3 Months in Hawaii





I can't believe I've been here for over 3 months now. Although, when I think about it, I can hardly imagine what life was like before I got here. When I think of my life back in Canada all I can remember is cold, cloudy days, and an empty life. I've experienced so much here and I want to share with everyone a short review of what I have learned of the Big Island.

I came here quite afraid. Most people told me I was crazy to try and make it on my own here, that it would be dangerous, and I believed them, but I had waited long enough for someone to look after me. I knew it was my time. Even once I got here people were always telling me "watch out. You're a young girl and there are a lot of bad people here." I was told of the drug dealers and of murders and crimes, and almost everyone had some story to tell of people being unkind, especially of locals treating foreigners like dirt. I thought it was strange that I hadn't experienced or even seen any of what these people were talking about, but I cautiously waited for something that as yet, has never come. I have met so many people here, every day someone new, and except for one bad hitchhiking experience, I have found only kindness here, more than I have ever found in Nova Scotia. Most people are eager to help you out, and I have found most locals to be very kind. If you respect and love the people, they will show you the same. There's something about the culture here that just makes you feel like family with almost everyone.

Weather in Puna changes a lot throughout the year, but I have now gotten a chance to be here for almost all of the seasons. Winter is very rainy, pouring for a good part of pretty much everyday. Of course, I heard this before I came, and I really didn't like the sound of living someplace where it would be raining all day for months and months, but it really isn't like that. It will pour, sometimes for a few hours, but pretty much everyday there are hours of warm, bright sun. Spring has been lovely. The temperature has been rising a little(It is always pleasantly warm here, just a few degrees hotter in the summer months) and the rain has cut way back to mostly just at night, with a few brief showers during the morning and evening. Soon it will be getting hot, especially here on the coast, but I love every season. The rain isn't like how it was in the East. There it made the days feel damp and dreary. Here, when it rains, it is like a celebration of life. I am often caught out in the rain on my long walks home, and a lot of times I get soaked to the skin, but it usually feels good, and it's not a bother if I know I can dry off and curl up in my warm bed when I get home.

FRUIT, one of the biggest reasons I moved to the tropics. In Canada fruit was expensive and hard to get any variety, but the main problem I had with it was quality. I would spend huge amounts of money on fruit that ended up rotting before it ripened, or that had no flavour at all, except for maybe some chemical residues. It felt like dead food, and a lot of it was, since it was irradiated before it was shipped halfway around the world to me. Most of it didn't make me feel vibrant, but when I had a good mango, or some other piece of high quality fruit, my body very much knew the difference, and I knew that if I wanted to stay fruitarian, I would need to go where my food grew. Here I am able to eat 100% local if I want to. I choose to eat some dates from California right now, and frozen durian as a treat every so often, but most everything I eat is grown very close to where I live, a lot if it right outside my door. I am able to eat a huge amount of organic food, where before that was never an option. The fruit here is alive, and delicious! You can't compare it to what was available up north.

Pineapples, bananas(of many delicious varieties that can't be compared to those tasteless Cavendish that you're used to) mangoes, mamey sapote, soursop, citrus, avocado, jackfruit, durian, cherimoya, rollinia, tomatoes, chocolate sapote, white sapote, green sapote, chico sapote, papaya, champedak, watermelon, cantaloupe, eggfruit, strawberries, figs, lychees, longans, rambutans, star apples, star fruits, mangosteen, guava, jaboticaba, passionfruit, mulberrry, persimmons, and I'm sure so many more that I can't think of, grow on this island. There are farmers markets every day of the week, with many great deals. There are also many places where you can get free fruit, and I know I will find more as time goes by. It is mango season, and the ancient trees are dropping hundreds of ripe fruit on the roadsides now. On Sundays I go and eat as many as I like of the best mangoes I've ever had. I've also found fields of delicious guavas, free for the foraging. If you eat avocados, there are always trees going off somewhere, and you can always have as many as you can eat.

I've spent about 1/4 of my time here on the bus, so I might as well mention transportation a little bit. Personally, I feel absolutely blessed with the buses here. It costs $1 and you can ride across the whole island if you wish. It does take some time to get where you're going, but the atmosphere is wonderful. As soon as you step on the bus, the usually super upbeat driver greets you with a smile, and his friendliness makes you appreciate life more. The morning driver plays a lot of oldies music, and some classic rock, and it is so fun to sit in the back of the bus and just enjoy. The bus ride to Hilo takes two and a half hours, but you get to see the beautiful coastline, and the change of landscape as you go along. The first part of the ride is on a one lane road, and it is so bumpy that I end up flying a foot out of my seat, landing with a loud thud. All this as groovy music plays loudly in the background. I often end up laughing and really enjoying the early morning ride. It reminds me of being in Mexico. I'm often the first person on the bus, but within the first hour or so it usually fills right up, sometimes with so many people standing that no one can really move. I really love the bus because you never know who you'll meet on there. It's always an adventure. My walk to the nearest bus stop takes over half an hour, but it too is amazing. In the morning, the dew is still melting on the leaves, and the birds are singing their morning songs. The sun is just beginning to warm the earth and it feels so good on my skin. In the evening I get to see the sunset most nights. Walking past the vast seas of lava, with the wind whispering in the trees, the magic of it takes my breath away.

The way of life here is quite different than other places in North America. Life moves at a much slower pace here, things being done the slow way. A lot of people who haven't been here long get annoyed since they're used to living in the fast lane, but I really like how there is no rush. It allows you to see the anxiety in yourself and question it. There are a lot of poor people here, and not many jobs, but if you're creative and open to other possibilities, you will find your way.

Last, but not least, the energy here. The Big Island is intense. I was first drawn here, expecting the island to heal me. I imagined a warm, comforting feeling, but that was not what I experienced. On my first night here, back in the autumn, I was overwhelmed with the energy. It was so powerful, it felt like it was screaming throughout my entire body. I didn't hate it, it felt like a teacher, one who is strict and cold, but you can feel deep down is pure love. It was hard at first though. This island wants you to face your demons, and become present, and if you are unwilling, it will make your life pretty difficult. Pele is always there, whispering to you to love the moment, however it is, even when you want life to be different. The longer I'm here, the more nurtured I feel. This place has taught me that I don't need someone, or something, or even someplace to heal me. It is all within me and there is nothing I need to do and nowhere I need to go. Sometimes I think of leaving here, of exploring other places or going home to see my family, but the thought of it makes me sad. I feel like my soul has dug roots here, deep into the rocky lava soil, and a part of me is holding so tight to this land. It is a part of me now and I think it always will be.