Green 2 Going Green

I am so sorry for the lack of posts recently. I have certainly been slacking in the blog world, but my oh my have we been busy recently and has our internet been inconsistent. In our short time on Oahu, we have been trying to fit as much into our limited free time as possible.

Our first weekend here, to make up for the Tsunami’s disruption to our work day, we worked all day Friday to try to finish our tent platforms. Unfortunately the process ended up being substantially more elaborate than we had anticipated and the platforms were still not completed by the end of the day, meaning (not so unfortunately) that we had to spend a few nights in the lodge, staying in double rooms that were luxurious to us.

That Sunday we moved from work to our original plans for Saturday, hiking out to Ka’ena point. Ka’ena point is a nature preserve just down the street from camp and it is an incredible site. Lucky for us, we got to hear a bit about the cultural and historical significance of Ka’ena point before we hiked down. That first weekend, a group of Hawaiian artists was at camp to paint a mural in the camp’s chapel with a group of young art student’s hand picked for the project. What interesting people to have at camp. They were a wonderfully inviting group, eager to talk to us about our visit and about Hawaii. We were able to sit in while they talked to the group about the cultural significance of the mural that was being created, as well as a discussion of the process of design and painting. And for a few days we watched the constant progression of the work of art and then just recently saw the wonderful complete result and were able to help put the clear coat over the mural to keep it vibrant and beautiful for years.

Before and After

But, I am diverting from my original thought…Ka’ena point. One of the artists, “Uncle Al” took time the morning of our hike to tell us a brief history of Ka’ena point. He told us of the concepts of connectivity in Hawaiian culture, that everyone and every thing is interconnected. Ka’ena point is a point where the sun meets the water at the end of the day and is a very spiritual place understood to be the departure point for souls, passing on to another world. I am not certain I am doing his stories justice here, but his tone instilled in each one of us a deep appreciation for his words and for the place we were in. He began with chants that drew us in, and from then on we were captivated by his words. Then on the hike, we were captivated by the views both of the mountains and of the ocean. It was also an exciting location for a few team members who are avid fans of the television show, Lost, as we passed several film locations from season one.

The following Friday (which we took as a day off since we had worked an extra day the previous weekend) we returned to Ka’ena point for an ISP (Independent Service Project) and worked removed weeds from the trail.

That Friday was also Taylor’s 21^st birthday. On Saturday, to celebrate the occasion, we headed down from a weekend away in Honolulu. We stayed at a hostel a mere block away from Waikiki Beach. But before heading to Waikiki, we visited Pearl Harbor. I was so happy to be visiting an historical site, especially one as important and well done as Pearl Harbor. After getting our tickets, we had about an hour and a half before we would be able to view a film and head out to the USS Arizona memorial. After a stop in the gift shop, I wandered the exhibits by myself, fascinated by some of the items, photos, and information of the period. The film and visit to the memorial were also wonderful, giving a very good summary of the events of December 7^th, 1941 before visiting the memorial which is built over the top of the sunken USS Arizona. Parts of the ship remain exposed out of the shallow water.

Following this excellent morning was a relaxing beach afternoon at Waikiki and then a very fun and late night out on the town. Overall the trip was a great success.

This weekend we ended up returning to Honolulu (this time just for the day) to hike the Diamond Head Crater. The trail was extremely crowded with tourists, but the view was pretty spectacular and worth the uphill traffic jams.

While those weekend details have certainly been fun, play is not all we have don while we have been here. Quite the opposite, we have been working very hard. The tent platforms took forever to build but were finally completed Monday of our second week here. I unfortunately was not feeling well that day and took my first sick day of AmeriCorps, sleeping all day and missing the completion of the tent platforms we had worked so hard to build. But no worries, we were able to move into our new home.

The rest of that week was filled with Fence building and other odd jobs around camp. Then came the research time for the projects we have been working on most recently (and the projects that gave this epic blog post its name). The primary purpose of our work here is to make the camp more sustainable. A great deal of liberty has been given to us to design recycling and composting programs ourselves so we have done just that. Katie and Carly did a wonderful job researching various methods of composting and settling on the proper choice for Camp. We now have a composting bin built and started up, 30 some odd recycling and trash cans painting and set up around camp with signs explaining proper recycling practices. My work this past week was primarily dedicated to the rain water catchment system. We are still in the process of installing rain gutters that lead to water barrels and irrigation lines to water garden beds where we are planting papaya, banana plants, and ti leaves. We had a ton of work to do this week and some troubles waiting for proper supplies and staff coordination while our Director, David was away this past week. But progress has been pretty solid and we seem to be on the right track now. We shall see what this next week brings. Monday and Tuesday we will actually be leaving camp to work near by to where David lives in Kailua.

Alrighty then. Second apology of the post: sorry this has been so very long. This was quite a bit for one post. Hope it wasn’t too overwhelming I was try to avoid such delayed postings in the future.

Tsunami Evacuation

Green 2 Tsunami Timeline

March 10, 2011- March 11, 2011

7:45pm HST: 8.9 Earthquake hits Japan

8:04 pm HST: Abby receives a phone call from Camp Mokule’ia director and Green 2 project sponsor, David Turner, informing the team of the earthquake and the Tsunami warning for the Hawaiian Islands

8:16 pm HST: Manu, a staff member at Camp Mokule’ia, comes to Green 2’s cabin to alert the team of the tsunami and provide insight from an islander as to proper evacuation procedures

8:18 pm HST: Green 2 frantically packs evacuation bags in preparation for the possible siren warnings

9:51 pm HST: First siren goes off. Green 2 quickly gathers bags and piles into the van, just to hear from Manu, that this siren is merely a warning and there is no need to leave quite yet.

10:07pm HST: Team Members sit around in Lodge, watching the news, calling family members, and trying to keep minds occupied.

10:32pm HST: Second siren goes off. Green 2 once again piles into the van, this time accompanied by four carless backpackers from Montana, and drives to Waialua High School.

10:45pm HST – 12:47am HST: Green 2 hangs around in High School parking lot, listening to the radio, playing frisbee, and trying to stay distracted.

12:47am HST: Team members begin to move inside to school Cafeteria for coffee, water, snacks, and news broadcast. Team gains appreciation for our shelter operations trainings.

3:07am HST: First wave hits Island of Kaua’i

3:21am HST: First wave hits Island of Oahu

3:36am HST: Second wave hits Oahu

3:52am HST: Third wave hits Oahu

4:00am – 8:00am HST: Team members attempt to catch some shut-eye, lying down on the benches of cafeteria tables.

8:25am HST: Oahu receives all clear from Mayor

8:30am HST: Green 2 leaves overnight refuge and heads back to Camp Mokule’ia, where they find evidence of high waters, but no significant damage.

9:04am HST: Tsunami pancakes with David. The team is happy to be alive and well.

What an unbelievable night. And before this all began it had already been quite a day, so I will start all the way back to the morning of March 10th. That morning we were split into two groups for work. Four team members stayed behind at camp to begin work on our tent platforms. The remaining six of us headed off with David, the camp director, to Hau'ula. There is a camp at Hau'ula that is now closed. In exchange for some help cleaning the camp up for the land to be sold, we were able to go in and harvest used lumber from their former tent platforms to then use on our own. Quite different from our worksite, Hau'ula is in the jungle. I understand one reason why the camp may have failed: the place is mosquito infested. Honestly I have never been so swarmed with mosquitos in my life. I covered myself in "Off" bug-spray, only to emerge with at least forty bites, ten of which were (very attractively) on my face. While the bites were itchy and the swarms of bugs were certainly annoying to me, their effect on me was nothing to that on my teammate and friend, Dominique, who we learned is allergic to mosquitos. About half way through the day, Dom could not stay in the jungle and while drinking some liquid benedryl, had to be taken back to camp. Because we were about forty-five minutes from camp, it would not have been worth while for the driver to return to the jungle. Luckily we had two vehicles, our van and a truck to haul the lumber. Unluckily, that truck only fit two extra passengers in the cab, so only two of us could stay behind with David. Katie and I stayed for the remainder of the day. We broke up two tent platforms, broke for lunch around 2pm, and then returned to the campsite to carry out the remaining lumber. The lumber that still needed to come out the quarter mile to the truck included four enormous 4x10 beams. Katie and I had quite a time hauling them out, pausing every so often to rest our arms and swat away bugs. Then it started pouring rain. Meanwhile, David was busy moving eight concrete trapezoids that had been supporting the platforms. His work and energy never ceased, but Katie and I were finding ourselves incredibly drained do the work that was originally intended to be shared with four other teammates. By the time we got back to Camp Mokule'ia that evening, and our team met us to unload the truck, we were dead tired. Marybeth commented that we looked to have "lost our souls."

After a shower and dinner, the promise of an calm evening and an early bedtime was lifting my spirits. I was already in bed by eight when Abby got a phone call. Maya and I jokingly made fun of Abby's constant response of "ok" as she talked to David on the phone. Then Abby made the announcement, telling us about the earthquake and the Tsunami warning that applied to all of the Hawaiian islands. I was terrified. All I could see in my head were images I had seen on the news years back when the huge Tsunami hit various locations on the Indian Ocean. I saw our entire camp washed away and water crashing in through the windows of a high school gym where we and hundreds of others were taking refuge. Of course these images are not all what came to pass. My reaction was, as it turns out, way more than it needed to be, but with all my nervous energy I began to pack a bag of valuable belongings. Then Manu, a staff member of the camp who lives on the property, came in to tell us of the warning. He was very calm about the whole thing, but his light mood did not quite lighten mine. Instead, the rest of the team began to pack bags as well and we prepared for the possible evacuation.

When the first siren rang around 9:30, we were ready to go and jumped to action collecting our things, throwing our remaining belongings on the top bunks of beds, and heading out the van. We were about to pull out when Manu came out and informed us this was just a test and warning. No need to leave yet, "but man, you guys were fast!"

We headed back inside, and a couple that was staying in the lodge invited us in to watch the newscast. I sat glued to the news and when I saw images of the Tsunami that had by this point hit Japan, I was once again terrified by imagery. My body wanted to sleep, but my mind kept my eyes open.

Around 10:30 the second siren rang out and it was time to leave and head to Waialua High School down the street. The refuge center there was not yet open, so we spent quite a bit of time in the parking lot. Now that we had evacuated and it was somewhat close to the time my parents would have to wake up on the east coast, I called home and was both impressed and calmed by the steadiness of my mother's voice on the other end of the line. Taylor, played guitar, we listened the the radio, a few people tried to sleep, and we otherwise just hung around waiting and waiting and waiting. We knew it would still be several hours until anything would happen.

Eventually more people began to show up in the parking lot and we were able to head inside, where instead of listening to the radio, we were glued to the television broadcast. As we got more information about the predictions of the waves and we learned that we were in fact safe where we were, my tense mood lightened considerably. Around 1am I talked to some friends on the east coast and was able to be rather chipper about the goings on, now viewing it less as a threat and much more as an experience that I would not forget and could add to my own personal storybook.

Now it was just more waiting, a little bit of sleep (but not much). The entire event was really rather anti-climatic. The waves hit a little later than expected and as we realized that the waves were not hugely destructive, I began to drift in and out of sleep, checking in with the news any time I woke up.

Around 8:30 in the morning, the mayor gave the all clear and we were able to return to camp, where we were happy to see that, though the waves had risen up to our cabins, there was no damage to report at all. David arrived shortly after us and made us a wonderful pancake breakfast. Then, while David and Abby were talking over plans for the work day, they looked over and saw half the team asleep in chairs throughout the dining hall. We were able to go nap until 1pm and then it was off to work on the Tent platforms. I wanted to sleep more, but ended up being glad we worked and went about a normal day. The time was bizarre. It was almost as if nothing had happened, but our exhaustion reminded us that it had.

Aloha

This morning I write to you from Hawaii. It is seven am and most of my team in still in bed. Rain is pouring down outside and sounding on the roof of our cabin in a way that is both so familiar and so distant given our recent time in the desert. Accompanied by the sound of crashing waves that lulled me to sleep last night, the morning is calm. Camp Mokulei’a is serene and beautiful and I am truly in awe that I will be living here for a month.

We arrived yesterday, spirits high, excited about our new adventure in a very new place. After we got off the airplane we collected our matching luggage and headed outside where we were greeted by David, the camp director, and Debbie, another camp staff member who presented us each with our very own lei of fresh flowers. Then after a very quick stop off at Costco, it was off to Camp. Once we had parked, we walked around the corner of a building, and there it was: the ocean. We put our stuff down in the cabin that we are staying in (temporarily, until we build tent platforms, and move into tents) and within fifteen minutes of arriving the entire team was swimming in the clear blue ocean and exploring our new beachfront home. At one point while I was swimming, I looked down and there was a sea turtle swimming right beneath me.

At five o’clock we went to the dining hall for dinner. While we are here, we will be able to eat several of our meals with the camp and then sometimes we will be on our own to cook for ourselves in the camp kitchen. Last night, the head cook made our dinner and it was absolutely amazing. Steak, baked potato, stir fry veggies, rice, pasta, salad, and pie. And all delicious. We are all definitely looking forward to future meals with the camp.

Also during dinner, David told us more about the camp and local culture. Today will be a bigger day for learning as we move into orientation, tour the camp, and all participate in the high and low ropes course.

After dinner, there was more exploring of the camp and then a quick trip to town to get some essentials and then back to camp and early to bed. Unfortunately the essentials I had to shop for in town included cough drops and cold medicine, so for me, early to bed was the only option.

Now it is time to get ready for breakfast and see what the day has in store!

Farewell Agua Caliente

I have sadly neglected writing and have not yet paid proper tribute to Agua Caliente and our last days there. Once we found out about our Hawaii projects, time really flew by. During workdays our pace had slowed significantly and time was very dedicated to enjoying our final days with the staff and volunteers at Agua Caliente.

Work that we did do included:

Taking down a huge Tamarisk tree with chainsaws, axes, and shear human strength...

(Danny and I did Tree Pose on the tree)

We also left our mark on Agua Caliente, each painting stones that made up a rock path lining around the playground...

We also worked for several hours to chisel out steps on a rock face on the Moonlight Trail.

Aside from work, there was a great deal of play and goodbye celebrations. Our second to last night there, Miles, on of the park attendants, had us all over to his house for a goodbye party. The following night we made dinner (Dom's famous stuff Bell Peppers) for the rangers and park attendants and all ate together at Kevin's house, which had become a popular hang out spot over the past few weeks. At dinner we gave the staff a parting gift: a framed picture of us (including Brett of course!) with a few park attendants which we signed around the matted edges.

The next morning was our tearful goodbye and long journey back to Sacramento. Mark, Jake, Tyler, and Kevin all got up to see us off. I miss them all and the rest of the Agua family. We really had a wonderful time in the desert and could not have asked for a better sponsor. We have been so lucky with placement and so lucky to have the positive energy on our team that is infectious to those around us.

We have promised to go back and visit and have a reunion in the desert. This absolutely has to happen! And it will happen.