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So I'm currently reading The World Without Us by Alan Weisman and I wanted to share.
I'm big into skincare, lotions, washes, etc. And since I've been in Hawaii I've been trying to go more natural to see if this helps my eczema. One of my carry-over (before using only natural) products is a "natural" Aveno facewash with "micro soy beads" in it. While reading this book, one of the chapters talks about everlasting plastics and polymers; the author goes into the ingredients of many skin products with micro beads or exfoliants - apparently most of the stuff on store shelves have polyethelyene granuals listed in the ingredients. These are just small bits of plastic that end up in the ocean, that are eaten by small sea organisms which support all marine life. Pretty much, using artificial exfoliants is killing whales! Read the ingredients list on your products!
Well this probably hits home more for me since I live and breathe skincare. But if I were hanging out with you, I would bring this up in conversation and shame myself for not knowing. Alas, I am far away, so I will just post it on my blog and you can send me "you are so dramatic Lindsey" brainwaves into the Pacific. I'll hear ya while I'm out dredging a pond for mulch. That's my agenda for today.
So I've totally been bumming on my "weekend" but you will notice I updated the layout! Oh my god blog layout updates - I hope you can contain your excitement. I have absolutely no idea how to design webpages, or even update templates, so it might be a bit rocky for a minute.
In other news, I went to Lahaina this weekend. It was relatively uneventful. Sean (who lives upcountry now too) and I hitched into town. This proved much more difficult from up where we are living now. To briefly summarize my Lahaina experience: hitchhike, flat tire, sears auto body, city bus, lahaina, irish pub happy hour, beach, city bus, hitchhike, long dark walk home, craigslist search: cars&trucks.
It was weird to be in a city, and see things like grocery stores with JIF Peanut Butter and movie theaters. I didn't realize I had been so isolated! I had expensive Guiness and breakfast at the irish pub. Also weird. And then there was this sailboat, just capsized in the middle of the harbor. Like I said, it was a weird day.
Some quick photos of my new place...
Some loquat fruit I found in the park.
The very voggy view of both oceans from John's back deck.
My house I share with the other 2 WWOOFers.
Learning to play drums in a park with a friend.
So my first days on this new farm have definitely been a change! I work 4 hours, 5 days a week and it works out well because I start around 8 and can be done working in time for lunch. That way I have the afternoon to myself. My first day I used the free time to explore my new area and then yesterday, I just read a book.
My work is more of what you'd expect on a farm. I start the morning off by going to carefully orchestrated duck-shit ponds and transferring buckets of this to young mango, avocado, star fruit and lychee trees. I sloshed this water up my side today, and it didn't bother me, which might be worrying. Then tasks vary, but today I spent an hour popping coffee beans out of their berries and then soaking the beans in water to remove the coating and prepare them for the drying process. Then we planted some basil and I weeded the gardens a bit.
There is a chicken John refers to as Miss Smartypants. She is the only free range chicken on the land because her sisters attacked her and poked her right eye out. The other chickens remain in their spacious, mongoose protected areas, while she roams freely. Today I walked out on our deck and there was Miss Smartypants pecking her way into our box of almost-ripe papayas. I'm still not really sure what to do with chickens. I know you can pet them and hold them, but this thought still puts me on edge when I see them flapping their relatively useless wings to escape John's initial capturing clutch. So I gently pulled the papaya out of the box and set it on the rail, hoping she'd hop away from the precious remaining fruit and continue to eat the already mangled papaya.
However, one peck on this perch sent it over the porch railing and Miss Smartypants didn't really live up to her name, but rather stared blankly across the fields as if the papaya had vaporized. Then she hopped down from the table and walked into my house.
Somehow, Ashley and Joel's bedroom door had swung open and I had a chicken loose in their bedroom. I sealed all exits but the one towards the outdoors and kind of awkwardly shuffled the invader out. Tentatively trying to touch her, while jumping away when the wings flapped and the squawking started up made me feel pretty ridiculous.
In other news, I attended a birthday party for the past two nights. John plays electric violin and mandolin and his friends have either hosted or played at these parties, and I've been invited to tag along. This has involved me eating copious amounts of party food and cake while making conversation with completely random people. The party last night was fancy - at the do it yourself bar instead of my usual well vodka & soda water I made a Grey Goose with fresh squeezed lime juice and Pelligrino.
Today is Saturday, but to offset the other workers Friday/Saturday weekend, I'll be working today and taking a Sunday/Monday weekend. But I'm done by noon and I get to go explore the island!
So, big news. I moved upcountry, to a farm near Kula, on the leeward slope of Haleakela Crater at about 1800 feet. This farm is amazing. And I can see Kihei from my window.
This is the approximate location...
Of course, this is pretty big news since I had said I'd be staying on the Bamboo Farm for the whole six months I was in Hawaii. I made it 2.5 weeks before I said my farewells. Pretty much, it turned into drama-central with the owners kicking out two of the other WWOOFers. It was beginning to feel like a reality tv show, where my friends were slowly getting eliminated from the game. Then in the same day, I got "talked at" for about 30 minutes regarding cleanliness in the communal kitchen, etc. Frustration ensued.
I had found a blog a few months ago, written by a couple, Ashley & Joel, who were going to be at the Bamboo Farm. They had left before I had arrived, but I searched their blog again to see if they had mentioned anything about their experience at the farm and if what I was dealing with was typical. They didn't mention anything about leaving the farm, but they had written something about their last farm being horrible. And went on to say: "that is the magic of the WWOOFer program... that when you aren't getting what you want, you just pluck up your courage and leave!"
That was last night. This morning I woke up, wide awake at 6 am, and my first thought was, "This isn't going to work." The opportunities I was going to have with the owners regarding learning sustainability and writing grants, was not worth it feeling like I was going to have to walk on eggshells constantly and say goodbye to new friends on a bi-weekly basis. So I pulled out my WWOOFer booklet. By 7 am I had a guy respond - he could pick me up for a tour later in the day. By 9:15 the lady in charge called a meeting that ended with me in frustrated tears. By 10:30, my new hero and boss, John, rolled up in his truck where I threw all my belongings in the back. I gave Sean a big hug and instructions to say goodbye to all my friends. I didn't even tell the owners I was leaving. Or the lady I was supposed to clean for. I just... evaporated. And it feels so good.
Here comes the crazy part. Guess who John's other WWOOFers are. None other than Ashley & Joel, who, as it turns out were supposed to be on the Bamboo farm for 6+ months. They lasted 5 weeks. We've spent the afternoon comparing stories, peeling coffee beans, and reveling in the newfound paradise we have at John's farm.
Unfortunately, the Bamboo Farm was not a farm at all, rather a sustainable retreat with immature gardens throughout. It was not a place to learn about sustainable agriculture, rather a place to teach yourself. What John has going is amazing - he's been studying permaculture since the early 80s. He has fruit trees and huge vegetable plants. (Today I tried lilikoi (passionfruit) and pepino dolce (like a mini-melon) for the first time, right off the vine. Then I ate 2 papayas because they are just begging to be eaten.) He has tons of books and experience. He has chickens that are so happy, he's got Ashley & Joel, life-long vegans, eating their eggs. And free range ducks that follow you in a line when you carry the bucket of food around. He makes Chocolate Avocado pudding that is freaky-delicious and made from avocados he grows on his land. I am going to learn so much. And even better, I'm going to eat so well. The WWOOFers here say they haven't been to a grocery store since they arrived here about a month ago.
Pretty much, this is how you'd imagine working on an organic farm to be. And the place we stay is a two bedroom house, which was recently built. I go from gecko-shit covered cottage to having a comfortable bed with a view of the ocean and chickens laying my breakfast eggs out the back door.
So when John came on a rescue mission this morning, he said he'd give me a place to stay for at least a few weeks. He has had a bunch of cancellations, so it seems like it's up to me to see if the vibe is right. From my experience at the Bamboo Farm, I know not to get too settled anywhere. But if first impressions mean anything, I forsee a happy partnership on this farm.
It's pretty cool, because within a span of 6 hours today, I completely changed my situation from a shitty one, to one where as I write this my new housemates are making me vegan chocolate cupcakes with fresh papaya frosting. I feel more and more like using my intuition and my feelings to steer me on this adventure totally works. The vibes were bad at the Bamboo Farm, so I just... left. I can keep in touch with my friends I made there and now get started learning permaculture here. Pretty amazing how simple life can be.
Today has been a settling in day, but I'll take pictures soon of my new beautiful Hawaiian locale. Plus a friend I made in Honolulu is now in Maui, so I think I'll be venturing to Lahaina to see her this weekend, and then maybe to a Hawaiian festival celebrating in the ocean.
The title of this post is exactly what I'm feeling right now. Oh and itchy, very itchy. Let me explain.
So last night I went to "clean up" for a party Kutira's friend was having at the house down the road. This involved me doing dishes while 50-somethings high on life (or something else) danced to guitars and flutes. As the party wound down, Ratan, a osteopathist friend of Kutira's offered to work on my feet. Free bodywork? Uh yes please. So he did his thing, which ended up cracking joints all over the place. He could even tell I was dehydrated from touching a part of my hand! Anyways, he suggested that I try to rely less on my glasses since I'm working in nature anyways. He thought it would be good to give my eyes a little exercise. Dealing with constant eye allergies and contact issues I decided to try it out today.
It's interesting, because most of my friend in Michigan wore glasses or contacts, but in Hawaii and even in Montana, people would always ask me, "Eo you really need those glasses?" as if I were trying to make a fashion statement. My friends here are much more active, and contacts/glasses are quite restrictive for the active lifestyle. Maybe that's why? Anyways, I figure, best case scenario, my eyes get stronger. Worst case, my day goes pretty much like this one, which involved a lot of "Hey Lindsey, look at this!" to which I respond "Screw you!" After this happened several times, Sean decided we had discovered why old people are always so grouchy. And as I type with my computer a foot from my face, I'm beginning to feel a bit geriatric.
As for the garlic...
Well I've also discovered that my body is equivalent to Mosquito Thanksgiving Dinner. While sitting in the Tiki House (the staff house here), in the last hour I've gotten 7 bites on my upper right arm alone. I can't even count my back. My legs are scarred. This damn jungle is full of these things and I am trying EVERYTHING to get them. Well everything natural, because we are all organic and shit here on the bamboo farm. But I grew desperate and even used DEET today (likely due to my old-person frustration). I eat whole garlic cloves raw because I heard that helped. Three today alone. Last night Ratan fished out all the garlic cloves from the dish he brought to the party and while people danced around I sat calmly eating a plate of garlic cloves. Oh what has my life become?! I'm at a party where there is cake and I'm eating straight up garlic.
Anyways, I found garlic oil in our random supply kit and just coated myself. Yes, that's right, I just seasoned myself. I hope there are no cannibals around here, because tomorrow in the baking sun I might make myself into Cannibal Thanksgiving Dinner. Hopefully I'll at least get a reprieve from the mosquitoes.
This weekend I finally went to the west coast of Maui! Michelle, the girl who works in the office at the farm invited us to join her and her boyfriend to Little Beach on Saturday night. We slept under the stars and full moon on the secluded beach and woke up early to a beautiful sunrise. This was definitely the nicest beach I've visited yet in Hawaii. The sand was perfect and the water was crystal clear, awesome for swimming and snorkeling. Oh, and it was a "clothing optional" beach, which made for some good people watching. Think of that scene in Eurotrip, if you've seen it. Yikes! But no tan lines!
I went from daily posts to nothing for a few here, and that's because I discovered the library we have in our staff house, the Tiki House. I am now reading 4 books so this has consumed much of my down time.
In other news, they found out who the body was - it was a WWOOFer from a fruit stand down the road. Apparently she walked up to the falls from another trail and her clothes were found there. No signs of foul play. So this made me feel better that 1) she didn't walk past my house on her way to commit suicide (which is pretty much the only answer unless she likes to get naked and slip off 200 foot cliffs) and 2) there is no murderer preying on young girls lurking in my woods. Kutira was flipping out and now everyone who steps on the property has to sign a waiver before they do anything crazy, like fall of a cliff.
This didn't stop us from enjoying our new discovery: there is a trampoline on the property! And not just any trampoline, but a trampoline with a view of ocean and palm trees. Last night we had an "almost full moon" bonfire with all the WWOOFers (including s'mores with marshmallows from the healthy grocery store that were made of Nile Perch or Tilapia - suprisingly delicious when not made of ground up horse hooves). Afterwards Sean and Victorya (a new WWOOFer) went over and went jumping for a few hours. I was still in my bathing suit and the weather was perfect for moonbathing. No silvery vampire-like moontan this morning however.
The trampoline will be perfect for practicing my ninja kicks, which after we hiked to some waterfalls yesterday, I successfully used to get picked up hitchhiking. For real - ninja kicks in the middle of the road totally work. Also, I am very good at them because I used to practice when I needed to bust out energy at Whiskey Jack in Big Sky when there was lots of snow and instead of riding, I was working.
Oh! And I got my first little side job which will sustain me financially (sort of). A neighbor has a big house with bamboo floors that she needs swept and mopped every few weeks... and she pays cash! So I go over preparing to sweep, where I immediately notice that there are not 1 or 2, but 10 cat food bowls. I am allergic to cats, but also very poor. The poor side of me decided to stick it out. Apparently she has 15. Plus she takes care of a feral cat community down the road that is about 40-50 cats. Holy jesus. That is a lot of cats. I made it through, sniffling the whole way, but then I had money to buy groceries. Of course in Paia yesterday, I spent most of this money on happy hour margaritas with the WWOOFers and then smores supplies. Oh well. I am cleaning a house for Kutira's friend this Sunday then attending the party I am cleaning for, then cleaning up after it. At least I get to go to a party! Then all the people there will marvel at how educated I am, yet I am doing the lowly work of a servant (pretty much the response of the cat-lady). Hopefully these are all rich environmentalists (seriously, who lives off-grid "sustainably" but has a second home on the beach less than 20 minutes away besides a hypocritical richie). Then I can double time and make some connections.
Anyways, the whole staff is going down to yoga class today - this will be the first time I've gone that its not a private session. Maybe I won't get picked on so much for my poor technique?
So those beautiful waterfalls I was swimming at 2 days ago? Well yesterday they found a body at the bottom. Here's the article with all they know so far:
Helicopters all over our quiet little property! Thankfully it was none of the WWOOFers in the area.
On a side note, the person the article mentions finding the body was our single guest at the Institute, whose bed hadn't been made up in her room (I had to fix that one), she missed her plane here, and got in an accident in her rental car. Then, she found a body. Yikes! What a vacation.
Yesterday I woke up and went swimming in our waterfalls here at the farm. Amazing! See photos to the left. Then Pamela and I hitchhiked to Hana and back. The road to Hana is this crazy crooked road that tourists rent cars to spend the day driving down, seeing the expansive views of the ocean and the waterfalls and parks along the way. We got there and back, hitchhiking easily. We even had an off-duty cop pick us up, saying he doesn't usually pick up hitchhickers, but that we were just irresistable. Ha! I have a cop friend now.
This is a map of the route we hitchhiked, if that curvy line can give you any idea of what a crazy drive it is. Throw in 54 bridges (many one lane) and locals who are in a hurry, this road is more like a roller coaster.
Hana is actually a tiny town, but we did make it to a cool old Japanese graveyard (left over from when Japanese were brought in as labor on the sugarcane farms in the late 1800s) and then to this incredibly secluded, difficult to find Kaihalulu ('Red Sands') Beach. It was definitely worth it, as the water was incredible blue and it felt just like paradise. Check the pics man.
So exciting news: since we have met in person and Kutira and Raphael have gotten an idea of my interests and skills, I've been given a semi-promotion!
Yesterday the NRCS (National Resources Conservation Service) came out to inspect the land. They are partnering with Kutira to help her make the land even more sustainable that it already is, helping redesign her water catchment system so that we will be able to water our gardens entirely from rainwater, plus making gardens more viable in the sketchier/jungleier parts of the land. I mentioned this interested me, so she invited me to come along on their tour of the gardens and then to the meeting afterwards. They'll be working with us throughout my time here and I get to be a big part of it. Plus, they have a lot of grant money available so I'll be assisting Kutira in writing grants to get funding for things like a potential wind turbine on site.
And to top it off, since I'm staying for six months and my interests align, I'm going to be getting a first-hand crash course on how everything that makes the Kahua Institute "sustainable" is functioning. Pretty much, if things go as planned I will have the skills to advise other people on how to make their land sustainable. We have solar panels, a biodigester, water catchment, and probably more stuff I don't even know about but will. Pretty sweet, ya?
In other news, Sean (I learned to spell his name correctly) and I walked (rather rappelled) down to the beach here. It was dry out and still I almost wiped out several times. I can't even imagine the path after it rains! Anyways, it was rocky, but quite beautiful. I've started a Maui album and you can find those photos there.
Today we are heading into Kahului, the city where the airport is, to go to a big farmer's market thing, check out the library, and do some other "big city" errands. Then, beach day at Baldwin Beach in Paia. Sean and I mentioned we wanted to buy surfboards to learn to surf and Kutira told us there was one under our staff house. Excited, we dug it out, but it was just a boogie board. However it has a hilarious picture of a monster on it and its called the "Wave Ripper" so we are excited to rip some waves today. Hopefully I don't smash into the sand there - the surf gets pretty huge!
Last night Shaun, Pamela and I headed into Paia to see the live music the guy sitting next to me on the plane told me about. It turned out to be this local Maui girl, Anuhea, who just released her debut and is already on iTunes. She had a beautiful voice!
We tried to take pictures, but of course I forgot my SD card. So we got just a few of us hitchhicking from the countryside into the "big city" (Paia... not that big). It was an adventure - first a pickup truck took us halfway there, then we stood outside the Haiku community center for a while getting passed up. Then finally a guy from Haiku heading to chess club in Kahului picked us up and took us to the venue. When we left the show we got picked up pretty quick by Destin, a Haiku native who lives in San Diego now. He said we were the most interesting hitchhikers he ever picked up and as a reward he took us all the way to the dirt road we walk down to the Kahua Institute. Then as we started walking, a woman, who was apparently our neighbor, let us hop in the back of her pickup truck and drove us up the rest of the bumpy road. Score!
Here's a picture of the 3 of us in the back of the truck:
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