1) Biking- Bikes are everywhere, daily. Apparently, in Kailua, it is legal to ride both on the street and on the sidewalk on your bike. My roommate has 'beach cruiser' bikes- which seem pretty popular here. They are the old school style- one speed and pedal backwards to brake. I'm having a hard time adjusting to that coming from a 21 speed that I pedal backwards on to stretch my legs...doesn't work so well on this bike, although my legs keep trying.
But the uniquely Hawaiian aspect is what people bike with- which is often surfboards. How they carry a surfboard under one arm (which in my opinion is difficult to do even walking) and bike at the same time is beyond me. They do have a neat contraption here to strap your surfboard onto the side of your bike- freeing both hands. However, I have not seen anyone actually use this yet.
The other day I saw a lady biking with her pet cockatoo on her shoulder...seemed like he was enjoying the breeze!
To top the surfboards, last week, I saw a guy biking and playing the ukulele at the same time. While some might think- 'how dangerous!'...I could do nothing but laugh and say 'that is awesome!' Sorry- no picture as I was driving and playing the harmonica when I saw him...
2) Ohana- this means family in Hawaiian. And quite literally, you are treated like family here. On my second day, I attended a small church group meeting with my friends Jill and Tony. The music director and his 1.5yr old daughter were in attendance. When the girl came into the room- the director started pointing her towards other people who were asking her questions, etc. "Tell Auntie what color your shoes are" and "Go show uncle your dance". At first I was thinking that perhaps the guy was a distant relative of Jill's, the island's not that big after all. But no, each person from their group in turn was called Auntie or Uncle respectively when they were referenced to the girl. Next, we met the guy from the volleyball court on the beach a couple weeks ago (see previous post)- who gave us food, invited us to a BBQ and even hugged/kissed on the cheek as we departed. I discussed this sensation that everyone here seems to view and treat each other with a deeper emotion/connection with my roommate later. She explained that it almost seems like an unspoken tradition here- when you meet someone new, they will go to great lengths to find a common thread in order induct you into their family. Example: "Oh, you live in Kailua- what part? Oh yes, that's near such and such- right? My cousin has a friend who's father used to live there." And then you're in!
My own experience (outside of pre-existing friends) was during my second week on the job. A client with the thickest accent I've heard yet instructed her dog to 'go say hello to Auntie' after I greeted them both when walking in the room. Not that I haven't felt welcomed here all along, but that was a memorable part of settling in on Oahu.
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| Part of my ohana this past summer |
3) Food stuffs- I previously wrote about all the classic laua food I enjoyed during my first week here. Since then, I've had a little bit more here and there. Manapua for example- is a steamed (or baked) dough stuffed with any variety of things from meat to beans to pizza toppings. The tops are marked with a color dot code for what's inside...but kind of fun as a surprise as well! Pineapple is only 99 cents in the supermarket (fantastic!). The farmer's markets are 60-75% food stands, and the rest is more fresh produce, jams, breads, etc. I also recently enjoyed a large fruit called pomelo (or jabong)- kind of grapefruit like in nature, but yellow/green in color. Taro is everywhere- you can get your hamburger on a taro bun, eat boiled taro like you would a potato, and apparently McDonald's has a taro pie here- but only during the summer months. I just missed the taro pie experience this year, although we tried to convince the guy that it's always summer here so 'seasonal' should essentially be year round...
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| pomelo |
4) Beach Parks- I wrote about this a little earlier, but now have experienced a few more sites that seem to be the same setup. At each beach section that is deemed a 'park', there's actually a big grassy expanse on the other side of the dunes from the beach. In reality, a good number of people sit on the grass here when at the beach...presumably to not get as sandy? And there's not buildup of commercial buildings along these strips of beach as well. All beach is public access, although parking is the more restricting factor...leading a big step into the aforementioned biking skills I imagine...
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| Stolen from the Internet, but good shot of what it looks like |
6) Shaka- The classic Hawaiian/surfer wave is the thumb and pinkie finger extended, other fingers folded in and slight oscillating motion in the wrist- called the 'shaka'. I think it's perhaps a little overused in an attempt to emphasize true Hawaiian nature in advertising-- for instance, it is featured on just about every local commercial (restaurants, car dealerships, lawyers). There was also a recent election here and the folks with signs trying to catch you attention while driving would symbol with a shaka vs a wave. However, when used in everyday life, it's pretty cool. I've seen people 'wave' to each other from afar using the shaka..'hey, what's up, things are good' kind of all in one. Also had a guy signal with a shaka when driving the other day- I pulled over to let him through a narrow street first and was thanked with said symbol/wave. This is opposed to the 2-3 finger wave in the mid-atlantic region where you barely lift your hand off the steering wheel (guilty). Other regional waves include the full left arm and hand out the window wave of the south where you'd likely pull over and hold a conversation with the person as well, or the Boston one finger wave- where you wouldn't have let someone else go through first anyway, or at least not without pissing off everyone behind you.
Well, that's all for now....I'm sure there will be more things of note in future. Enjoying my last day off before heading back to work tomorrow. Hope you are all doing well!
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