Joseph Campbell believed that everything begins with a story, so we begin this series with one of his favorites. He was in Japan for a conference on religion, and he overheard another American delegate, a social philosopher from New York, say to a Shinto priest, "We've been now to a great many ceremonies and have seen quite a few of your shrines. But I don't get your ideology. I don't get your theology."
The Japanese paused as though in deep thought, and then slowly shook his head. "I think we don't have ideology," he said. "We don't have theology. We dance."
Over the weekend I was reminded of this from The Power of Myth class I took this winter. What I have loved so much about Hawaii is how responsive people are to dance. That, and the way that people can just have a good time. There have been numerous times where I have gone into something here with Danny and Jess thinking, "Eh, I don't know" that just have ended up being these really enjoyable experiences.
For example, Saturday Danny took us to what he heard was going to be a "gypsy stomp" of some sort. I was pretty stoked for the idea of dancing with gypsies. We got there though to find out it was some flamenco performance. Danny was quite embarrassed as we sat down and watched this middle-age Flamenco band play.
I kind of enjoyed it and I was shocked to find everyone else around me digging it too. It was such a diverse group of people though. Like these older people on vacation to these young locals in the back. Danny and I had an especially good time laughing about this guy...
I guess he thought it was his job to make his facial expressions as intense as the dancers. I don't know. But then towards the end the band demanded everyone kick back their chairs and dance. While at most places I am used to people being pretty hesitant about something like this, here everyone immediately moved chairs and started dancing. Mojo (the owner of the hostel) especially had some moves.
But what really made me think to the Myth class was this local event they have here called Ecstatic Dance. It occurs every Sunday morning (I guess in replace of regular church service for some) at this center by the beach. They tell me that like 300 people gather with the craziest energy on these mornings. Last Sunday though the place was rented out so Ecstatic Dance was canceled. I guess this really didn't stop people because as we were driving down the road we see this small group of people dancing on a street facing the ocean (pictured above). Like most things here it looked a bit odd. Danny asked squinting his eyes, "Should we do this?" and before he finished I ran down taking pictures.
We joined them and danced for 3 hours on end. The waves would crash in front of us and there would be intermittent periods of light rain. It was truly incredible. Such an eclectic bunch just moving to whatever the old dude in the PT Cruiser played. And I think the fact that this was really impromptu made it that much cooler. By the end there were so many cars parked around us and people joining in.
Later, I had this discussion with Christian, Danny, and Jess about how powerful dance is. Danny mentioned how it was one of the first things the Colonists banned when taking over the tribes in Africa. I can definitely see why. Just the collective experience can make you so close with so many people. The whole dance you are not allowed to speak, but still I felt this sort of connection. In fact, I saw a girl at this other event who was at ecstatic dance (dressed up as a tiger woman) and immediately her eyes lit up as she said "Hi! How are you?" as if we had already been introduced. How awesome is that? I am definitely excited for this upcoming Sunday where Ecstatic Dance will be held in it's normal center (I'll be sure to take pictures).
Ah, paradise had to come to an end at some point. Yesterday I began my volunteering. It actually isn't too bad. Only 2 1/2 hours a day compared to the 5 hour day in New Zealand last year. I had an orientation meeting yesterday with Mojo (the owner) and Christian (whom I once referred to as Christine) about the work I will be doing. It should be cool. Over the time I am here I will be working on various projects from like painting to writing stuff for their website to just plain landscaping. Today and yesterday was landscaping.
It reminded me a lot of "Level 1" in New Zealand for those of you who helped with that. I just slip on my headphones, put on some Animal Collective and get to it. It's kind of calming except for the mosquitoes. I swear I have like 20 bites. Some even on my face which especially suck. Yesterday was a bit easier than today though because I had a helper.
Her name is Saffron. She is very cute. She was helping me pick up rocks from the soil I was weeding out. I picked the big ones and she picked the little ones. She has this habit of always asking, "Why?" after anything you tell her. It's kind of funny because around here people will ask it for her when she is around. I try to entertain her every time with some sort of answer, but like to trip her up by asking her "Why?" sometimes. I came back from working today all sweaty and itchy and found this villain chilling beside the barn. I couldn't help but click a picture.
But now that I have the time let me speak about the people I have been hanging out with during my stay here. They all have such interesting personalities and add so much to my trip here.
There's Danny: As you can see, he's this like big football player kind of guy (he actually was captain of the team in high school and now he works as a firefighter), but he has this like boyish smile to him. He and his girlfriend Jess are from Vancouver. There is really a lot more to him than what you see. He is really well-read and he loves just going on about different books he has read on like geo-politics and what not. He gets so excited when he talks about the music he likes or films he thinks I have to see. Surprisingly, I think I have bonded with him the most in the past few days. He just has this crazy insight into people as well. Like when I describe my life back at home he really knows how to put it into perspective and what not.
His girlfriend is Jess:
She is kind of soft spoken and almost the total opposite of Danny. She's super interesting though and like head of some agricultural resource department for British Columbia. I am not sure if that's exactly right but I know she does some pretty intense stuff. She made me oatmeal the first morning I was here which was nice. Danny and her met in high school and I think they fit really well together.
They both have been really nice to have around. They also have a rental car which makes it easier to get around.
Then there is Shannon and Darcy:
Shannon is from Kansas City. She arrived the same day as me and that night we had the most wonderful conversation just about her travels and why we were there that day. She seems a bit aloof sometimes and now she has left to be with some guy she met on another island. I think she will be back sometime soon though.
I've spoken a bit about Darcy. He is from Australia and left last night to go back home. Since April 2nd of last year he has been traveling. I wish I had taken a picture of the map he highlighted. He went like all around North America. It was pretty cool to see. At one point he even had dreads which was especially weird to imagine.
There are plenty of people here at Hedonisia though, but those were the ones I got to really know recently. 2 out of the 4 have left so I am hoping to get to know the others here and perhaps see new people arrive. Anyways, I think Danny and Jess just got back from the market with perhaps some food for me so until next time!
(Actually February 19th) (Ahh! I can't upload pictures! I tried all yesterday before I wanted to create a post, but could not make it happen. I tried to hook up my camera... that didn't work. Then I got really excited because there is an SD slot on this computer... that didn't work. I think I am going to head into town soon though to find an SD Card reader of some sort so for now I am going to make markers of where I will place pictures. Lame, I know, but bear with me.)
That was my view walking out of the main house this morning. Incredible.
For a few days I am "work-free" so yesterday I went with a few of the other people staying here to the local beach. It was clothing optional so that was a new experience (the group I was with didn't partake). I admit, it was a bit awkward at first, but then sort of refreshing that people were just so comfortable. It reminded me of the video for "Gobbledigook" by Sigur Rós which is pretty beautiful.
We kept going back all day while making trips to other locales. First we went to the market to get food. It was essentially a super-expensive Trader Joe's. I guess since it's an island, things here are pricey. Nevertheless the prepared food they serve is really good an a nice lunch to bring to the beach. We went back to the beach then this guy who has been here for 3 weeks, Darcy, tried to take us to this other beach that was past a lava field. We couldn't get in because the lava field was closed.
When we asked if there was another way to get to the beach this kind of obnoxious park ranger lady told us it was private and we should leave it alone. Darcy responded, with his Australian accent in his kind of blunt way, "It's a beach." And she responded abruptly, "Well, yes life is a bitch. You just have to get used to it." We corrected her and I think at that point she felt like a "beach."
Instead, Darcy showed us this other privately owned place (I don't know exactly how he knows all of these places) that has these steam vents that you can like sit in as if it were a sauna. He took us to this little hole in the side of a hill that led into this little cave with wooden seats.
It was unreal. We stayed there for a bit and found ourselves back on the beach after.
Today, we went to this green sanded beach at the southern part of the big island. It was about a 1 1/2 hour drive and a 45 minute hike...
But boy was it worth it. Sure, it's not necessarily green. More of a greenish tint. Still very cool. I really enjoyed the waves there. I was bouncing around and swimming into the waves screaming like a little boy. The winds were intense around there though, especially in the cove the beach was in.
On the way back, this random dude asked if we wanted to hitch in his pick up to our car. We gladly accepted since we definitely not in the mood for that hike. This was the first time I hitched, but people say it's really common here. Christine, the assistant manager here, told me she hitched to work for 6 months until she got a car. I am still a bit nervous to do it alone, I mean I barely even know where I am most of the time.
All of this though leads me to here, finally finishing my first blog entry in Hedonisia.
I am going to leave it at that for now, but I have yet to touch on the people I have met here. From the moment I got picked up by, Lee, the co-owner of Hedonisia, I found people with such interesting things to share and sharing them with such interest in what they were saying. The other volunteers that are staying are really incredible and all have their unique personalities. From the first night, with some, we spoke as if we had known eachother for some time. Anyways, I will leave it at that and get back to you quite soon.
I am at the Honolulu airport right now using an "internet station." I put in a dollar so it's counting down the time for me. Right now it is 3:33 PM in Hawaii while in Ohio it's 8:33. I am super out of it. I got on the flight from Dallas to Honolulu and was in complete shock when they told me it was an 8 hour flight. I probably should have loked at the itinerary prior to today. Anyways! I have 2 minutes and 45 seconds! I read a good amount of Into The Wild and it was definitely interesting. I also got in to this book Mr. Braithwaite recommended, A Field Guide To Getting Lost. I had no clue what to expect going into the book but I loved every page I read. (59 seconds!) My flight leaves in like 1 1/2 and then I get picked up in Hilo to the Hostel. I will try and post as soon as I can but I got to go now because they are cutting me off!
So it's 2 AM right now. And this is it. First post.
My nerves have been really getting to me. More than usual. I have no clue why. It's not like this is the first time I have traveled alone (second time), but I guess it is the first time I am traveling alone to someplace so far. For those of you who don't know, today I am traveling to Hawaii for my Individualized Immersion to study ecologically conscious and sustainable living. I will be staying and volunteering at this eco-hostel called Hedonisia Hawaii.
Overall, of course I am pretty excited. I mean it looks unbelievable and I am sure it will be an excellent time. I just feel kind of in a funk. I guess it will all go away once I step off that plane and realize that I am actually in Hawaii.
During my stay I will be trying to keep up with this blog as part of my Immersion. (Hopefully I will get a knack for this and be more fluid in my writing (not so all over the place)). I know they have internet because part of my volunteering will be helping them with their website. Besides that I will be working on the garden and also helping build their eco-friendly program. I volunteer for about 3 hours a day and then I only have to pay $35 a week to stay there. Pretty nice deal. This was part of the reason why I decided to create my own Immersion rather than join one of the options the school gives. Though I would have enjoyed being in Peru with my friends, I decided I could create a more cost efficient Immersion (saving me $3000). Another reason I am doing this is because I kind of felt the need to isolate myself from my comfortable surroundings. Recently, at home, I have felt a bit out of place now and then. I constantly feel like I'm stumbling along life and I think I needed the time alone to ground myself before I continue on with whatever comes at me next.
To accompany me, I have some books and music.
The books all have sort of the same theme. As well as looking as this Immersion as some sort of "travel story", I like to look at it as a coming-of-age story as well. I picked Catcher In The Rye especially because it was one of the books we had to read Freshman year and I thought it would be kind of cool looking back and re-experiencing those thoughts I once had in a new way. I am debating which one I will start with... I'm leaning toward Into The Wild because that was one of the first ones I thought of taking with me when I created this Immersion. (Sure, it's cliche, but so is putting Jack Johnson on the iPod I'm borrowing before the trip.)
In fact, the title of this blog came from Into The Wild because I was with Rahul when creating it and I was at a loss when it came to what I would call it. What we decided to do was flip through the pages of the books I was bringing with me on the trip and randomly select a line. I found something on "unprepared and overconfident men" in Into The Wild and we both kind of digged the phrase. I thought it was a nice summary of myself going into this trip. so I named the blogged that.
As for music, Paige kindly lent me her old iPod nano which holds 4 gigs of music. Last year in New Zealand I had a 1 GB mp3 and I put all new albums on it. I really got a lot out of it. Panda Bear's album, Person Pitch was one of them and that really made my trip. This time I put some familiar music, but still kept with the same mindset as before. I also have 2 mix CDs from Paige and Will Burdick that should keep me occupied.
The two I think really compliment eachother in an odd way. Will's is really ambitious and pretty much consists of a bunch of songs I haven't heard while Paige's is kind of familiar and fun with all these songs that really have some nostalgia to them. It kind of goes perfect with the whole traveling/coming-of-age theme.
I also am really really excited to listen to this compilation titled Dark Was The Night. It's composed by the guys from The National and goes toward the benefit of AIDS research. I just heard it tonight on SiriusXMU and it blew me away. It seemed almost too perfect for this trip as every artist I was planning on putting on the nano (Beirut, Sufjan, Sigur Ros, Feist, Arcade Fire, Andrew Bird) were all featured in this album and were all doing these amazing old folk covers. Recently I have been on this "let fate guide me" tip and this just seemed like it was totally made for this trip. I immediately downloaded it on iTunes and would recommend anyone give it a listen.
But. Now that I have 1 hour until I have to wake up, I should probably end this post. I doubt my others will be this lengthy, but I think I needed to write all this out. It definitely calmed me down a bit so I can see this blog being very beneficial during this trip. I'll be sure to post as soon as I can with a post that will probably start with something cheesey like Aloha! Until then!
and is apparently a pretty good photographer.
and it's incredibly delicious.
