Yesterday, my Intercultural Communications class spent our only day in Honolulu, Hawaii at the Pa'i Arts and Culture Center. The Pa'i Foundation works to maintain and promote the native culture of Hawaii through hula, music, art, and language. Vicky, the leader of the foundation, is a native culture activist.
After going through immigration and finally getting off the boat (woohoo!), we boarded the bus that would take us to the Pa'i foundation. We were welcomed by Vicky, who immediately had us out on the mats to start our lesson in hula. For native Hawaiians, hula dancing was the way of passing down their stories and history of the islands, because years ago, they didn't have a written language.
She taught us the dance and chant, step by step, and believe me, it was harder than it looked. I'm proud of myself for trying my hardest, but I know that the dancers you see at luaus must work so hard. Every single move has a different meaning or way of interpreting it, so it has to be just right. Also, my hands and feet were moving at the same time, and I definitely didn't have the coordination for that.
After running through the dance one last time, we set up tables for lunch. Vicky prepared her famous Kalua pork on taro buns, sweet potato and taro chips, fruits (strawberries - yum) and a salad. Everything I ate was delicious. The taro is purple, so the buns for our sandwiches was purple. It was strange, but I tried it and it was awesome. Purple bread should be an everyday thing.
After second and third helpings of lunch, we cleaned up and got ready to listen to Dr. Jon Osorio, who is a professor at U Hawaii, a musician, and like Vicky, a native culture activist. He told us stories of the social and political struggles that native Hawaiians have been facing for the past two centuries. The biggest lesson I got out of it was that the native community is united through a respect for each other and a respect for their land. They're going to do whatever it takes to preserve their community, culture, and islands.
Shortly after, we made leis. It was quite a process that I initially almost gave up on. But mine turned out pretty good, so I'm glad I didn't. We used tea leaves and flowers and wrapped the flowers onto the leaves. I took some pictures, so here they are!
On the left, its my friend Emily and I! The middle is a closer picture of the lei. I was pretty proud. And the right is a picture of the class making them.
All in all, I had a great day. A lot of people in my class were complaining that they didn't get to see Hawaii, but I think they're wrong. They maybe didn't see the beach or go snorkeling, but they did see the passion of the Pa'i foundation, and for a few hours they were immersed in something much more important than sitting out to get a tan or going shopping.
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