Hawaii Study Away Travel Blog 2012 – 2013

Tomorrow, or well, tonight I am embarking on a new journey for 5000 miles from New York to reach Oahu, one of Hawaii’s many beautiful and mysterious islands. From the mainland to Hawaii, aloha for now!

January 18^th, 2013

Today we went to the Dole plantation. Once again the bus made the trip a lot longer and inconvenient than it needed to be, but the maze was incredibly fun. The pineapple is not endemic to Hawaii but I suppose it is now native. The landscape of the plantation was beautiful as was the backdrop. Dole wasn’t the first to grow pineapple, that was a while ago, but he made it popular and his name is a household name. It was a great final destination.

Today was our last day of class and essentially our last day of our academic journey. We watched the Descendants, which was a great film that I was happy to see after the entire trip because I understood it and probably appreciated it better than I would have a year ago. The film is interesting because it touches on serious issues affected Hawaiian people about land, land usage, land ownership, and place in Hawaiian identity.  His family is urging him to give up the land that has been in their family for years for development and money. But that would mean letting go of his native Hawaiian ancestors and forgetting abut who made him and shaped him. I can understand wherehe is coming from—as I have talked about a few times, my family owns acres of land in Mexico. Some of them want to sell it to get more income and let some developers do as they do, but that would mean letting go of land that has been in our family and had provided for our family for generations. I loved the references to Kamehameha and the likes. I can’t wait to sit down to watch it with my parents and help them explain the significance of this film to Hawaiian and even our own family feud.

Later I came across a line of homeless people while in a different part of town. It’s fitting how I see a relatively larger group of homeless people on my first day in Hawaii and then close to my last day. I can see now though the nuances behind the homeless population in Hawaii, and why some native Hawaiians are homeless, despite this always being their “Home.” Of course there is still a lot to learn with an issue like homelessness, but I appreciate being able to begin to understand at least one dimension of homelessness in Hawaii. I hope that especially for native Hawaiians, we can resolve the issue about homelessness and land issues.

Today we had a very long day at the Polynesian Cultural Center. According to the brochure, the PCC employs native people of the islands they illustrate. I don’t know about the veracity of that statement, but I did enjoy the presentations nonetheless. We saw Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, Fiji, New Zealand and Hawaii. Overall, I felt that while each island was very different in some ways, they were also all very similar. They are similar because they share similar organs and ingredients of culture. Their fauna and produce is similar, and their customs are similar.

For instance, coconuts were everywhere. The use of coconuts by the Samoans was very impressive. They literally used every part for food, drink, fire, and entertainment. It was the first time I’d ever seen a coconut being parted like that and used like that.

Dance and song were also a major part, especially instruments like drums or sticks. I enjoyed the interactive aspectof some of the demonstrations, such as the show by Tahiti. In Fiji, they used bamboo as an instrument.

The Ha-Breath of life show was amazing. It was a convergence of the cultures in a single story about love, loss, devotion…life! It was a good summarization of everything we learned that day

In essence, the PCC is a Disney-esque view of island culture. Most of the grisly parts of history from each culture aren’t shown, but this is a living museum mean tot showcase the cultures so I understand that.

The buffet has more haupia, but it was delicious unlike the other one I tried earlier this week. According to a reading, I remember the reading describing it as a coconut milk pudding thickened with Polynesian arrowroot. This demonstrates the Polynesian origins of some foods.

I really enjoyed seeing some of the cooking demons, which included an unu, or Samoan pit oven making and use. I saw coconut bread being made and then I got to taste it. I got to try the fish wrapped in leaves with baked taro.

Other demonstrations where coconut tree climbing, the parade of canoes with dances from the collective islands, and seeing this workshop that taught people how to use leaves from the hala tree to prepare things like mats or baskets or “fish.

This entire experience makes me think about the tourism industry and the “authentic” experience we have talked about and continue to talk about during our stay here. In some experiences, such as swap meet, tourism and locality converge. Sometimes I felt uncomfortable think about the Maori of New Zealand who have been demanding the return of land promised by national treaties were never discussed as anything more than a people whoplayed stick games or danced the haka during their performance at the PCC. Surely there still exists a tense relationship between the military, the American government, and Pacific Islanders throughout the Pacific Region. Tourism is the biggest industry as told by the guide on the bus. I felt strange sometimes being treated well and with caution because they didn’t’ want to upset any of the tourists.

Today we had class in the morning where we learned about the Japanese and Muslims in two different time periods but facing similar circumstances.

The internment and discrimination faced by both groups is extremely saddening. I am happy that the US government chose not to completely repeat history after 9/11, but I can’t say I would be surprised if they did. To get a more complete picture of the Japanese internment and how it can relate to today’s post-9/11 world, we went to the Army Museum.

It was interesting to learn about the feud between the Japanese Hawaiians and the Japanese Americans on the mainland. The Japanese on Hawaii couldn’t have known that their fellow Japanese Americans were badly mistreated on the mainland because they were the majority on Hawaii. It is more difficult to feel discriminated against if the majority of everyone around you looks like you. It was heart breaking to read about the two groups finally coming together after the truth was revealed. The courage and resilience that the Japanese from the mainland demonstrated is truly patriotic, and I am happy to see that we continue to honor their memory. I wish I learned about this earlier in my life.

Before heading to the museum, we had a problem with The Bus. It was very late and made me wish I had my own car on Hawaii. I understand the bus system is supposed to be great, but I have not had great luck with the system so far. There have been far too many buses where I waited over 40 minutes for them to arrive. Finally, we arrived at the Army museum. It was a nice place with some really good exhibits. I am not usually someone who is fascinated by weapons, but the weapons displayed were interesting because they showed different technologies and aesthetics between the American army and Japanese forces. The gift shop had a recipe book for spam and Vienna sausages, which was really funny. I almost wish I bought it, but I think after I leave the island I probably will not eat spam again since it is just not part of my diet and isn’t widely available as a prepared food.

Today we finally made it to Pearl Harbor. There was a funny incident where it turns out that the ones who missed the bus ended up on the right bus there. It was good to have some time to look around before everyone else caught up. I got to speak to an author who was singing book there. He talked a little bit about his service and what Pearl Harbor means to him. I wanted t say that I couldn’t imagine the fear that he must have felt when Pearl Harbor happened, but then I realized that I could relate to him in many ways because of the attacks in New York.

The whole trip felt very somber. It was a time to reflect on things. In school when we were children, Pearl Harbor was never a big component of our curriculum. Even post-9/11 we failed to talk about Pearl Harbor in depth even though it was an attack just like 9/11. I think it has to do with the fact that talking about Pearl Harbor means talking about the shameful internment of Japanese immigrants and Japanese American citizens. It would also mean talking about the justifications behind entering World War II and the Hiroshima bombing. As a result, I never really understood Pearl Harbor and its significance until I went to on this trip today. I can’t imagine what the older Japanese tourists felt inside when they saw the memorials. The saddest line that I heard regarding Pearl Harbor was a man reminiscing about the internment that came from Pearl Harbor and saying that war is between countries, not between people. I just hope that any Japanese tourists theredidn’t feel out of place or personally responsible and I hope that Americans remember that war is between countries, not people.

Today we went to Koko Head crater. While riding together on the long bus ride, I met a man who claimed to be a veteran. He said that he was a guinea pig for diseases and antidotes of sorts. He showed me his injection and surgery scars. He told me about his health care afforded to him at the Veteran’s Hospital and the benefits of being a veteran. Then he talked about koko head when I told him we wee going there. The history of Koko Head represents the military presence that impacts all of Hawaii, including its landscape. Koko Head is a railway that was made to bring supplies up to the crater where a lookout point was located. The hike was quite a hike. It was physically challenging, but very fun to see the rail travel all the way to the top and seeing the mechanism that carted everything up at one point. The view was beautiful. Up at the top there were monuments and memorials to people who passed away. I suppose they also loved to go up and down Koko.

Afterwards, we went to eat a snack before getting on the bus that has so far been a disappointment. Knowing that we would probably be stranded for 40 or so minutes, we got Taco Bell and went to check out a fast food loco moco spot. The restaurant was called Loco Moco. It was interesting to see that a chain could be started on the basis of this meal. While we didn’t get to try it, I am impressed that the local cuisine has a chain devoted to it. I wonder if McDonald’s has thought about commodifying this part of local culture as they have with the Portuguese sausage and spam breakfast.

January 5^th, 2013

Today we went to Pearl Harbor, but unfortunately, the weather that makes Hawaii’s beautiful rainbows was also our demise. We have to go another day, but on the bright side, that gave us a little more time to explore the swap meet at the stadium

At the swap meet we were met with quite a sight. The Professor recommended that we stroll around for a while before buying anything to see what everyone was selling at what prices. I tried very hard not to buy anything during the first round, but as soon as I saw a stall for coconut water, I couldn’t help but purchase one. Of course, a coconut is not exclusively from Hawaii, and I understand this, but it was delicious and refreshing.

After going through for a first look, I decided to make some purchases. Bartering is the name of the game here because it is a swap meet. The prices posted are not necessarily the price you pay like in normal vendor stalls. Bartering is expected here. One vendor told me that the rain would make them sell at a lower price in order to keep pushing merchandise out and making some form of profit while at the meet. This is to the customer’s advantage. However, I wonder if I did get the lowest price possible compared to the transactions and negotiations that other people managed. I wondered how much my appearances affected negotiation deals. Sometimes I wondered if they completely knew I was a tourist and took advantage of that by selling higher. Initially, bartering was a scary and intimidating task because I am not one to want to negotiate pricing. For some reason we are culturally restricted from bartering since we tend to be stuck by the posted prices. I think bartering is especially prevalent because nobody has to scan anything for a barcode to complete a transaction. Cash is king and that helps the bartering culture. Overall, I felt that the vendors can get aggressive and deals are based weather, time, moods, and probably appearance of person.

Interestingly, while at the meet, I found some instances of people selling certain things just for tourists. I saw tikis of all shapes and size and colors. They were all made in either Indonesia or Vietnam according to the stickers on the bottoms or backs of the tikis. The vendors were unscrupulous when they insisted they were handmade, but it wasn’t an issue for me. What I felt sad about was the fact that the movie we saw earlier about there being so few native Hawaiians left made me think about whether it was insulting to appropriate their symbols of culture by purchasing something that was mass produced for tourists. Sometimes I think about what will happen if every native Hawaiian dies off. Will all we have left is tikis made in Vietnam and coconut bags made in China to remember them by? To be native Hawaiian is special, and I wanted to ask someone who claimed to be native Hawaiian how they felt about the tikis being sold in mass quantities, but I didn’t have a chance to.

Overall, the bazaar-like atmosphere of the area was fun and gave me a lot to think about in terms of what being Hawaiian means to native Hawaiians and how they feel about themselves and their culture.

Today we went to the Plantation. Honestly, this whole time I thought we were referring to the Dole Plantation and the famous maze. No matter, this plantation was very informative. The plantation was essentially a place where we could see life at a sugar plantation circa 1850 to 1950 I believe. It was amazing to see exactly why Hawaii is what it is. The sugar plantations profoundly affected Hawaiian culture as we now know it.

For instance, before the plantation and settlements, flies and common cold were non-existent. It reminds me of the news that I saw that says the flu has yet to reach Hawaii this year (sorry New Yorkers!). The influence of Asian cultures leads to many Hawaiians take their shoes off when they enter a home even if the Hawaiian is not “Asian” in the sense that they come from Asian ancestors. I saw an old-fashioned shave ice machine! This is where shave ice began! The machine was in of the refurbished homes that were at some point occupied by the following and very diverse groups: the Hawaiians, Chinese, Portuguese, Puerto Ricans, Japanese, Filipinos, and Koreans. Their home varied considerably based on their customs and beliefs. It was amazing to think that they all lived in the same area. The saddest part was learning about the unfair wages paid to the people based on their ethnicity. I think I felt most sad because I was a Filipino worker and I got paid the least out of anyone. It felt terrible to think that my hard work sweat and tears would only be worth half as much as the sweat of a Puerto Rican worker. But overall, I understood that these groups all struggled together under the plantation owners and managers.

The Korean immigrants were interesting because they also came here not to work but to escape prosecution since they wanted to practice Christianity but they couldn’t in Korea. The funniest parts were definitely learning about the songs that the Japanese sang while working in the fields. They sang about the hard never-ending work, the women, and fooling around with prostitutes. The hierarchies described by our guide reminded me of the hierarchy on the cattle ranches in Mexico. My family used to own large amounts of land for their ranch, and my dad says that they used to employ the whitest people as managers and bosses of the other workers because they believed that the whiter you were the more able you were to lead.

Overall I learned that it wasn’t for the sugar business and the needed plantation workers back in the day, there would be no Hawaii of today. There would be no loco moco, shave ice, plate lunch, or pidgin, or traditions, or the spirit you feel in Hawaii, as everyone remembers their ancestors and their struggles on the plantations of the yesteryear.

In fact, after class when we had Puerto Rican food, I wondered if the person making our food had family that came because of the promise of work on the sugar plantations in Hawaii. I was happy to see Puerto Rican cuisine because I missed Hispanic cuisine, which is severely lacking in Waikiki. The Puerto Rican man who served us told us that the mainland is the continent, as if America is very different between the 48 states and the Hawaiian island that is also a state. I can see why he feels like the other 48 states are part of this unrelated continent. The Hawaiian sense of belonging and culture is much more unifying that anywhere I have ever been in the US.

Today we went to the Bishop Museum. The museum was beautiful and engaging. My favorite parts of the museum include the fashion exhibit, the hula demonstration, and eating another taro pie during our lunch break. To be honest, I did not enjoy the planetarium as much because I believe the one in the Museum of Natural History in New York is better. However, the other exhibits were amazing.

The fashion exhibit was interesting to me because I am a fan of understanding fashion trends and origins to help understand the culture of an area. The “HI Fashion: The Legacy of Alfred Shaheen” had tons of pieces of clothing that represents Alfred Shaheen’s work over 40 years.  The exhibit featured photos and ads that showed how the textiles were designed, manufactured and marketed by Shaheen.  It wasn’t until I saw the exhibit that I learned that he was the original creator of the Aloha shirt. Honestly, I thought it was something that came earlier. Made by him in the 1930’s, the shirt was a souvenir for people to bring back that almost perfectly fit in the culture and “easiness” of Hawaii in a shirt. Interestingly, Shaheen was of Lebanese descent and born in New Jersey, but his family settled in Honolulu. He was iconic not only because of the popularity of the shirt but because the industry influenced a large part of Hawaii, shaped its labor availability, and changed the way that industry was structured on islands like Hawaii. He even influenced the textile industry and fashion world by having prints from Asian Polynesian cultures hit the mainstream. His work influenced Hawaii in such a profound way that one generally represents Hawaii on the mainland and worldwide with just a simple Aloha shirt.

As for the hula presentation, I fell in love with it because since I learned about the truth about Hula, I wanted to relearn what hula means to Hawaii. Hula might also be considered a Hawaiian mainstream display of culture, but it’s portrayed without authenticity. The hula we learned about was more spiritual and about telling the history and stories of Hawaiians orally and through movement.

Today we had our first lecture. We talked about what is ethnicity. As I talked about earlier, ethnicity is tricky and a new concept because there are few translations of what we are trying to say in other languages. Ethnicity is not necessarily just a stand-in word for race or religion. While it can pose many issues, it is also useful to understand the fluid nature of ethnicity in that ethnicity changes and has the capacity to change.

As for my continued journey into the food of Hawaii, we had malasadas from Leonard’s, courtesy of Professor Miyares. These little donut things were delicious. Well, I didn’t like the red ones too much. I am not a huge fan of the salty-sweet complex. These are also Portuguese, which leads me to wonder if I should just go to Portugal since I seem to be enjoying their cuisine so much.

To continue the food journey, we went to Hula Dog on Kuhio Ave. The Hula Dog was delicious but so sweet. I am not really one to enjoy a sweet meal. I like savory more. The Polish sausage was overpowered by the fruit relishes and taro bun. The combinations of flavors and ergo cultures of the Hula Dog felt so unique. Taro buns, which is like taro bread that one can see is Hawaii-influenced, with Polish sausage (can’t even begin to try to explain that influence) with fruit relishes, which I suppose is Hawaiian. Yet I understand that pineapple and grapes, which are part of the relishes, are not originally form Hawaii. The cashier asked if I wanted the kamaaina discount, which was surprising, but I didn’t want to exploit the discount meant for local Hawaiian residents, so I declined.

Finally, to celebrate New Years, we went out at night to meet some people. The most interesting thing about the night was the presence of military personnel who were also celebrating. Many of the people we met claimed to be part of the navy or marines. I can understand that many of them are indeed part of the navy or marines because Hawaii is a base and important for the armed forces, but I am also skeptical that everyone was being honest about their affiliation. I think many of them were actually lying about it to impress tourists since it’s obvious that Waikiki is tourist-heavy. It was also interesting to see that the Japanese tourists we see in the daytime disappeared during the celebration. I wondered why. This evening looked more like an evening in any other American city by the beach than what I have become accustomed to seeing (abundance of Japanese tourists). Many of the people we met felt compelled to tell us they were local Hawaiians, and native Hawaiian. They certainly wanted to impress us with their local or native status. It was funny to see this. Once again, I understood their desire to differentiate themselves from tourists because I feel the same way when I am in New York and need to “remind” people of my local resident status.