Pee gardens and BBQ chips

Wednesday, June 6th 2012

Dear Diary,

Today was a wonderful day in Paradise. The songbirds awoke me at dawn, and upon waking, I felt so refreshed and joyful.

Wait, let's back up. Those weren't songbirds. That was my cell phone at seven in the morning, screaming a Flo rida song in my ear. Thanks, Mel! :)  No but seriously, there's a four hour time difference between myself and Denver. Don't call before noon, people, I will not answer.

The day started the same as usual, with a slow wake-up followed by work time. I worked with another person today sprucing up some pee gardens. yes, it's what it sounds like. We pee there. and yes, I said 'sprucing up.' Why shouldn't we pee in a beautiful place?

After work and a jungle shower, I hitched to town with the girl I worked with. I'm realizing that I find hitchhiking totally amusing and really enjoy doing it. I think it's because it's one of the things I can do here that I would never ever attempt back home. Only crazy crackheads do that shit in Denver, right? I wouldn't know.

Anyhoo, I bought some groceries. I bought cheese. I couldn't help it. I love that shit. I also got some sopressatta to go with it, and  bottle of Tempranillo. Keeping it classy in the jungle, that's me. Well, kind of. I also bought a tiny bag of BBQ chips and a gingerale. Because screw it. I'm living in paradise, and I'm going to eat what makes me happy.

Pig update: i have seen as many as four pigs at one time (this happened one very moonlit night after I had gone to bed. I heard them rummaging  around and so watched them from inside my tent). I'm still working on not allowing them to scare me, but honestly, when you're walking through the jungle at night, and it's pitch black except for the light from your headlamp, anticipating a dark-colored animal emerging from the shadows is pretty much impossible. So for now we'll say that they definitely still startle me, and only scare me a little.

I hope that those I sent postcards to have begun receiving them. :)

Until tomorrow,

Aloha

Things and stuff

Random statements:

When I landed in Hawaii and was waiting for my pickup, I smoked a Nat Sherman cigarette.

I feel like there are more mosquitoes inside my tent than outside.

I haven't had cheese since San Fran.

I've been reading for at least an hour everyday.

My feet are always dirty.

I've been drinking more water everyday here than I ever have.

I really miss shooting pool.

I would love to watch some basketball right now.

I want potato chips REAL BAD.

Hitchhiking has been interesting and not at all scary.

I know in my heart that this will not be the only time I come to Hawaii.

I have been so, so lazy.

Everyone here makes really great smoothies, but I hate bananas.

I have a bug bite in my ass crack.

There's a gecko living on my tent.

The 'K' key on my keyboard doesn't always work, and it's annoying.

I haven't had sushi in Hawaii yet, damn it.

I'm going to get a tattoo in town asap.

This has been your blog experience for today. I'm not going to write about walking up and down a hill or picking weeds or planting shit. It's too monotonous to even describe.

Aloha

Kehena

Last night was probably the most entertaining time I have had here so far. We played a game in which you write ridiculous poetry by passing the poem around. You can only read the previous line. You may remember this game from such times as: middle school or high school. :) It was actually really funny. I'll transcribe the one that started with the line I wrote. It's going to seem stupid, childish, etc., but you had to be there, man. You had to be there.

"On the third of November, you will surrender.

This is a day you will always remember

A day so hard to forget, but still keep it balanced.

To balance on a beam of light

It's fun to make sweet... chocolate.

Like a Hershey's kiss

it got melty in my mouth

like an ice cube on a bald man's head in Arizona

so cold and wet, yum yum make me want a

milkshake man steak

filet man flake

collect clam cake

spit on the ground, and hmm

what was under his shoe? it looked like

a big poop!

A fruit loop de loopy goopy gumdroppy poppyfun.

fun in the sun!

Oh wow I'm stoned!

said the curly-haired, ponytail-wearing woman to the

7-headed Beast of Proof and Smurf Power, Fists up."

So there's that.

If you get tired of me writing the word 'amazing,' you should read another blog.

Today was AMAZING!

I hiked to nearby Lava Tree State Park. It's only about a mile, but by the time I got there, I was a ball of sweat. I stank. FYI: It's hot in Hawaii. And humid. And amazing. :) Lava Tree is worth the walk. Basically a couple hundred years ago some lava collided with some trees. Since in the lava vs tree game the tree never wins, what you're left with are lava rock formations that resemble those ancient trees. And as always, if you're walking through any part of the jungle, what is around you is awe inspiring.

From Lava Tree, I hitch-hiked into Pahoa. I was craving a good ol' Amurican breakfast. Two eggs over-medium, hashbrowns, sausage and some toast. and some OJ. Cholula. Glorious Cholula, how I have missed thee. I doused my eggs in it. Feel the burn.

After breakfast, I wandered around town, through some shops and into the grocery. I got my damn chili powder, ghetto chili be damned! Got some lychee, because they are so, so good.

When I left Pahoa, I walked nearly all the way back to the hostel, but when nature began to call, as it always does in inconvenient times like when you're walking along a busy road, I hitched the rest of the way down the road.

I'm glad that I arrived when I did, because as soon as I walked up, I was offered a ride to the beach. Kehena, to be specific. The sand is black, folks. Jet black. On Sundays there is a drum circle, so the beach is full of hippies, dogs, swimmers, and naked people. Oh, I forgot to mention that it's a nude beach. Nothing like seeing old, wrinkled parts on a beautiful afternoon.

Today, for the first time, I stood on a beach someplace where the sun was shining and the water was actually warm enough to swim in. I saw some frickin' dolphins jumping around in the ocean. Couldn't really get more magical, could it?

You should prepare yourselves for the repeated use of the word 'magical' immediately. Apparently.

I never told you how we got to the beach. Shame. We rode on an adorable scooter, along a road that follows the coast for a bit. Probably one of the best rides ever. The ride back was even better.

Now I sit writing this, feeling amazing and magical, and I don't really feel like doing this anymore today. I'm going to make some mushroom soup and chill like there's no tomorrow.

Aloha

Ohm

I have been connecting a lot with the others here at the hostel. Sharing lychee with one girl, sitting in an ohm circle (if I can call it that) with everyone, seven people snuggling on one bed, singing songs together and just enjoying being around each other everyday have been great experiences. It's like adult hippie summer camp. Ha ha. Exactly like that. We sometimes eat together, watch movies together, mourn the sudden loss of the internet together, praise the rain together and get dirty and smelly together. We sit around chain-smoking talking about a huge range of things. This shit is the shit.
The sense of community between these people (and now myself included) is so different from Denver and the people I feel community with there. Maybe it's the different pace of things, the surroundings, or possibly just the difference in mental state. Everything is fluid here.

Yesterday I woke up feeling like a pile of garbage. My whole body ached and felt like it was on fire. I took the day off from working and sat around like said pile of garbage, scarfed some ramen and drank lots of water and green tea. I felt much better before bed.

We had six people come to stay last night, and it was cool to A: not be the newbie anymore (even though I technically still am because none of those people are staying more than one night), and B: see the integration process and not be the one integrating.

I caught a ride into Pahoa with two of the girls that arrived and got some groceries. Thanks, ladies, for saving me the hitchhiking hassle!

I pretended to be chivalrous by walking a girl to her tent who was scared of the pigs, but then later let someone walk me to my tent. Because I do what I want!

Today a few people went to Kona, but I decided to hang here and relax. I really don't want the fevah to come back. Tomorrow, however, I'm going to an MMA fight in Hilo. Looking forward to not only being in Hilo, but seeing a fight for the first time (why do people like to watch people beat each other up? My grandma once described boxing as watching two guys hit each other until one falls down, which I find accurate and hilarious).

The internets are intermittent here currently, and possibly for the next couple of weeks, but I'll post when I can so all you crazy cats can get your fill of my ramblings.

Aloha

Ghetto chili

Working today was better than yesterday, not because it was less work, but because it was different work. I utilized many muscles instead of a few.  My job today was transplanting some things from near the driveway across the property to the border between this property and the next. Before I could plant, I had to remove cane grass from the area. Apparently this plant is a nuisance and must be destroyed. It can be difficult to uproot, but after a mid-shift rain it became easier. I took the uprooted plants and piled them under the branches of the avocado tree, as a cushion for the ripe fruit when it falls. Then I planted 16 plants in the area I cleared, as the beginning of a privacy barrier for the Guava Hut. I got extremely dirty and I loved it!

After a much-needed shower and shave, I made some ghetto chili for lunch. Pinto beans, black beans, one tomato, one jalapeno, half a yellow onion, three scallions, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and paprika. Note to self: buy chili powder when I'm in town on Saturday.

Today the subject was brought up that I'd have my touch-base meeting in a few days to discuss what my plans are regarding staying at the hostel and specifically in the tent I'm staying in currently. My immediate thought was 'I love it and I want to stayyyyyyy!' But now I guess I need to figure out for how much longer. I'm thinking an extra month to start. Hiking can wait, this is too perfect.

Suck it, weeds!

If anyone wants to mail me some Arnica cream, every muscle in my body needs it.

Ha. I started working at the hostel today, and darn it if I didn't for some mysterious reason wish yesterday to get to use some machinery today. I used a weed whacker for two and a half hours straight, literally mowing down weird tropical plants and grasses from an area equivalent to three average yards. Not that I'm complaining, but by muscles are. This fuckin' thing was longer than I am tall, and weighed at least twenty pounds. On the bright side, with the amount of sweat I produced, I probably dropped eight to thirty-five pounds.

Took a post-weed-whacking shower. First shower with soap since Friday night. I now know how smelly I can get. :) I like it. And being dirty. Because fuck it. I don't need to smell like some damn roses.

After my shower I took an amazing nap. The pure exhaustion probably helped. I'm wondering if that's what's behind the crazy, crazy dreams I had. In one dream, the pigs and I had a picnic. We ate bacon. What the crap.

In other pig news: I saw no pigs tonight but had terrible anxiety about seeing them. Maybe it was the guy who told me right before I left for my tent, "if you see anything with tusks, STARE IT DOWN." Well, thanks, guy, I'm totally not scared shitless to walk to my bed now.

Whatevs. I'm gonna write out some postcards to some peeps and hit the hay.  If wishes work like they did yesterday, then I really wish they would put me to work napping tomorrow.

Pohoiki

Oy oy oy! What a day. I hiked about 3.5 miles to the nearest beach (Pohioki), on what is possibly the most beautiful stretch of road that I have ever walked. The road winds through the Puna area of Hawaii, eventually narrowing into a grove of mango trees just before the beach. Le sigh. Along the way, I made sure to watch for traffic, because although the posted speed limit is 25-35mph, the average speed of passing cars is 40-50mph. There are no sidewalks, so attention to detail es muy importante.

When I arrived at Pohoiki, there was really no beach, as is typical of this side of the island. Lava rock prevails, as do some pretty big waves. I swam near the boat ramp, which seemed like the norm. After about fifteen minutes in the surf, I decided it would be safer with a surfboard, which I did not have, so got out to wander around the area. Luckily for me, I stumbled upon a geothermically-heated pool not far away. I floated around nature's hot tub for about forty-five minutes, staring up into the palms. It was M.A.G.I.C.A.L.

When I decided to leave, I took my neighbors' advice and threw my thumb out at passing vehicles. Got a ride in two minutes that saved me the hour walk back home. Mahalo!

I got an odd look from one of my neighbors because of my lunch of lettuce and sardines, which amused me because they just killed, gutted and ate a pig the day before, but se la vie.

After a glorious but sweaty nap, I did something I have not done since high school, perhaps. I went for a run. Yeah, you read that right. I ran. With no destination and no one chasing me. Don't get too impressed though, I'm not sure I even made it a mile. But I did it! Any step forward is a good one.

Tomorrow I start the volunteering aspect of staying at this hostel, which I'm excited about. I'm ready to learn about the sustainable farming that is utilized here, and to contribute to this community. I hope they let me use some machinery. Not sure why.

Oh, last thing. Update on the pig situation. Tonight as I walked to my tent from the barn (150 yards approximately) I let those pigs know who was boss by continuously yelling the word pig the entire way. I could have done without this, though, because the pigs were (delightfully) RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY TENT when I got there. Shit. I didn't scream this time, I barked at them and those pussies ran right into the jungle. Pshhh they know there aren't any dogs around here. ;) Seriously though, I'm going to try to get used to them, because I love where I'm staying and don't want to cop out and move closer to the main building. It's just a pig in the dark, right?