Saturday, October 16, 2010

Time, Although Non-Existent, Somehow Manages to Fliy When You're on an Island

Much has happened since my last post, and I apologize, since "the little things" will be masked by the big things, and so on. I would attempt to recapture just the highlights, for the sake of time, but every moment since the last posting has been a highlight, hence the delay. With that said, here lie the moments since October 3, to the best of my memory. Ahem.
Arianna, a 29-year-old WWOOFer on the farm, has taken me to all kinds of warm healing ponds, tide pools, and champagne ponds that had gorgeous views of the sunrise, and breathtaking snorkeling (where you can open your eyes under water and see the marine life and coral and lava rocks below with only a slight blur). Most have "secret" tropical access roads that could easily be mistaken for hidden driveways, since nothing is really labeled in the Big Island jungle. There is also a green sand beach in the area that we didn't make it to, yet heard it was stunning, as one can imagine. Hitch hiking is the lifestyle on the island, and it's as safe as getting a ride from your best friend, probably easier. So, Kelly (a girl from NYC who's also staying on the farm), Arianna, and I did a good majority of our hitching excursions together, and encountered all SORTS of people. All are so very kind and friendly and giving and...unique. haha Very unique, each ride is. The backs of the trucks are my favorite, especially at night when you can look up and feel the peace of the night as the billions of stars against the black night sky peer down at you and smile. The silhouettes of towering albesia and palm trees are enough to make my night. Combine that with the scent of tropical fruits, white ginger, hibiscus, and latis pathis flowers, and you've got yourself some atmosphere! Top it off with good friends gathered around a bon fire all playing a handmade instrument, singing, dancing, or embracing another, all breathing the pure ocean air. I could go on and on. Every moment of every day is this good; I kid you not. If you are hungry, there's always a coconut and a machete with your name on it, some well-rounded concoction on the gas stove in the community kitchen made with nothing but fresh ingredients by a fellow WWOOFer, fresh-picked fruits, veggies, herbs, and spices in strainer-covered wooden bowls (to keep bugs away..for the most part), or huge leaves of deep, forest green spinach, eggplant, peppers, kale, lettuce, tomatillos, taro root, basil, ginger, etc etc begging to be plucked from the garden.
One evening before a day off, (Wednesdays and Sundays and every other afternoon) Ari and I took the free bus to Hilo, the nearest "big" city to see some waterfalls. Calvin, another guy from the farm, was staying in a hostel that same night and offered to let us crash with him. Being the adventurer that I am and the good sport that Ari is, we opted to make our way on our own ;-). It was dark by the time we'd arrived, but the night was still young, and so were we. We checked out the local Kava bar where delicious Dubstep (heavy electronic music) was blasting. The bartender, after realizing I was a Kava virgin, poured us a coconut shell full of the liquid, explained and guided us through the ritual hand-dipping and flicking and clapping gestures, and took the shots with us. Now, kava is non-alcoholic and 100% legal, yet sedating and is primarily consumed to relax without disrupting mental clarity. I decided to try the kava brownie since it resembled a chocolate blondie. How could I resist? Just after I'd taken the first bite, I realized my mouth felt as if I'd squeezed and entire tube of Oragel into my mouth. Completely numb and completely normal, so said the bartender. "How long will this last?" I asked. "I want to taste this delicious brownie." "Only about 2 more minutes," (about 8 minutes after drinking the kava) he said, pulling out concentrated tinctures of the stuff and pouring onto our tongues. "Try this!" he exclaimed with a smile. Great. This brownie is going to go to waste because I can't feel or taste it, I thought. haha The free kava did relax me and seem to clear my mind and allow me to focus better. We hung out with some more of the locals and at the end of a long night decided to find our sleeping area for the night. Yep, we were voluntarily homeless that night and enjoying every minute of it. I picked a nice spot on the ground up against a raised gazebo near the bus station, but overlooking the Bay and Coconut Island, where the sun would rise in a matter of hours. Two other homeless people were in the gazebo talking ALL night, which I ended up not minding, and instead considering our security for the night. I must say the ground was pretty hard and Hawaii can get chilly at night, and using 2 pairs or someone else's shoes as a pillow has it's pros and cons, but we woke up around 5:30 as the sun was contemplating joining us for the day, and we noticed several other people sleeping around our area. Who woulda thunk I'd pick the cool spot to crash! We strapped our bags to our backs, headed across the street to wash our faces and brush our teeth in the gas station bathroom, strolled through the market that was just being set up, and found ourselves in a truck with a Hawaiian man on our way up the hill to Akaka Falls. The walk through mammoth Avatar-like vegetation and the sight of a 420-foot waterfall were stunning, but there's no swimming allowed and the locals weren't around to show us the secret watering holes, so we hitched with some other French-speaking tourist (Fabio look-a-like and his girlfriend) and ended up getting a ride all the way to the Rainbow Falls where we could actually get wet. Walking up, you enter a cave-like covering, which is actually the root sysytem of a giant Banyon tree that I fell in love with. The tree actually covers about 1.5 acres! A local told us there is another one in the area that covers 6 acres!!! Holy Avatar, Batman! After peeling myself away from this tree and this man's knowledge of it, I caught up to Ari who was making her way through the narrow jungle path that opened up to a secluded watering hole with a lava rock wall and a huge tree with hanging vines that made it almost cave-like. Some form of berries constantly fell into the water below creating a musical kerplunk as I stripped off my clothes and tip toed into the mysteriously murky water. The water was cold at first, but became most refreshing once my body had been fully emerged. I swam over to where a dried up waterfall had gorged a path in the lava rock, hoisted myself out of the water, pushed my fingers', forearms' and toes' strength to the limit, and monkeyed my way up the rock wall and over and down to the other side where another, reachable waterfall stole my breath. Climbing down the rock without slipping on the wet, moss-covered parts was tricky, and at the bottom, I barely hesitated for a moment before diving in head first and swimming 100 yards to the fall. Ari swam around and met me and together we shared our permagrin under this fabulous natural shower on a ledge at the base. No one else was around, probably not daring enough to trek as far as we did on the rocks, but also not as rewarded. We swam back to where we each had started, but instead of climbing down where I had first climbed up the dried-up waterfall, I stood at the top of the wall, 15 feet up and noticed a rope camouflaged amongst the hanging vines that beckoned me. Ari flung it up to where I was just as a group of 5 tourists approached our tiny beach. I swung like Tarzan from the clifftop, swinging back and forth a few times before flailing into the silty water below. Cheers and applause greeted me once I surfaced, and I swam to shore to catch my breath, smile, and reflect. Catching the bus seemed like a bore so I introduced Ari to the amazing world of frozen yogurt and we ended up hitching all the way from Hilo back to our farm with a super cool native! People will actually go "out of their way" to take hitchhikers where they need to go. One kid was just driving around and said he lives on "Plan B" and Plan B that day was to pick up hitch hikers and take them to their destination. haha Lucky us! I never thought I'd be so happy to be someone's "Plan B" but it's all he wanted to do! No favors at all in return, just and Aloha and a smile.

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