P2P: Hawaiian Island Discovery

Tuesday July 11, 8:21 p.m.: by Wesley Peng

The kapunas were so fun. Today we went to Ken’s for breakfast, again. I had the same thing as the day before. When we all finished eating, we went back to the hotel for room checks because we checking our of Uncle Billy’s. After nick did our room checks, we went onto the school bus that was waiting for us outside. On the bus the lady told us that being able to meet the kapunas was very special because she said that in the 1700’s almost all of Hawaiian culture was lost, but today it is being brought back by the kapunas. [Photo: Koti shows off her woven bracelet she made, while wearing her lei, both gifts from the Kapunas.]

When we arrived, we split up into four groups. My group did the weaving first. Weaving the bracelets was sometimes challenging, but I managed to finish mine. The bracelets were made out of wood in a crosshatching shape.

Next, we did the hula. I thought that it was really fun. [Photo below: Jordan H. gets some assistance with his sarong before learning the hula.]

After that, we went to the ukulele class. The first thing we learned was how to play a C chord. To do so you would put your third or ring finger on the last string. Next we learned how to do the G7 Chord. This one was more complicated. To do it you would put your third finger in between the first and second fret on the first string. Then you would put your first or index finger right before the first fret on the second string and last you would put your second or middle finger in between the first and second fret on the third string. After that, we learned the C7 Chord. To do that you would put your first finger right before the first fret on the first string. The last thing we learned was the F Chord. To do it you would put your second finger on the last string in between the first and second fret. Then you would put your first finger right before the first fret on the second string. When we were done, we played God Bless America a few times.

The next class we went to was making the lei. I thought that this one was the hardest. The lady had to help me a lot.

When we all finished, it was time for lunch. The lunch was delicious. After lunch the kapunas showed us a male and female version of the hula. Then we showed them our dance. It brought me lots of joy to be able to put a smile on their faces. I was also honored because they said that we were the best group yet.

When we left we went back to the hotel to get our luggage. When we all got our luggage, we got onto the bus that would drive us to our campsite. When we got to our campsite, we played a game called Birdie on the Perch. When we were done playing that, we watched a tent demonstration. Then we had to set up our own. After that, I played some finger pool outside while some others were playing camouflage. Later, it was time for dinner and we had burritos. They were good. When we all finished eating I played a little Frisbee.

After a little bit, it was time to have our evening meeting. There we played two games, one was Wigglo and the other was Electric Pulse. The fastest time we had for Electric Pulse was 27-seconds. Today was a lot of fun!

-Wesley Peng

July 11: by Susan Hanna

4:55 pm – I am at Volcano National Park. The kids just set up their tents and . . .

8:54 pm – The kids were so excited to be here, I couldn’t find a moment to write! What a day! We walked to Ken’s House of Pancakes again where I ordered the “2 x 4”, two eggs and four pancakes. I could only eat 2 pancakes. Too much food! Yummy! As we left, it began to rain! “Oh, no!” I thought. I was so nice and dry with NO RAINCOAT! “I don’t want to be wet now! I’m wearing my last nice outfit to meet the Kapunas!” It only ended up being a light drizzle, so I’m able to remain happy. I could see the blue sky over the cove coming toward us.

I led the group back to the hotel where we did room checks and boarded a school but with our guide, Lorraine, who told us about the garden we passed in a park established by Queen Liliokulani.

We rode about 5 miles to a tiny gathering hall at a Catholic church where we met the Kapunas (elders). We were greeted with a song and given crocheted leis as we entered the hall. We stood in a circle with the Kapunas and were blessed with a Christian prayer by Tata George.

From there, we were split up into 4 groups to do four activities. First I made a brooch lei. Girls could wear it in their hair, and boys could wear it on their wrists. It was made from a folded leaf tied with raffia about 7 inches long. You wrapped a long thin cord of raffia around the top of the leaf twice, and then one at a time you added 2 greens and 2 flowers and just wrapped the raffia tightly around it. “Auntie Beth” helped be because I was wrapping the raffia too tight, then she pinned the brooch into my hair.

Next we made woven bracelets and Tata John, who was helping me didn’t seem too sure of what he was doing. He started laughing and said, “I need to get the expert!” Then he helped me finish the bracelet. I’m wearing it now. A work of art! Actually, 2/3 of the bracelet was done for us as we began so we could finish it on time.

Next was the hula! All of us got a skirt or sarong to wear around our waists. We did the hula and I was surprised to know that there were different movements fro arm gestures for men and women on the same step. The woman who led us was so graceful.

Last activity was ukulele, which means “jumping flea”. We sat on a bench outside while we learned C, G7 and F and were finally able to play “God Bless America”. The ukulele was brought to the islands by the Portuguese workers and the strings are the same as the bottom 4 of the guitar. This was fun and I had to laugh with the smiling Kapuna lady who I could tell was getting tired of listening to “God Bless America” 8,000 times today. Ha!

We ate lunch next which was fruit cocktail and milk (so cold!) and salisbury steak with white rice. Cole Francetic and I sat with Rebecca and three other Kapuna ladies. The woman beside me spoke of her mixed family tree and her German father, whose surname was “Bader”, married a Hawaiian girl and was disowned from this family. She said that she was one of 9 children. When her father’s parents became old and ill, her Hawaiian mother cared for them even though the German family had disowned her long ago. She said that was the Hawaiian tradition and her mother had the integrity to honor that and love the grandparents despite their past. I enjoyed hearing her story.

Next the kids performed their song and dance they made up last night. They did a great job with this! When they finished, the Kapuna ladies did an awesome hula for us. They were so graceful. I loved their dresses and leis. Three of the men danced for us next. One of them, who they call “Grampa”, was 98 years old! He danced while his wife watched with us. I had spoken with him earlier. He said they were married in 1942.

Tata George was dancing on the left and he had the most beautiful smile. His eyes were squinted he was smiling so hard as he danced for the kids to the ukulele song sung by one of the ladies. He danced right up to the kids in the front row! He was having a great time!

As we left, we received gifts of crochets toboggan caps and drawstring pouches, seed bracelets, and key chains, and fish scale scrapers. FISH SCALE SCRAPERS!!!

We got hugs and kisses from everyone as we left on our little school bus back to Uncle Billy’s. From there, we boarded the charter bus for maybe 2 hours. I’m not sure. I slept most of the way to Volcano National Park. We hung out at the gift shop while the field instructors registered our campsite.

Behind the building I spotted a view of the Kilauea’s caldera crater! So I got the kids who were still on the bus and brought them out to see it. It was all fogged over with clouds, but as the clouds lifted, they revealed the most unusual landscape! It took our breath away! A black pit with high steep rock walls and a flat floor with steam rising from various crevasses in the earth. Marvelous!

We took off from there and headed to the campground. The kids put up their own tents, and then we ate burritos which were really good. The cook crew of kids had cut up the vegetables. There was Spanish rice, refried beans, cheese, chopped bell peppers and onions and salsa and sour cream. Yum!

We killed time after dinner with kids playing on the hill behind the shelter or playing Frisbee. I got hit in the head with a Frisbee while watching from the sidelines! Thank goodness for Rena who yelled “incoming!” to save my life! That was a close one!

The kids cleaned up after dinner and it got dark the evening meeting began and we sang some songs and then to bed.

Hey Ryan!
Hey what?
Hey Ryan!
Hey what?
Let us see you wiggle-o!
Let us see you wiggle-o!

My hands up high,
My feet down low,
And this is how I wiggle-o!
Wig-a-lo-o!
Wig-wig-a-lo-o!

(Repeat.)

We sang 39 versed of this song. Lord help me! –Goodnight.

Monday, July 10:by Ryan Wilber
Hilo, Day 7

Today we woke up at 5:00 and got packed for today. We went to Ken’s and ate pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. Then half of us went swimming and exploring a small island in a cove. Then I went canoeing in a single hull canoe. It was soooo cool. Then my group went to the hotel to do laundry and call home. [Photo: Marna and her delicious chocolate "Nemo" cake!]

We finally did our laundry. I got my dirty clothes and got the dry clothes out of the dryer. I also got the wet clothes in the dryer. Then I put my dirty clothes in the washer. I tried to call my parents on a pay phone but they didn’t answer. [Photo: Jordan, Nolan and Cole search the laundry piles for their clothes. Thanks to Jill and her laundry helpers for cleaning up the delegation and making us presentable!]


We headed down to a beach and met Captain Kiko. We went sailing in his double hull canoe. We got close to another beach and swam to it. It was hard and fun to get back on the boat. The water was freezing. We ate chicken and apples. Then we played King and Conqueror. We ate cake in honor of Marna's B-day. We got back to the hotel and it started to rain.

I packed my bags and we went to dinner. The chicken was O.K. The band played Happy Birthday to Marna. After the meeting we played cards, watched poker, got packed, and went to bed. The day was awesome.

Monday, July 10: by Robbie DiPaola

We woke up and went to Ken's Pancake House and had pancakes, bacon, sausage, and eggs. After that we walked back and got into our swimsuits and walked to a cove, with little islands all over the cove. We saw a ton of fish and crabs. We swam there for 45 minutes and then walked back to the beach and said ALOHA to Captain Kiko.

We helped him get the double-hull canoe (Wa'akaulua) into the water and then 8 people at a time went canoeing. It was awesome! It was easy to paddle because Captain Kiko was helping with his huge paddle. Captain Kiko told us about a sailboat that sunk in the ocean and he described how to make a canoe. We got back and played in the sand for awhile and then walked back and had to do laundry.

[Photo: The cove after breakfast where we swam, ate, and met Capt. Kiko.] We met back at the cove for lunch, which was chicken wings, vegetables and potato chips and we had birthday cake for Marna. We went back to our rooms to get ready to go to a museum, but it started raining so we shopped at Uncle Billy's General Store. We chilled in our rooms until supper at 5:30. We went to Uncle Billy's Fish and Steak House for dinner. We had steak, rice and corn and a singer got up on stage and sang Happy Birthday to Marna.

We went back to the poolside and we had our nightly meeting, but had to go inside when it started raining again. We learned a dance for the Kapuna's to thank them for what they taught us. We went to our rooms until lights out and now the seventh day is over.

Monday July 10, 7:39 p.m.: by Wesley Peng

Today has been so awesome. This morning we went to Ken’s House of Pancakes for breakfast. There I had number 18. In it were eggs, some sausage, bacon, and scrumptious pancakes. After breakfast, we split up into two groups. One group was numbers 1-20 and the other group was number 21-39. Since I was number 24, I went with the second group.

Our group went with Jill, Tony, and Jessica. We were the shopping group. The walk to the shopping place was about a mile long. In the middle of the walk, we stopped by a statue of King Kamehemehe. After a few photos, we got back into walking. When we got to the shopping place, most of the stores were not open yet. Since that happened, we decided to first go to the Singing Bridge. After that we found a Tsunami Museum we could go to. In the museum there was an assortment of activities you could do from computers to watching short videos. Then we decided to have a tour.

The tour started out by telling us more about the 1946 and 1960 tsunamis. I learned that tsunamis usually had up to 10 waves and that the second to the fifth wave are the strongest. After, we went into the vault theater to watch 23-minute video. In the video we saw real life footage and heard stories of the survivors. When the video was over, we went outside to look around. Most of the time I was playing the tsunami radar. In it, you could control where the earthquake happened and its magnitude. You could also chose to evacuate Hawaii of not.

Later, we all went shopping. Since Doug, Sean, and I didn’t buy anything, we were at the meeting spot 40-minutes early. When all of us were at the meeting spot we all went back to the hotel to put on sunscreen and our water shoes. Once we were done, we headed for the harbor. There we had lunch.


For lunch we had some chicken wings, chips, and some soda. Today was also Marna’s birthday so we had some birthday cake. After we all finished eating, we split up into our groups again. This time we stayed at the harbor. We went to the Wa’akaulua (the double hull canoe) first. We however didn’t get to paddle very much because the wind from the rain was usually pulling us into the right direction. When we got back to the harbor, it started to rain, but good thing we were doing laundry now. After we were done with our laundry, we made some phone calls home. Later, we went back out to go swimming.

At that time it was pouring rain. We were the only group still outside. Eventually Tony’s group came out again because the rain had stopped. When our swimming time was over, we went back in to get ready for dinner. Today has been a productive day. [Photo: Sean (L), Eddie (R) enjoy dinner at Uncle Billy's while Taylor REALLY enjoys dinner!]

Akaka Falls by Clayton Trainor

Aloha, This morning I woke up at 4:30 got dressed, brushed my teeth, finished up the last part of my journal, and did my final packing. Then we headed of to breakfast at Denny's. After breakfast we went back to the hotel to pack our stuff on the bus and go to the airport. The reason we took an airplane was we were jumping from Oahu to the Big Island to finish of the back end of our trip.

After we landed we got back on the bus and we went to a food court for a good lunch. When we got done eating we headed of to Akaka Falls. When we waited for the other groups to get ahead so we were spaced apart we talked about the clouds since we were on the wet side of the island. We learned all about the clouds and what they all mean. Then we started to hike down the falls as the clouds just opened up and it just poured and at the end I was dripping wet. My orange Texas Longhorns hat was now burnt red. [Photo: Rebecca talks to her trail group about the history and geography of Akaka Falls before the group heads down the rain forest path for a view.]

Then we boarded the bus soaked and went to Uncle Billy's Hilo Bay Hotel. This time my room partners were; Jordan & Eric. Today we had our evening meeting early and then went to eat dinner. Then we came back and went to bed and work on our journals.


At Hawaii
After we landed, we went to get our luggage. At first I couldn’t find any of mine, but I eventually got them both. After everyone had their luggage we waited for the bus to come. The bus finally came at 12:15. When we all boarded the bus, the driver started to talk about the history of Hilo. I have to say, he sure knew a lot. He first told us about the two biggest tsunamis to hit the Big Island. The first one was in 1946 and the second one was in 1960. He said that once the tsunamis hit, nearly 90% of Hilo was destroyed. He also told us how unpopulated Hawaii was. He said that almost 900,000 people live in Oahu, but only 167,000 people live in Hawaii. When he was done talking, it was time to eat lunch at the food court. At the food court there was an assortment of places to eat. From Chinese to Hawaiian. I went to a Chinese place. There I got some lemon chicken. The place I went to was called the Chopsticks Express. The lemon chicken came with some rice and some pasta salad. When we finished eating lunch, we got back to the bus and the driver told us more history on Hilo. This time I learned that Hilo was on the wet side or windward side of Hawaii. That’s why they got so much rain. Next he told us a brief history of the sugar cane in Hawaii. He said that today people don’t grow sugarcane commercially, but instead they grow it privately. When we arrived at Akaka Falls Nat’l Park, we split up into our field groups. There we talked more about the falls. Jessica told us a story about a god named Akaka. She said that one day Akaka’s wife found out that he was cheating on her. After she found out, she started to chase him away. While she was chasing him, he fell down a 420 foot cliff. Jessica said that they named the falls after Akaka. When she finished, we decided to go hike. First, we went down into Kahuna Falls. I learned that kahuna meant priest. Half way down the trail, it started to pour, but you couldn’t really blame anything because it was the rainforest!!! Anyway, when we got to Kahuna Falls it was so foggy that you could barely even see the waterfall. After we took a few pictures, we went back up to follow the trail to Akaka falls. On our way there Jessica told us about the ferns and the banyan trees there. I learned that the roots of banyan trees grow outside the ground. She also told us that ferns have spores that are red. After that, we saw Akaka Falls. It was so tall! Jessica said that it was the strongest she had ever seen it. Now we were all so wet and we headed back to the bus. When we got on the bus everyone was so relieved. The air-conditioning would dry us up, but it would make us super cold. When we got to our hotel, I found out that my roommates were Nolan, Josh, and J.T. What a day!!!