Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Chicken skin video of Israel Kamakawiwoole.
We miss you, Bruddah Iz...

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Loss: a relationship, a language

I'm back home again - from Oahu. I had a nice visit with my family there. My mom is doing good considering all of her health conditions. She keeps the ice cream companies in business.

Today I stopped by my cousin T's house in Honolulu, to drop off birthday greetings. T is a year younger than me and we used to play quite a bit when we were little. I have lots of fond memories of her. But then sometime in her young adulthood, something happened to her and she has never been the same. She used to do drugs and that was probably part of it. So now she is disengaged. She doesn't look me in the eyes, doesn't want to come hang out with me, doesn't want to talk much. I was so sad as I walked away. Sad about a lost relationship. And she doesn't mean to hurt anyone, by the way. She's not being rude or anything, that's just her "now". But I miss her "before". I wish I could have my cousin back. (tears) I'll just keep showing up and hoping...and praying for T.

One thing Oahu has that Maui doesn't have yet is Zippy's, but it's on the way. Another thing is Cookie Corner - yum! Today's visit wasn't so thrilling though. The girl at the counter was so opinionated. They have this mix of cookies that I like to order. I can either order the mix, or one flavor. So I asked if I could get four flavors mixed together (there are about 8 varieties total). She actually said something like, "Well, we don't normally do that, but because it's not so busy, I can do that for you." Excuse me? Am I putting you out? If I can get only one flavor, why would you complain because I want to get four? So I asked, "If I can get one flavor, why wouldn't I be able to get four flavors?" And she said again that she would do it this time FOR ME because she wasn't busy. But she can't say what another worker might do next time.

Am I missing something here? I want to buy two pounds of cookies. Do I have to get two pounds of the same cookie or can I get half a pound of four kinds?

And that wasn't all. A two-pound box of cookies is pretty small, so when I asked for a small bag (yes, I had to ask for the bag), she put it in a large bag. So I ask her again for a small bag, and she says, "Well, but then the box doesn't lay flat."

"That's alright."

"Are you sure? Because if it's on it's side, the cookies will get crushed."

OMG!! These are cookies that are the size of quarters. They're all jumbled together in the box. It really doesn't matter if the box is one way or another. I know this because I've been buying these cookies and bringing them to Maui for 15 years.

So I got my little bag of cookies and was on my way. Sure enough, they're not crushed. They are good! But how I wish store owners would train their employees on customer service.

After a busy day, I arrived at a somewhat empty gate at the airport and I was looking forward to taking a nap. However, two minutes after I closed my eyes, a Tongan family of four decided they wanted to sit in the same area as me, but there weren't four connected seats on either side of me, so two sat on one side of me and two sat on the other side and they proceeded to speak rather loudly to each other, oblivious to a napping me in the middle of them. I would have gotten irritated by it all if it wasn't for the beautiful sound of them speaking Tongan. It's similar to Hawaiian, nahenahe (soothing, pleasant). The youngest of their group was a little girl. I love children's voices, so her's was doubly sweet because she spoke in a mix of English and Tongan.

So I relaxed and eavesdropped on their conversation, which is fine because I didn't understand a word of it :) . In the middle of that, I began to get emotional and I thought, these people think I'm just resting, but they have no idea that behind my closed eyes are tears. Tears of sadness for Hawaii's people. How is it that so many other Pacific Islanders were able to hold onto their language in the face of Westernization (and this family had Western influence with cellphones and designer handbags, etc.), but the Hawaiian people almost lost their language and culture? It seems so unfair. And I wondered why my grandmother, who apparently spoke Hawaiian, never taught us grandchildren any of what she knew. And why is it so hard for me to retain what little I learn in Hawaiian language class? I want to do my part in perpetuating my culture, but my braincells don't cooperate.

Then my mind wandered away from their conversation to thoughts of my niece, L, who is half Tongan (the other half is Japanese, Hawaiian, Chinese, Korean). I wondered if she has taken Tongan dance classes, like hula or something. L is a very sweet child. She captured my heart the first time I met her. I'd like to take her to hula or Tongan dance classes. She doesn't live with her dad, so I hope there are others in her family who can help her hold onto the language.

It's been a good day.

A hui hou,
Lisa

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