Before going into SAS I had a pretty narrow view of Hawaii. This was my picture of what Hawaii would be like: I would walk off the ship and at the entrance would be 3 hula girls dancing the hula and as we walked by they would place a lay right over our head. Right along the coast would be white sandy beaches and surfers riding huge waves. I can’t speak for all of Hawaii, but for Hilo, Hawaii this was not even close to reality.
Thank goodness for my anthropology class (Race, class and gender) for preparing me for the real Hawaii. Before arriving we did learn a lot about Hawaiian culture and the problems they are facing.
Going into Hawaii I was prepared not only to make it a nice “vacation” but mostly to make sure I make it a learning experience. I wanted to meet people, to hear stories, to experience the real Hawaii and not the one I had made up in my mind and many other people probably do too because of the way commercials and the media portray Hawaii. Keep in mind though that I also did not go to a very “touristy” part of Hawaii. In fact the ship docking in Hilo was a pretty big deal for the locals and it was almost overwhelming for 900 people to suddenly show up in their little town.
There were things about Hawaii that I truly loved and one thing I didn’t like. So the best way for me to present this is with lists since it’s easier for me to organize thoughts that way.
Things I loved about Hawaii:
1) Their pride and love for the culture. There were multiple times during our stay that when asking a question they would be so enthused to answer in detail. One example of this is the meaning of “hang loose”, according to their myths there once was a very friendly fisherman who always waved to locals in their way to work. One day though he was in a fishing accident where he lost is three middle fingers, so from that day forward when he continued to wave to locals they thought he was starting a new trend by waving with two fingers but in reality he had lost his fingers. This is just an example of one way they like spreading their culture. Another thing is they take pride in locally made items. In Wal-Mart they had 2 whole aisles filled with things made by locals or with the tag “made in Hawaii”, something I have never seen on mainland USA. Hawaii in many ways, especially culturally is not at all like the US.
2) The wildlife. I loved the rainforest and the ocean. I have never seen a sea turtle before and while snorkeling I got to see 5 of them and a variety of life I had never seen before. Hawaii is one of the most biologically diverse places on earth.
3) The friendliness of everyone I met. Weather it was a taxi driver, someone at the market trying to sell something, someone offering to take a picture for us or the cashier at Wal-Mart. Every person I met was so friendly. One of the most friendly experiences I encountered was with a man who owned a tour business. His name was AJ and for 40 dollars he would take you on a tour of Hilo and the volcano national park or for 2 dollars will take you anywhere in Hilo. One of the times we were catching a ride back to the ship from downtown Hilo, he picked us up along with another group of people. The other group of people wished to go to a waterfall a bit out of the way of the ship, so he asked if it was alright if we brought them there first, me and my friends said it was fine (2 dollars a person back to the ship is much cheaper and convenient then getting a taxi back), then at the falls he picked up other people who asked for a ride to a restaurant that was near the ship. So needless to say it took about 15 minutes longer to get back to the ship then it should have (we said it was okay). But when we got to the ship he told us to keep our money, apologized for the delay in our arrival and told us to have a safe trip around the world. Yes, it took longer to get back to the ship but he was professional and kind to us by giving us an overall free ride back.
Those are really the main things I really enjoyed about Hawaii.
Things I didn’t like about Hawaii:
1) I wish we had gone to the other side of the island with the classic white sandy beaches and much more touristy things to do.
I really can’t complain about much else since the weather was still in the 70’s, it was beautiful and I had a great time.
Last night we had a seminar on “Oh! The cultures you’ll see” It wasn’t so much about specific cultures but how to approach different cultures. During this though, so many things went through my mind that I was pretty enlightened by. These are my thoughts solely and they are not meant to offend anyone. It’s just what I thought about a lot today.
One of the major things I really thought about was how much we are all truly alike as humans. We all need the same things, made of the same things, we are all trying to figure out life and our surroundings to the best we can. We shouldn’t look down on others based on their religion, what they find to be normal, when they do things differently or based on how they live. Especially if they are happy! Who are we as fellow humans to go and tell another cultures they are doing something wrong with their lives if they are happy. I personally think just because they do something different does it make them any less human then us or does it make their culture wrong? I am sure there are other cultures that look at how we live and see US as the crazy ones.
I also think we tend to stay in our comfort zones and view our culture as “better” because it is what we are comfortable with, but I think it’s the things that make us uncomfortable or make us feel heightened emotion that make life worth living. Things such as love, excitement, feeling nervous and more are what makes this world a more interesting place to live in.
Just some thoughts I can look at later and reflect on how I feel now and how I might feel later.
I really don’t want to plan too much in the countries because i think that the best experiences I will have will be from the people I meet and the crazy stories I can tell after. I am so excited to live those stories I can tell in the future J
Love Casey
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