, but you will see the word beautiful a lot in this blog post ( aka my open diary .)   Hapuna Beach is so very beautiful !!!!! We spent the entire afternoon there . Our  ' hut ' was lovely. Very simple but clean. We were expecting bunk beds but it was actually two very long wide benchs alongside of the A-frame . You can sleep two people on each bench , lengthwise . Michael slept on the floor as there was five of us. In the middle of the room was a picnic table. It was more than adequate for sleeping . Just outside our A-frame was a tap where we could get water for washing and there was also a washroom nearby that had a shower .  A big garbage can was just outside the A-frame so that garbage could easily be disposed of.  Hmmm....but, the word but , there were lots of ants inside. little tiny ants, crawling all over our sleeping area . Venetia was beside herself. " They love me ! They are going to bite me all night. I can't sleep ehre. I might be sleeping in the car ! " She sprayed the area with her own aromatherapy blend of lavender oil and peppermint oil . The room smelled great but alas , the ants were everywhere , even on the cement floor ! "  She went to the check-in office and came back with a huge container with an attached spray hose . She had brought back a container of industrial strength ant terminator. She was so happy spraying the entire outside area of the A-frame. Karen was not too happy about it as that stuff is toxic and poisonous . Ants were not the only thing it kills. Oh well.

The gorgeous sunny day at Kapuna Beach help lift Venetia's mood. We went back to our A-frame to get cleaned up for dinner.  " Don't go in the shower, Molly ! There are two huge cockroaches there. There was a bee in there too and it stung me. Look, I am swelling up really bad !"  Venetia shows me her foot. Karen gave her some benadryl . " I swear, I hate bugs but they love me. Mosquitoes hide in the toilet bowl and they bite my bum ! "  Venetia was going on and on. Everyone was laughing , envisioning mosquitoes hiding for the sole sake of biting someone's behind. Its like a cartoon. Funny !

Dinner was at the Blue Dragon Restaurant in Kawaihae . It was dark already . When we walked into the restaurant , there was a live band playing .I looked up and saw the dark sky and twinkling stars. Hey, every room you look up , you see  the dark sky and twinkling stars !  The entire restaurant had walls but no ceilings , with the exception of the kitchen and bathroom area. What a cool concept . What if it rains ?  Well, it seldom rains on Kona side.  Seldom.  It is almost always hot and sunny  or overcast . As it was , it was still very warm  , a perfect night to be dining outside . The whole restaurant is one big ' patio ' with different rooms and candle light for ambience .

Sleeping that night in the A-frame ( hut )  was challenging. The bed consisted of one long raised bench . I did not have an air mattress so I used a yoga mat . Well, that did not help at all. I have come to the conclusion that I can no longer sleep on a flat hard surface . The wind howled all night and whipped through the screen windows of the A'frame. As I lay on the hard bench , the wind was blowing my hair all around my face. I pulled my hair back but the wind was still blowing so hard that the small stray hairs were tickling my face. The powerful wind even raised my blanket off me. We may as well be sleeping outside. The wind howled loudly all night . As I laid there , the crescent moon came out and shone brightly on me,  moonbeams on my restless body.  I watched the moon playing hide and seek with night clouds , the huge stars glittering above. I did not sleep a wink .

I got up at 5:30 a.m. and we all left around 6:15 a.m. to go to Pu'ukohala Heiau for theCultural Festival happening there.  The Festival started at 6:30 a.m. There was to be a reenactment of a battle scene , along with chanting and all the different tribes making offerings . We were there for an hour and a half , watching all the procession of the different tribes . After an hour and a half , it suddenly ended . All of us were waiting for the final battle. Nothing happened. We were then advised that due to some injuries from rehearsal the previous day , they have decided not to do the mock battle. By then , it was after 8:00 a.m. so we all headed out for breakfast . After breakfast , we went back to Pu'ukohola Heiau . I spent an hour and a half making my own ipu ( gourd ) . I took the ipu to the ocean and filled it with sand and water . I shook it all around to loosen the interior  of the gourd . I would sit on the beach with my ipu filled with sand and water , and swirled it around on the beach sand. I also scrubbed and sanded it with the coconut husk . Then I would go into the ocean and empty the sand and any gourd interior that loosen and start the whole process again. This went on for an hour and a half . It was a form of meditation for me :  going into the ocean , filling the ipu  with ocean water , back to the beach , pouring and packing sand into the ipu , shaking and swirling the ipu to loosen the inside stuff up , sanding and polishing the exterior with coconut husks .

We spent all day there. I did a lot of crafts . I also made a wood  block print .out of bamboo.  Now, I can print my own design on fabrics !

It was a very full two days. For the first time ever since I arrived in Hawaii three months ago , I felt like I was on vacation. The A frame costed me $5.00 for my share and the gas money ( my share ) was $10.00 , totaling $15.00 . Pretty sweet for a weekend getaway full of sun , sand , beautiful beaches and culture !!!!!!!

With much Aloha,
Molly

Ariya , A Beautiful Boy with a Pure, Kind and Loving Heart

August 7th, 2012

Aloha !

It was such a busy day today. Kalani is at full capacity and those of us who are working in the kitchen are working really hard to feed so many. There is a Yoga Teacher Training happening at Kalani that is a month long course ( entire month of  August ) and these yogis have a later breakfast due to their schedule so it makes it challenging for the Kitchen to be serving 2 breakfasts at 2 different times and also trying to prep and do lunch in a matter of hours . After my morning shift  ( 6:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. )  , I showered and then took a nap.  It was so hot and the heat just zaps any residual energy I had out of me.  I did a  bit of painting and then headed off  for dinner . As I was walking to the Lanai , I saw Ariya  and his Mom . Ariya had a homemade bow and arrow and was shooting at some trees.

The sweetheart had been sick with the flu. I looked after Ariya the Sunday afternoon previous , and we had played games in the Lounge ( we played Othello ) read a few books , and then I took him to the Art Shed and we painted. I was going to take him to lunch when Ariya started holding his tummy , " Molly, my stomach hurts "  , and he laid down on the grass.  He got up  and said, " I got to pooh pooh . "  So, we went to the washroom, I disinfected the toilet seat and down he sat  , for quite a while . The darling was sitting in a lotus pose , on the toilet. Well, he did some major business in that toilet bowl and he was rather pleased with
himself. I didn't know that much could come out of a five year old boy.

We went back to the Art Shed to get the lovely painting he painted and also some stickers ,. all ready for lunch , when he had another sudden spell of stomach pain and laid down on the grass again . I got Clint to give us a ride back to the Loft and I had him laying down on my bed . The little darling was drifting off into sleep and he felt warm to me so I started fanning him with a beautiful fan that I had bought last year when I was in Beijing.. He smiled drowsily at me when I started fanning him . He looked so beautiful sleeping . Ariya is a very beautiful child , half Japanese and half Caucasian . He has long blond hair.  Very long blond hair ,about three inches past his shoulders. He is often mistaken for a girl.  

When his parents Max and Ayako came , he was half asleep . This was the beginning of his flu that lasted a whole week.

Ariya showed me his homemade bow . It was made from a curved branch , with a thin bungee cord  tied at both ends. His arrow was a small branch that had been frayed at one end to look like the back end of an arrow. He handed me the bow and arrow to let me try . He was impressed when I hit the tree . This is a homemade bow afterall and has no where near the velocity that a regular bow and arrow would have when it is shot with. Still, it was perfect for a five year old boy , and it did not cost a penny  . These are the best kind of toys .

" Molly, I have something for you ! " Ariya said excitedly , remembering all of a sudden. " Ariya, we left it in the car. I will go get it ," Max added.  " I want to go with you !  " Ariya runs beside his Dad.

" Ariya made something for you, Molly ! "  Ayako smiled.

When Ariya ran  back, he had a present for me. It was wrapped with a lei gift wrap paper. " Ariya insisted that we went to the store to buy the gift wrap. He wanted your present to be wrapped. "  Oh, this just melted my heart !.........On the present, on the wrapping paper was a huge pink paper heart , glued to the gift wrap . On it said " To Molly , From Ariya. "

I carefully opened the present. My heart flooded with Love and amazement when I saw what had Ariya made for me. The sweetheart had made me a book . Each page was numbered.

On the First Page, the cover of the book , It has a beautiful face and the word Molly on top of the page, and the words Love written twice on the bottom , once as L O V E and the second was written as  E V O L , with the E and the L facing the opposite  way. On the first page too was a heart and a happy face flower.  On the second page, there was a picture of a little boy, with the words " I Love you " coming out of his mouth. There was a sun and a house with a happy face on it  and trees in the shape of the letter Y . On the third page was the number 3 written backwards and the picture was a sun , a heart in the sky, and a boy sailing in a sailboat, with his arms  stretched out , the blue ocean filling the bottom of the page.  The sail had a little fish on it . The arms stretched out was to signify  a big hug. On the fourth page were two big flowers ,and a boy with a heart circling around his body, his arms now even bigger and  more outstretched. This was for an even bigger hug. On the fifth page was a really big heart centering the page, with  a medium size heart and a smaller heart inside the medium size heart. There was a flower in the centre of the heart , and within the heart was a smiling boy, with his arms almost the width of the page , signifying even a bigger hug.On the sixth page, was a house, with a big smile on it, and a smiling boy . Beside the house were 3 quick vertical lines to suggest either trees or grass,  on both sides of the house. On top of the page, it said " I Love YOU."
On page 7 , he wrote the number 7 facing the opposite way , and a big heart with the words " The End "  in the middle , a flower on each side of the heart .............

My heart truly melted . I have so much Love for little Ariya. I was deeply touched that he made this beautiful book for me. I will always treasure this book. It is one of the best gifts I have ever received . I feel so loved and so special that a little boy would make me such a beautiful book. The pictures are so endearing .

I said to Beth , "  Everything I have asked for has come true in Hawaii . Even though I don't want to be in a relationship right now, I thought, hey, I will ask God and the Universe to send me a Beautiful Man with a pure , kind and loving heart.  God has a sense of humour . He  gave me a five year old boy  !  "

We both laughed.  " Well, Molly, you are going to have to be more age specific. Ask for a certain age between whatever it is you want ! "

I am very happy that my wish turned out to be a five year old boy named Ariya.

Ariya, a beautiful boy with a pure, kind and loving heart.  A  true Love and Joy in my Life.

With much aloha,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly
 

Literacy , Bouillabaisse and Options

Aloha !

Its been a while since I wrote on my blog .  Its not that things have not been happening , its just that surprisingly, I didn't feel the urge to write down my thoughts lately, as I usually do .

Last week, while I was working at Hale Aloha , one of the guests came in. She was from Switzerland. She asked what those little creatures were called, the ones that are running around all over the place.

" Oh, its a mango ! " the reception person who was working with me said . Now you have to understand that English is her first language and her only language. She turned and looked at me for confirmation and I really had to bite my lip to keep from bursting out into laughter. She took a look at my face and retracted her statement .   "  Oh, I mean it sounds like a mango. Mango's a fruit ! tee hee !  I love mangoes What is that animal's name, Molly ? "    DUH !

" It called a mongoose, "  I told them both. So, it went on for a while, with me helping the Swiss Lady pronouncing mongoose . " MONgose ! ."   " No , its mon - goose .  You don't need to put a strong emphasis on the ' mon ' part. "  " MonGOSS !  "    "  No, you you have to stretch out the O sound , as in oo  " . " MANgos. "    "  No, not man  , its mon . Mon - gooooooose .  She left finally saying man-GOES , with a Swiss accented stress on ' GOES '  . She just wasn't able to get rid of the first word that she was told.  It was the brilliant receptionist that has cemented mangoes in the Swiss lady's head.  Let me know if you see mangoes running around in Hawaii. Little furry ' mangoes '  , running around, scurrying under the jungle bushes and around the palm trees. .  They are a beige brown and not a mixture of green , red or orange.  I catch the Swiss by surprise all the time when they hear that one of my favourite places in the World is Lauterbrunnen. Many years ago, I stayed there and also hiked in the Swiss Alps.

Today at lunch , I was having a conversation with Steve. Steve is not his real name , and I  am using Steve to respect his privacy . Ultimately, someone at Kalani will stumble upon my blog and if  I use his real name , well, all of Kalani will know who it is. Somehow, the conversation ended up with Steve telling me that he didn't learn to read until he was in his mid-40's. That didn't surprise me. There are many people out there like Steve. Somehow , they got lost through Society's cracks and School systems. Unfortunately, the signs were all there, but no one took the time to pay attention and follow through with care , to teach a young child how to read.

" You must have a photographic memory "  I said to Steve. He nodded with pride. " You know, I have always felt that people who cannot read often have amazing photographic memories . They are extremely intelligent and resourceful too. They have to be, to hide their illiteracy from their family, friends and co-workers. You become extremely resourceful in adapting to the fact that you cannot read labels , directions, job applications or books . "

Steve could see paragraphs , and be able to re-write the same words from memory , not having any idea what he was writing . I told him that I was a volunteer Literacy Tutor for children Grade Three and Grade Four. The look of gratitude in his eyes when I told him this melted my heart. " You ' git ' them before they get lost in the system , Molly !  "   " Yes, that is my goal , Steve. I have 7 kids that I tutor and they are all very bright . "

Malcolm sits down across from me with her lunch. " You have 7 kids, Molly ????????? !!!!!!!! "  She had only heard part of the sentence. Steve and I laughed . "  I tutor 7 kids. I personally do not have 7
children . "

Malcolm laughed with relief . " I mean, you're too young to have seven kids. I guess its possible but there would have to be at least 2 sets of triplets . " I just shook my head and laughed . Yes, it would be nice to get it all over with  , but the thought of breast feeding triplets will be a full time job in itself. Time and time again , Kalani folks think I am in my early 30's . I am a female version of Benjamin Button.

And, while Marilyn was sitting down beside me for lunch, she offered me some dry looking puffed wheat cylindrical 3 inch diameter crackers. You know the ones I mean . The ones that will fill you up and taste like sawdust , not that I have ever eaten sawdust. " They're really good, Molly ! They're made with corn and flavoured with sesame. "  " Well, if its flavoured with sesame, I will try a tiny piece . "  Now, sesame oil is very strong and can overpower most things. Sure enough, I tasted sesame oil and not sawdust. it made the cracker palatable. " That's not bad . Not as bad as I thought it would be. All I can taste is sesame , "  I told Marilyn. Marilyn carefully removed 2 crackers from the bag . They are somewhat fragile , in a styrofoam kinda way. Oh, they can taste like styrofoam too , not that I have ever tasted styrofoam either.  I laughed at what Marilyn did next. She took 2 crackers , spread some Reuben Sandwich sauce  on each side of the cracker , and then put a thick layer of BBQ potato chips in between the crackers .  She made a BBQ potato chip sandwich . " That looks really healthy !!!! "  I laughed, with an amused look on my face. Marilyn is not a youngster . She is probably in her late 60's , perhaps even somewhere in the 70's. She is, to my knowledge, a vegetarian also.

And Chef Mark  made a most delicious dinner last night . He made bouillabaisse full of scallops, shrimp and fish . Oh, it was so YUMMMMMM!!!!!! I was in food comatose heaven !  He is my favorite chef and I love working with him.  I was plating the dessert yesterday . George, Kalani's pastry chef made some rich chocolate brownies. He left specific instructions as to how to cut the brownies that were baked in large hotel pans. He wrote "   Two of the hotel pans, cut 8 x 5 and the third hotel pan , cut 12 x 5 . Plate on large platters. On the 12 x 5 plated pieces , write on food description " 50% less fat and sugar . "    I laughed when I read that . Kalani has small signs on all the food served , whether it is gluten free, vegetarian , vegan, has  nuts, onions, garlic , dairy, etc. mark laughed too and shook his head.

' No one's eating the brownies that are marked ' 50% less fat and sugar ! "  I told Mark . These weren't even half the size of the 8 x 5 ( 40 pieces cut .)  They were the same brownies, only cut slightly smaller.  Too funny !  " Take the sign down ! George's plan didn't work ! People are still taking the larger pieces ! "  Mark responded.   We all had a good chuckle about that.

Kalani caters to so much restricted diets that it makes for cooking food a challenge in the kitchen. During a Kitchen Appreciation Party , we were going to make s'mores over a campfire. " Can we have gluten free , sugar free graham crackers ?  I want sugar free marshmallows ! Non-dairy chocolate too !  I want animal cruelty free marshmallows !  "  We all put in our too bits. It gets to be a bit much. No, none of the stuff we jokingly verbally tossed out exists, to my knowledge. If people are vegan or vegetarian , why don't they create something new, instead of making a regular great food ' vegan ' or ' vegetarian. '  Reuben sandwiches were served for lunch today . When I went through the line to get my food , I said " I want the real Reuben ! "   the guy beside me laughed. There was a vegan option for Reuben sandwiches and also gluten free option too. mark also made a bouillabaisse with tofu and he refused to call it tofu bouillabaisse . The sign said " tofu option. "   I am in TOTAL agreeance with him. It is time that vegetarians and vegans create their own foods and not change some great old time honoured favourites into bland tasting saw dust rubbery textured poor facsimiles of the real thing. There really is nothing like the real thing , in anything .

Yes, if you eat only half the portion , you have saved yourself 50% less fat and 50% less sugar.  Rocket science.

With much aloha,
x0x0x0x0x0
Molly