Finally made it back to the mainland. It has been a bit more than a week since I posted last, but this week has been amazing. Possibly one of the best weeks of my life. Last post, I had just arrived in Maui. The rest of my week in Maui was just as full of awesomeness as the first day. More surfing, more diving, more hiking, and spearfishing. I have always loved surfing and hiking, but after my trip to Okinawa and now this Hawaiian adventure, I have really come to love diving. Basically I really had an awesome time in Hawaii. It was the perfect segue between my time in Japan and my re-entry into my life in America.
Currently, I am on a bus on my way into downtown Seattle. I wrote the above paragraph a couple days ago while I had a few moments. I feel kind of bad about putting these posts off recently. I had done so well keeping up with these weekly posts and now I am completely blowing them off at the time where I am doing a lot of things that would be good to write about. Not saying I want to trade having fun for writing about it, but I am a bit disappointed that I haven’t been able to properly motivate myself to keep up with things on here. Maybe this piece by piece writing approach is a better option now. We shall see.
Anyway, about the last week (almost 2). As I said Maui was amazing. It had all the beauty of Hawaii, but it is much more in tune with what I was expecting to be “Hawaii”.
The main city on Maui is Kahului. That is where the airport is and the walmart, and the main location for bars, restaurants, hotels, and most of the main events. It is no where near as big as Honolulu. There are very few tall buildings and it is pretty spread out for the most part. I went into Kahului one time other than when I was going to the airport, and that was to go to Wal-Mart. I love Wal-Mart.
Other than my Wal-Mart adventure I spent most of my time in Haiku and Paia. Both places were very small towns. They reminded me of Appalachain mountain towns in the way that they were set up. The only part I really recognized as an actual “town” was the main intersection where there was a stop light and many shops all around. All the main street area was for businesses. Most people lived/stayed up the mountain a little ways away from the main street. Paia was a bit closer to Kahului so it was much busier. It had an artsy kind of vibe to it. I wandered around the shops one night while James was at work. Every shop had some sort of art collection on display, and all of the people working at the shops were very friendly to me. I love traveling alone because people seem to find me much more approachable. It is always nice to chat with people from the area. The art and nice people really made for a pretty mellow kind of feeling in town, but then to top it all off everyone kept referring me to this special market there “Mana Foods”, a supermarket focused on Organic, Local, and Fair Trade foods. There were a few big name brands in there but for the most part it was things I had not seen before. It was a huge store too. On the outside it looked like a run down convenience store which may have been the oldest shop in town, but the inside was much bigger than I expected. I assume they have put on several additions through the years. It was a cool store. I got some mangos and a few other things to munch on.. That was all I bought in Paia.
Haiku was more of a local town. Not so touristy. Besides Kahului and Paia, Hana was the other big tourist destination on Maui. It is a really old town and the road to Hana is supposed to be a beautiful rise along the coast. Between Paia and Hana is Haiku. I have heard Haiku described as being known as the last stop for gas before taking the 30 mile trip the rest of the way to Hana. Other than that Haiku was an extremely local mountain town….. On the coast of an island in the middle of the Pacific….
I slept in my tent down the hill from James’ hut most nights. In the morning he would have to do some work in the greenhouse with the tomatoes. I would try to help him but it was pretty delicate work for the most part and I didn’t want to mess anything up so I just chatted with him while he finished up. It was cool being there at the time I was because their first crop of the heirloom tomatoes were becoming ripe so Francesco (James’ Boss/ Partner/ Landlord) was running around town to restaurants and stores all week trying to market these new tomatoes. Every time we saw him he was excited to share some new news about a new customer he had won. He and James would both get excited and would always be discussing things. I was really interested in their operation. They had a brand new greenhouse with full hydroponics set up, and a rain water catchment system. I was super impressed. Growing up, my family always had a garden and my father and I always wanted to try to grow heirloom tomatoes but we knew they were pretty hard to grow and we didn’t have the time/patience. James and Francesco had it done right though.
So most of my days on Maui were spent in the water. The waves were really nice when I was there. I was a bit sketched out at times though. He water is so clear there I could see clearly down to the reef at the bottom. It made me nervous that I could actually see the bottom. It made me feel that it was much closer. Even after I hopped off my board and went down to check the depth, I was still afraid that I would get caught in the wrong spot on a big wave and get slammed into the rocks and coral. I surfed pretty passively, but I caught some fun ones. I really love the waves in Hawaii…
I really love Hawaii in general. Every day I basically did the same thing, but every day was awesome.
On Thursday, my last half-day in Maui, before heading the the airport James and I decided to go check out the Iao valley. There is a big tall rock, kind of a spire/mini mountain popping out of the middle of the valley. It is said to be the phallic stone for the Hawaiian god of the ocean… Really, that is what the sign on the trail said.
We walked up the paved trail then hopped the fence to go on to some more primitive trails along the ridge line. We also hiked down the hill to a little river. I initially James said we were just going to be hiking the paved path so I just wore flip-flops. After we saw the trail beyond the fence I started to regret my choice of footwear, but we went anyway. It would have been difficult in regular shoes. Flip flops really made things interesting.
After out little hike we headed to the airport. On the way there we stopped at a pizza shop, Giannotto’s pizza. When I was in Chile, my main partner in crime Jeff, had mentioned that his uncle had a pizza shop in Hawaii. I said that I had friends there and would be visiting them at some point and I would stop in and say what’s up to his uncle when I did. We were just driving down the road and I saw the pizza shop so I made James stop and we went in and talked to Jeff’s uncle for a few minutes and got some pizza. It was pretty anti-climactic but I did get a free piece if pizza for dropping Jeff’s name.
I just barely made it in time to my flight back to Oahu. My bag actually had to be held until the next flight an hour later. So brendan picked me up from the airport when I landed, took me to work with him then on the way home we had to stop at the airport again. It was ok though, luckily the airport was on the way.
After work Brendan and I got a few beers, then chilled at Brendan’s. Friday, I slept late, finished my taxes and then headed to the Pearl Harbor museum which was really cool.
That night, we went to a comedy show in Waikiki. One of Krysta’s friends was performing as an opening act. The headline comedian was Brian Posehn who was really funny.
After the show we went out to a club with some of Krysta and Brendan’s friends. Then got some pizza before heading home. The next day was wasted sleeping in and recovering.
Sunday was Brendan’s birthday… And Easter. The weekend before, we had planned to climb a trail called Yolomana or “3 peaks” but it was raining a bit then, and we heard that someone had just fallen and gotten hurt pretty bad. Since Sunday was a bit nicer than the week before we decided to give it another try. The hike to the first peak took us about 2 hours or so. It was a pretty good hike. We had to do a bit of mi or rock climbing and some of the paths were right on the edge of steep ridge lines. It was a bit sketchy even when it was dry. We were all saying how we were glad we didn’t try to stubbornly hike it the previous weekend because it would have been dangerous.
The view from the top of the peak was cool. It was a lot of houses and buildings too. It would have been cooler without the houses, but the ocean views were cool.
After reaching the first peak, we were a bit tired, and the second 2 peaks looked a bit more treacherous to get to, so we decided to head back, so we would have time to get some lunch before the afternoon’s lacrosse game.
Since it was Easter Sunday there were not many people out for Lacrosse. There were less than 3 subs per team so everyone was playing a bit lazily. I was on close D and did ok, but the tightness in my hamstrings were still lingering from the past 2 weeks games so I was taking it very easy. I am happy to have been able to play lacrosse the past few weekends, but I am happy to not have the pressure to play this week and will be able to rest my legs.
After lacrosse we all hung out at the field for a couple of hours barbecuing, drinking beer and playing some games. As the sun started to set we headed out, back to the house to have dinner. Krysta cooked a full Thanksgiving day feast for Brendan’s birthday. I was so happy I was around for that. It was so delicious. Krysta also presented me with an Easter basket filled with candy which was “from the Easter Bunny” so she would accept no thanks.
When I left Japan, I was sure I would enjoy my stay in Hawaii. I knew I would have fun hiking and surfing and everything. But I was not at all expecting the hospitality. I knew Brendan and Krysta would help me out and do their best to keep me happy, but they went so far out of their way to make my time in Hawaii the best it could possibly be. Brendan let me use his car the whole time. He picked me up and dropped me off at the airport for 2 trips. Krysta cooked an awesome dinner every night and was very adamant that I did not help cook or do dishes. They invited me out for whatever they were doing. They didnt ask anything of me. I tried to pay for groceries and was refused so I ended up sneaking a few things into the fridge to try and replenish the things I had been eating. All of their friends were really cool as well.
In Japan I always felt welcome, especially by Japanese people, but as an American I was a bit of a black sheep among other foreigners. Most people were not outwardly rude to me, but after a few months there I grew to expect a bit of acrimony whenever I revealed to someone where I was from. It never really bothered me too much, but it was just something that was always in the back of my head when I met a new person. Something that I never felt before, and was looking forward to putting behind me.
I arrived to Hawaii expecting to experience a bit of the same disproval from the Hawaiians. Especially when surfing, but very early on I was surprised how wrong I was. People were very friendly. Always saying hello and looking to “talk story” with me. I still felt a bit guilty though. The main reason I don’t feel that I could live permanently in Hawaii is because i feel like I am invading in a way. Hawaii has been considered a part of the US for a long time, and many of the people that live there are from Asia or the US so it isn’t like I am leading this immigration trend or anything, but I just feel a bit sympathetic towards them. I have always been curious about native cultures and how they were before colonization. I like the idea of small communities working together to live, as opposed to the way people are in big society now; living to work. I am a bit jealous of the native people who have no concerns outside of basic food, water, and shelter. I know colonial groups in basically every area of the world have done a bit to destroy this “simple life”, but Hawaii seems like there is still a bit of native influence surviving there and as an immigrant to Hawaii I would feel like I was taking away from that culture. It may sound stupid and kind of overly-sentimental, but I would feel guilty contributing to the displacement of these people’s culture…. I will say though. It is very tempting. Hawaii is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and I love it there. I am very sad to have left, and do plan to return sometime for vacation. But I just have this little feeling of guilt for contributing (no matter how small the contribution) to the demise of a culture that I wish I was raised in.
For my last day in Hawaii I went to the North Shore to take a little hike in the Waimea valley. There was a huge garden with lots of tropical plants, and some original native Hawaiian villages. It made me even more jealous of the old Hawaiian natives. At the end of the trail there was a pretty cool waterfall too.
After the hike I got some delicious food at a semi-famous north shore food truck called Pupukea Grill. Which is right down the street from a very famous surf break called the Banzai Pipeline. After lunch I drove around the North Shore for a bit and ended up hopping in the water to catch a couple waves at Rocky Point, another break with clear water and a rocky bottom that seemed a bit too shallow. It was fun though. And a good way to end my Hawaiian experience.
Now I am in Seattle and I still feel a bit out of place. It took me a while to get used to Osaka, but now that I am in Seattle I am missing Osaka. Seattle is very cool. The food is great. The beer is awesome and the people are very friendly, although a bit introverted compared to East coast Americans. Washington is a beautiful place though. I was lucky enough to be able to see a good bit of the area north of Seattle when i arrived.
I flew into Bellingham airport rather than Seattle because the ticket was a lot cheaper. I got to Bellingham Wednesday morning and rented a car to drive down to Seth and Nicole’s place in Seattle, and stop at some places along the way. I had about 8 hours to make the 2 hour drive so I asked Nicole to recommend some places to stop along the way. She said that the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival was going on and strongly recommended I check that out. She also recommended that I stop in another small town to check some things out.
The tulips were pretty awesome. The cherry blossom season in Japan (really my whole year in Japan) made me learn to enjoy gardens a lot more. I was curious about the tulip festival. There were so many people there. So many tulips. Tons of different garden set ups plus massive tulip fields of all different colors.
After the tulips I drove a bit farther south and stopped for lunch at this organic, free trade, local co-op store.
Then I made the rest of the way down into the city.
I made it to their house just as Seth was getting home from work. We headed out for Happy Hour at a few places. It seemed like Seth was looking forward to showing off Seattle’s food and beer scene. It did not disappoint.
We got home pretty early from Happy hour and I passed out early since I didnt really get any sleep at all the night before on my flight from Hawaii.
Yesterday I woke up early to take the rental car back then walk around down town. I wandered to the Chihuly Garden and Glass center, a glass art museum/ outdoor garden located just below the Seattle Space Needle.
I wandered around Pike Place Market, and got some amazing food. The market is so big I had to come back today (and probably will return once more before leaving) to see everything. So many delicious foods to sample and buy and so many people walking around. It is a pretty cool place. I love markets in any city, especially open air markets, and especially markets by the ports. There are so many things from so many places. These places always have the best food and the most interesting things to see. Pike Place is a really amazing place.
Today I went to the Seattle Art Museum and explored some restaurants around the market. It just started to rain a bit so I decided to
duck into one of the million and a half coffee shops here and finish this up. I am probably gonna head out and get up with Seth here soon, and I really am ready to finish this post.
I have found that my money is flowing out of my wallet much quicker than anticipated. Traveling and staying with friends gets expensive. There is a lot more temptation and peer pressure to go out and spend money. So now I am thinking this trip may be a few weeks shorter than I originally planned. I am not sure what I will do next week, but I am thinking of heading to CO or back to the East Coast sometime early in the week unless something else comes up. I should probably decide soon though huh?
I hope everyone is enjoying spring so far. Thanks for reading. I hope to not keep you waiting so long for the next post. Cheers.