Final Days at Mokule'ia

Monday and Tuesday of this week were our last two days at Mokule'ia. The four weeks have gone by incredibly quickly! I have loved pretty much every minute of our time here and it is both surprising and very sad that we already have to leave.

Monday was our last workday. We spent the day finishing off projects and making sure we did not leave with any loose ends left. Water barrels were installed and their platforms primed. Recycling fences were completed. And we also spent a couple of hours flipping our tents so that they faced in towards the field as opposed to out towards the beach, a request made by the camp's business manager.

Monday also marked the arrival of our Unit Leader, Jeanine, who came to visit us this week for a mid-sight check-in visit. She stayed for the last days at Mokule’ia and then journeyed with us to Kauai.

Monday afternoon we spent building an Imu to prepare for the luau we were having the next day for dinner. We dug out a hole in the ground. Then filled the hole half way with crumpled newspaper, piled wood and lava rocks over the newspaper, and then it was ready to go for the next morning. Early on Tuesday, the fire was lit with a bang (there was gasoline added a bit before igniting).

Then around 8am, after the fire had burned for a few hours, it was time to put in the food. The pig butt, wrapped in chicken wire, the chicken, the taro, and the sweet potatoes were lowered in and then the steam was contained in the hole with covers and tarps, to roast all day long.

While the food was cooking, we headed off for a very special day in Honolulu. Meleanna Meyer, one of the artists we had met and worked with on the mural at the camp, very generously invited us for a cultural day at some important Hawaiian spots. The original plan had been to visit the Bishop Museum and the Iolani Palace. Unfortunately the Bishop Museum is closed on Tuesday, so we were unable to attend the museum. When we heard this news on Monday, I was very disappointed, but as it turns out, the day ended up being so full, I can’t imagine how we could have possibly fit in another location. We met Meleanna at the Iolani Palace at 10am. Meleanna insisted we invest the extra dollar for the audio tour (clearly the right choice) and we were able to enter the palace for what would typically be a self-guided tour.

The audio track included lots of great and fascinating information, but what was best and most educational was the tour information provided by Meleanna. Meleanna is a royalist and told us all about the illegal annexation of Hawaii by the United States in the late 19^th century. I had known somewhat of this takeover, but I was amazed by how much I did not know about Hawaiian history. I had always assumed that Hawaii had been a isolated nation. While I certainly would have considered its sovereignty legitimate, I had no idea the presence the nation held on the international stage. The royal family was very westernized, well educated, and multi-lingual. They held state dinners and the very modern palace and traveled the globe for diplomatic trips. One of the Queen’s had spent time visiting Queen Victoria in England. The Iolani Palace had electricity and flush toilets earlier than the White House. I was amazed by the palace and by everything I learned of the monarchy, and as Meleanna certainly desired, I came away with a much greater appreciation for the Hawaiian Nation and with anger towards our own imperialist and domineering nation. (Although, for selfish reasons, I am certainly glad that Hawaii is currently a part of the United States, otherwise I would not be here.)

After our wonderfully interesting visit to the Palace, we headed off to Chinatown for a delicious lunch of Dim Sung. The second we arrived at the restaurant and sat down, Meleanna set to ordering.

It was quite the whirlwind dining experience, trying dish after dish without really knowing what we were eating, as Meleanna attempted to find suitable food for our group’s vegetarians and exclaimed that each dish that came her way was “her favorite!” It was a delicious meal with wonderful company.

After lunch, Meleanna took us off to another wonderful sight. Unmarked, off the side of the road was a trail into a bamboo forest.

The forest was incredible itself, but even more incredible was what lay at the end of the trail: the ruins of the summer palace of Kamehameha III.

Before we walked up to the site, Meleanna told us a little background on the summer palace. The palace was host to a tremendous luau attended by an estimate 10,000 people after Hawaii regained sovereignty after a brief British occupation of the Island nation. As we walked up, Meleanna chanted to inform the spirits of our presence. It was a calm, beautiful, and peaceful spot. A sacred spot, it is not in guidebooks. We were so lucky to have Meleanna to show us the way.

The amazing day out was closed off with some shave ice and a quick stop by a great store called Native Books. Then we headed back to camp in time to remove the roasting food from the Imu. While Manu put the finishing touches on our dinner, we headed to the tents to pack. Then it was time for the Luau!

David and Manu with the Luau Feast!

Camp staff and their families joined us for this send off celebration. The food was wonderful (especially the pig!)

After dinner we had a meeting with David, then it was more packing and off to bed. The next day we woke up at 4am to pack up the van and head off to Kauai…but that is for another post. I will update on our arrival at our new site soon. For now, I will put in one last time, how much I loved Oahu. Our time at Mokule’ia was incredible. We learned a lot, worked with amazing people, and of course I can’t complain about the oceanfront living situation. I loved Oahu. It is hard to leave, but at least we did not have to leave Hawaii just yet.