Out and About: Maui

I haven't been on any adventures lately, but I like to give my readers a picture post at least once per month. So I spent some time thinking about how I could deliver a picture post without having taken any recent photos & eventually came up with this idea.

I first started this blog when I lived on Maui. However, I didn't post a lot back then, and when I did, I rarely used any pictures. It seems like a good time to rectify that. All of these pictures are from the 2.5 years we lived on Maui. I didn't include any from our trips to Big Island or Honolulu (Oahu). I believe that I will do a separate post at some point from our road trips to Hana (also on Maui) because there are so many pictures.

I tried to include a little bit of everything that makes Maui such a special place!

The view from Kanaha Beach Park in Kahului:

Detailing on a covered seating area at Iao Valley State Park (near Wailuku):

Banyan tree at Iao Valley State Park. Sadly, I just read that massive rains this week caused enough damage to close the park indefinitely:

All of these flower pictures were taken in Ulupalakua. The hibiscus was at Maui Winery. The other two photos were taken while I was out and about:

Plumeria

Bougainvillea

Hibiscus

Pictures from atop Maui's tallest mountain, Haleakala. The people in the second photo our strangers. I just thought it was a cool shot:

My husband walking down a trail out past Ulupalakua on the southeast side of the island. There are no settlements or services in this area, so very few people live out there. It's fairly isolated. While wandering around, we found spent shotgun shell casings and decided to leave:

A friend of ours was briefly employed as caretaker for a wealthy person's home deep in the jungle near Haiku. It was stunningly beautiful there. This is the waterfall near the home:

Nakelele Blowhole. Great hike, beautiful views. It's in a remote area on the northwest side of the island:

Snorkelers and sailboats in one of the bays between Kapalua and the blowhole. Not completely sure which bay; there are several and I can't remember exactly where we stopped to snap the pic:

A glorious double rainbow over the townhouse we rented in Makawao:

Sunset, as viewed from that same location:

I think this is Ho'okipa Beach in Haiku, on the north side of the island. If you look closely, you can see the fisherman in the center of the picture:

One of my absolute favorite places on Maui, the lavender farm in Kula. You can see the fields of lavender in the background:

A view from Kula of Kahoolawe, Hawaii's little-known eighth island, which is uninhabited.

Heavy clouds, sun, and if you squint, a view of Kahoolawe. I took this picture in Ulupalakua, shortly before we moved away:

My blogger profile pic! I'm the one closest to the camera. This picture was taken on Thanksgiving 2010 in Kihei. The people ahead of me are friends of ours. This was our last holiday on Maui. In fact, we moved only a week later:

Aloha Spirit

I've been struggling a lot lately with the concept of "aloha spirit" that is so frequently talked about in Hawaii. I know that people like to think of Hawaii as somehow different from everywhree else. In a lot of ways, it is, but I'm not convinced that it's different in the way that people want it to be. Here is a series of events that has led me to question how "different" Hawaii really is from anywhere else:

In late December, a Kahului man shot to death his own 19-year-old son in a dispute over, of all things, the son having left a game controller on the floor. It was the first murder on Maui in 2008, but it was followed shortly by:

The first murder of 2009. A Kahului woman stabbed her boyfriend to death in a dispute over her alcoholism.

On New Year's Eve, my roommate's car was broken into. About a week and a half later, it was stolen (presumably by the same people) and has not been recovered. I doubt we'll ever see it again. (Don't feel too bad. It was a POS car, only $800, and he didn't even have it insured.)

Last week, a man followed another man into the store where my husband works and started a fight with him that broke one of the store's window frames. It turns out to have stemmed from a road rage incident, although witnesses all felt that the instigator was high on drugs.

And I could go on, but I think you get the point.

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've had people tell me how jealous they are that I live in Hawaii. It honestly perplexes me. In the most basic sense, Hawaii is no different than anywhere else. For the most part, you can't get by without a job. I don't know anyone here who spends all day on the beach. We all work. We all go to the store. We all sit home some nights and watch TV. And we all have problems.

Hawaii isn't some magical place that's outside the normal realm of human existence. Maybe if you could be on permanent vacation it would be, but that's not reality for 99% of the human race.

So does "aloha" really exist? I think it does. But I just see it as basic kindness. I've lived in other places where people are just as friendly and genuine. And I've lived in other places where they're not as friendly or genuine. I haven't seen anything special yet, but here is a nice story to leave you with:

In November, we were in the middle of a move that left our bank account briefly depleted. I went to Costco to buy some rolls for Thanksgiving dinner, not knowing that they don't take credit cards (I never shopped at Costco before moving here) and unaware that my husband hadn't deposited the cash our roommate had given him, as he had told me he would. Needless to say, when I got to the checkout, I didn't have enough cash to buy both bags of rolls that I wanted. It was excrutiatingly embarrassing. I was fumbling for the cash to buy just one bag when the lady in line behind me graciously gave me the money to cover the second bag.

It's two months later, and I still feel so grateful.

Island Fever

Before moving to Hawaii, I heard a lot about island fever.  People from the mainland, I was told, rarely last long.  Couple years at most, and then the island fever gets to them, and they move back.  No one ever explained to me what island fever is, though.  And now I wonder if I'm suffering from it.

I find Hawaii very....monotonous.  Everything is always the same.  It starts with the weather.  Sunny and warm every day.  You'd think that anyone would love it, but for some reason it's really getting to me.  I get up every morning, see the sun, and feel depressed.  It's probably not the sun itself.  If I woke up every morning for 3 months and it was cloudy, that would depress me too.  It's the lack of variation.

My days are the same too.  I get up and go to work.  My job is monotonous and boring.  I come home and settle in for the evening.  I watch TV, or I play around on the Internet.  Maybe I read a book.  We usually try to go out and do things on the weekend.  Sometimes we try to do things during the week.  But mostly it's the same thing, day after day.

I know that it's partly my fault.  I need to keep putting myself out there.  I need to keep finding things to do.  And I am trying.  There's just something about monotony and boredom that's very paralyzing.  As much as I want to spice up my life, there is this part of me that is working against myself, for some reason.  I'm afraid of something, although I haven't figured out what that is.

I do want to give Hawaii a fair chance.  Sometimes it feels like things will never get better.  I've always hated making new friends.  I feel like I'm not very good at it.  I know that having some friends would definitely make me feel better, though.  This week has been tough.  But I'm going to get back on the horse and try again.  It's the only thing I can do.

Political Chatter

In general, Hawaii doesn't seem to be a place that's particularly into politics.  Maybe it just seems that way because I came here from Portland, where constant chatter about politics is the norm.  I mean, there are, of course, the requisite political signs in yards here, and supporters waving along the side of the road.  And I have to admit that the debate between the candidates running for mayor of Honolulu that I accidentally caught on TV was one of the most heated and least polite I've ever seen.

But political chat around the water cooler is non-existent.  And people just don't really seem to talk about it in their day-to-day lives.  Maybe it's because I don't really have any friends yet.  I'm used to talking about politics all the time.  At work, with friends, at my volunteer jobs.  So maybe once I make some friends, it will come up in conversation more.  Or maybe not.  Maybe in Portland I was just in a hyper-charged political environment, and now I'm not.

It's not that I mind so much.  It's just weird.  It's different, like everything here.

Although, I suppose that Hawaii has been a liberal, Democratic state for so long that the outcomes of elections don't seem to be in much question.  The Republicans are starting to get a foothold.  I think that's largely due to the fact that they're new and different, after some 50-odd years of Democrats.  But it's not a strong foothold.  There is no question, for example, that Obama will win here.  So really, what is there to talk about?

Last night we went to the movies.  Hubby was wearing his "Mario Luigi '08" t-shirt.  The young lady who sold us our tickets looked at his shirt and said, "I'd vote for them."  We chuckled and she added, "Anybody would be better than McCain."  We chuckled again and moved on.

When I thought about it later, I found it interesting that she felt comfortable enough to share her opinion openly like that.    I wonder how much of it was due to Hawaii's inherent liberalness.  Or maybe we just don't look like McCain voters.  Whatever it was, it was nice to hear someone's opinion.

First Observations

I have to admit, moving to Hawaii hasn't been easy for me.  I think I'm a Portlander at heart, and leaving the city that I have loved so well for 10 years was hard.  Ultimately, I think that it was a good move.  It's only been two months, and we're both already doing much better both financially and professionally.

But Hawaii will never be Portland, and that is something that will take some getting used to.  By far, all of my favorite Hawaii moments to date have come from something out in nature.  This is an amusing irony.  As one of my friends put it (although she tried to take it back), it's "a shame" that moving to such an outdoorsy place was "wasted" on someone like me.

So I'm not known for my love of the outdoors.  But I'm digging them here.  Here are a few of my favorite places thus far:

1.  Iao Valley.  Cute parks, a river, a little waterfall, swimming pools, a fabulous view of the landscape below.  Absolutely stunning.  I love this place.

2.  Our favorite beach.  I have seen so many amazing things at this place.  Three weeks ago I watched tiny sand crabs get buried in their holes by waves, climb back out, and continue their searches for food.  Last week we found a blue lobster shell and a large light bulb with barnacles growing on it.  Today I saw a school of tiny fish jump from wave to wave, and we watched a sea turtle search the reef.  I am in love with this place as well.

3.  Mt. Haleakala.  Watching the sun set at 10,000 feet was an incredible feeling.

4.  Paia.  Adorable little town.  Cute shops and the loveliest little beaches I think I've ever seen.  We would like to live here.

The jury's still out as far as I'm concerned.  But this is where we are now, and I feel dedicated to learning to at least like it here.  I like to find these little things to love.  If I find enough, I think that a love for the whole island will begin to grow.