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
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