I would like to change the name of my blog to Sew Me Hawaii, but can't figure out how to do it! Auwe!
So, I will just carry on--a little history...
I was 17 when I discovered Hawaii in person though I had longed to see the islands for several years. I was a junior in high schoo when my Uncle Gene made a deal with me--if I were to get all A's and B's in my senior year, he would pay for me to go on a trip to Hawaii. Was I thrilled? Yes, to say the least. Was I afraid of not making the grade? Yes. (I was a lot more interested in the social aspects of school than academic endeavors.) My dreams were, however, dashed when my uncle passed away before the end of the year. I did continue to work hard and made the grade in his memory. Little did I know that he had made a codicil to his will to allow for me to continue my journey. So, upon graduation we began to make plans. Wow, so many obstacles! At 17 I was not allowed to stay in a hotel by myself. I thought that was the end of my trip! But, a neighbor came to my rescue. She had spent time in the islands during her husbands military deployment and still maintained a connection to a Hawaiian family that lived on the windward side of O'ahu. They agreed to hanai (adopt) me for the summer. Little did I know at the time that this would be a turning point in my life.
When I stepped off the plane in Honolulu I immediately felt like I had touched down at home. However, I also immediately realized that I was terribly out of place. I was wearing a straight skirt, a little white blouse with a Peter Pan collar and a bright green cardigan sweater and it was about 86 degrees. So, off goes the sweater...still out of place. In the sixties there was no such thing as a tunnel to walk through to the baggage claim area. We had to carefully go down a boarding ladder onto the tarmac and then walk across to the entry. All those waiting for deplaning passengers stood at the gate. I had never seen so much color. The crowd all wore bright Hawaiian aloha shirts and mu'umu'u. Everyone had lei in their hands and the fragrance was almost cloying in the small airport. I could look out and see row upon row of plumeria trees which added to the aromas wafting toward me. I stood there. Since I had never met my new summer family I just hoped they could tell which lost girl was their charge.
Yes, I was found. I was surrounded by three young boys, an incredibly handsome 15 year old young man and a beautiful Hawaiian woman who was exotically lovely. They were all talking at once and though I was sure it was some sort of English, I couldn't understand a word they were saying! I later came to know this as pigeon, but it took me several days until I was able to actually converse.
Because we were to live on the other side of the island, a trip to Honolulu was something out of the ordinary so all my "tourist" visits were done in that same day. We toured a macadamia nut factory, a perfume factory, Hilo Hatties where the aloha shirts and Hawaiian dresses were being made. We were able to buy several bags of scraps which, in the future, would become skirts, shirts, jackets, quilts and shorts for this family. We went through the pineapple fields and had ice cold chunks of golden pineapple from a fruit stand. We went through sugar cane and I had my first taste of the sweet fibrous reeds that provide sugar for C&H. We stopped at Love's Bakery for loaves and loaves of day old bread. It was a fun packed day, but as late afternoon was upon us and the little boys were falling asleep across laps, we drove up the Pali Hwy, through the tunnel and looked down on the Ko'olau Mountains and Kaneohe. Now, I come from a rather brown and dry part of San Diego county and with all the millions of colors of green I felt as if my eyes were deceiving me. It was an odd sensation because everything was just so GREEN! We drove for miles and miles next to green mountains, waterfalls on the left and an aqua green ocean on the left. Exhausted, we finally reached home.
I would like to change the name of my blog to Sew Me Hawaii, but can't figure out how to do it! Auwe!
ReplyDeleteSo, I will just carry on--a little history...
I was 17 when I discovered Hawaii in person though I had longed to see the islands for several years. I was a junior in high schoo when my Uncle Gene made a deal with me--if I were to get all A's and B's in my senior year, he would pay for me to go on a trip to Hawaii. Was I thrilled? Yes, to say the least. Was I afraid of not making the grade? Yes. (I was a lot more interested in the social aspects of school than academic endeavors.) My dreams were, however, dashed when my uncle passed away before the end of the year. I did continue to work hard and made the grade in his memory. Little did I know that he had made a codicil to his will to allow for me to continue my journey. So, upon graduation we began to make plans. Wow, so many obstacles! At 17 I was not allowed to stay in a hotel by myself. I thought that was the end of my trip! But, a neighbor came to my rescue. She had spent time in the islands during her husbands military deployment and still maintained a connection to a Hawaiian family that lived on the windward side of O'ahu. They agreed to hanai (adopt) me for the summer. Little did I know at the time that this would be a turning point in my life.
When I stepped off the plane in Honolulu I immediately felt like I had touched down at home. However, I also immediately realized that I was terribly out of place. I was wearing a straight skirt, a little white blouse with a Peter Pan collar and a bright green cardigan sweater and it was about 86 degrees. So, off goes the sweater...still out of place. In the sixties there was no such thing as a tunnel to walk through to the baggage claim area. We had to carefully go down a boarding ladder onto the tarmac and then walk across to the entry. All those waiting for deplaning passengers stood at the gate. I had never seen so much color. The crowd all wore bright Hawaiian aloha shirts and mu'umu'u. Everyone had lei in their hands and the fragrance was almost cloying in the small airport. I could look out and see row upon row of plumeria trees which added to the aromas wafting toward me. I stood there. Since I had never met my new summer family I just hoped they could tell which lost girl was their charge.
ReplyDeleteYes, I was found. I was surrounded by three young boys, an incredibly handsome 15 year old young man and a beautiful Hawaiian woman who was exotically lovely. They were all talking at once and though I was sure it was some sort of English, I couldn't understand a word they were saying! I later came to know this as pigeon, but it took me several days until I was able to actually converse.
Because we were to live on the other side of the island, a trip to Honolulu was something out of the ordinary so all my "tourist" visits were done in that same day. We toured a macadamia nut factory, a perfume factory, Hilo Hatties where the aloha shirts and Hawaiian dresses were being made. We were able to buy several bags of scraps which, in the future, would become skirts, shirts, jackets, quilts and shorts for this family. We went through the pineapple fields and had ice cold chunks of golden pineapple from a fruit stand. We went through sugar cane and I had my first taste of the sweet fibrous reeds that provide sugar for C&H. We stopped at Love's Bakery for loaves and loaves of day old bread. It was a fun packed day, but as late afternoon was upon us and the little boys were falling asleep across laps, we drove up the Pali Hwy, through the tunnel and looked down on the Ko'olau Mountains and Kaneohe. Now, I come from a rather brown and dry part of San Diego county and with all the millions of colors of green I felt as if my eyes were deceiving me. It was an odd sensation because everything was just so GREEN! We drove for miles and miles next to green mountains, waterfalls on the left and an aqua green ocean on the left. Exhausted, we finally reached home.