Hmm… okay so the journey to WWOOF Hawaii on the rainbow Plantation begins. Well the first airplane was exciting, leaving Oregon just minutes before the cold storm hits. We’re excited we’re happy. Get to San Francisco, eh another airport, eat overpriced food (soon to be a reoccurring theme : ) catch the long five hour flight, look out the window, play cards, listen to music, breakdown and buy a seven dollar snack box, pretty good but not fulfilling. After a total of four flights and several confusing “are we in the right place” “where is our luggage again” transactions, we hit Hawaii. The flight over Honolulu was pretty cool with the lights. Everything is built sloping downwards to the ocean. Every island is a big mountain. When we first get into our new atmosphere the muggy heat is a bit startling. We are hot sweaty bedraggled, been up since 4 a.m. We get our luggage and are directed by waving arms of an airport employee to an old white truck and an old German man, Reiner. It’s a musty old work truck but we’re used to that. He is hard of hearing but has plenty of interesting things to say about his son who works for google and how anyone can stick a blue light on top of their car and call themselves police. He’s a character. We get there and its pitch black. A pretty girl with dreadlocks helps take our bags and we follow unquestionably with the promise of a bed. Shay, the girl tells us to meet in the morning at 7:15 a.m. our home for now is a trailer with an added on living room. There are a lot of things left from other WWOOFers. Flip-flops, clothes, a lot of toiletries, games, weights?, cow posters, books, there’s a really nice vibe here. Laid back, comfy. It feels like summer camp. A few minutes later our house mamma Marianna comes to the door with hugs and sandwiches. She also tells us not to worry about getting up and meeting everyone until 9:00 a.m. Hallelujah! We’re exhausted.
The next morning we wake, I shower, yay! and see the towering palm tress out our front door. We wonder lost in the middle of the jungle and follow voices to the main house. There we see everyone form the night before and Eva our Swiss Grandma and fellow WWOOFER for our stay here. Breakfast is tangerines, passion juice, banana, toast, and bagels, boiled eggs, delicious. Little green and blue lizards appear and beg for some strawberry jam, which we gladly give them on a spoon. Parrots screech hello while we eat. After clearing up we get to work. Shay and Jeremiah go paint a porch and I follow Eva around. I pick up fruit, macadamia nuts, rake leaves, vacuum, get familiar with the chickens, peacocks, cats, dog (solei), sheep, horses, pig (Maggie). Red parrot (sunshine) blue parrot (azul) Green parrot (Ludwig). We get off work and Shay shows us how to hitchhike to the beach Kei’i in the Kealakekua Bay. One thing about the Hawaiian language. It, any word, starts with a “K” maybe has an “L” or “M” in it and more vowels then should be legally aloud, but its fun to try and pronounce. There is a lot of walking uphill and I realize how out of shape I really am. The beaches are mostly black lava rock. This beach has one clear blue strip of sand in wich we swim and stand in for a while. Its hot, but the sun is usually covered by “vog” smog and volcano smoke. We see sea turtles, yellow fish, and striped fish, black fish, surfers, snorklers, local kids; it’s a good first day to see a bit of everything. At home we have a farewell spaghetti dinner for Shay. She knows a lot about how things run here and is very personable, its kind of sucks she had to leave so soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment