Today was May Day! When I arrived, I was very excited, nervous, and sad all at the same time. I was especially sad because this would be the last SHS May Day I would ever participate in with my classmates. Before my introduction as king, I had to perform a preshow dance with my classmates and sing with Steve Grimes! We all went along with Steve Grimes, singing "Where In' The World Are The Whales" and it was wonderful. Immediately after that, it was our time for our preshow. Even though I was kind of nervous and I thought I was going to mess up, everything was prefect. The show went on, and I was introduced as king along with Krizhna, the queen, and the rest of the court. All the grades of Sacred Hearts School each did their unique performances and I sat there with the rest of the court watching them. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected! It was finally time for the end, and the finale performance. The finale court dance was beautiful and everyone was astounded watching it. Even after the performance, people still remarked that it was the best May Day they had ever seen! Everyone did a great job, the MC's and the rest of sacred hearts school did so well. Thank you Ms. Mariah and Ms. Vanessa for making this year's May Day shine!
April 17,2014
Leg 1: Sacred Heart's School / Mo'okiha 20, 5'7"N 156, 40 '33" W Humidity: 88% Wind: NE at 14 mph Partly cloudy Temperature: 73 degrees F I woke up to a wonderful morning, extremely excited to embark on this journey in our back yard. We set up our field guides in our journals. Our first destination was the Mo'okiha Opi'ilani. We met up captain Timmy to deliver the news that we wanted Kala to be the guest speaker at our 8th grade graduation. Sadly, Kala wasn't present but we still were waiting for the news to be heard about her decision. Leg 2: Mo'okiha / Costo 20,53 "18" N 156, 27'0"W Humidity: 76% Wind: NE @ 18mph Partly cloudy Temperature: 81 degrees F The shopping at Costco required strategic planning and logical reasoning. It was quite a challenge deciding the food and supplies we would buy we only a certain amount of money. Costco was one of the most important destinations of our 8th grade retreat. This experience taught us to only take what we need, not luxuries. Leg 3: Costco / O'o Farms 20, 44 '7 "N 156, 21' 20" W Humidity: 67% Wind: ENE @21mph Chance of rain: 5% Temperature: 82 degrees F O'o farms was more peaceful than it had ever been in my times of physically being on this positive land. While finally settling in our yurt on O'o Farms, there was a small tour. Although, the tour prevented us from revealing ourselves to the tourists, we eventually unloaded all of our food and supplies from Costco into the main eating area of O'o Farms. Soon we would completely prepare base camp and be on our way to the Sacred Gardens of Maliko. Leg 4: Sacred Gardens of Maliko 20, 52' 7" N 156, 18 '49" W Humidity: 58% Wind: NE @ 17mph Almost Clear Temperature: 84 degrees F The exact moment my feet crossed the entrance into the gardens, I was at peace. The chime that Eve Hogan had hung up at the entrance had beautiful sounds emanating from it, and they brought me to even more excitement and peace. I, for the first time, had learned the true meaning of labyrinths. All the labyrinths represent a journey in life both physical and spiritual. Just like how labyrinths have quick turns and can change course suddenly compares to how our lives can do just the same in positive or negative ways. Eve told us how just one's attitude can alter their life completely. Having the positive attitude attracts and causes positive things to happen, when negative attitude does just the opposite. While at the gardens, the class met Eve Hogan's Dog, Bodie. Bodie was a huge St. Bernard weighing about 150 pounds! Leg 5: Sacred Gardens of Maliko / O'o Farms 20, 44 '7 "N 156, 21' 20" W Humidity: 62 % Wind: NE @ 17mph Cloudy Temperature: 79 degrees F Arriving back from the Sacred Gardens, we took some time to rest from all the walking and running. Soon, we would be preparing dinner, but first we were given a reasonable amount of time to explore the farm. I especially enjoyed this little segment of our retreat. Max and I, found a 100 foot pine tree just behind the main eating area and we climbed at least 40 feet of it. The reason why we climbed it is because at the exact same time the sun was shining it's last light on that day and slowly drifting behind the west Maui mountains. We both watched until the first of the stars had begun to show, we got a pretty nice view from up there, laying on almost spiral staircase branches. Leg 6: Preparing for dinner and bedtime The class was divided into two watch groups. One watch group with prepare dinner and the other would clean up the scraps. I was part of watch group one which had to prepare dinner first, but luckily we had purchased rotisserie chicken from Costco. In other words, our task was to prep the dinner, not make it from scratch. While all sitting at a table decorated with ti leaves and flowers, we said grace and began to feast. All of us got into bed around 10:00 p.m., but did not fall asleep until midnight or even 1:00 a.m.! We talked about how wonderful our day had gone and how ready and excited we were for the next. April 18, 2014 Leg 7: O'o Farms / Spirit of Aloha Botanical Gardens 20, 55' 60" N 156, 15'51" W Humidity: 68% Wind: E @ 12mph Clear Temperature: 78 degrees F After waking up to a very crisp morning and wonderful breakfast, we continued our journey towards the Spirit of Aloha Gardens. When we arrived, just standing a little above the entrance gate, gave a sight I had never seen before. My eyes saw a lush green field of tall grass waving at the rhythm of the wind and the eternal ocean just beyond it. Frederick Honig greeted us and was obviously excited to the point where he was vibrating with energy! He let us choose certain virtues which actually had a garden dedicated to each one and toured us almost around the entire gardens. Frederick then introduced us to the grandmother tree, the grandmother tree would answer any question you would ask it. I asked, " Why do I always have this wild feeling burning inside me?". Three days later my answer was delivered. Somehow I discovered that every soul in the universe has a spirit animal, and that mine was a bird, the crow. Leg 8: Spirit of Aloha Botanical Gardens / O'o Farms 20, 44 '7 "N 156, 21' 20" W Humidity: 68% Wind: E @ 12mph Cloudy Temperature: 78 degrees F Immediately we started working on our pizza garden. A pizza garden was a garden literally in the form of a pizza with different plants giving each slice distinction. It was a lot of hard work involving tools to soften and aerate the soil in the garden. Well, the hard work was done, and what was left was a perfect shape of a circle covered with cardboard and compost Leg 9: Dinner and Bedtime Tonight's dinner was prepared by Louis, which was a French dish including all types of meats! As I was about to taste the food, I honestly did not think I would like it, but I did, and I thought it was amazing! This night, after a long and adventurous day, I fell asleep at a little over 10:00 p.m., which I thought would not happen since I was talking to my classmates! April 19, 2014 Leg 10: O'o farms / Grimes Guitar Shop Cloudy Temperature: 86 degrees F Steve Grimes guitar shop was a very chill and refreshing place to be in. Our good friend Steve explained to us the whole process of constructing guitars and how it sometimes takes two years to complete just one! He even showed us a room where he stored all his woods for the guitars in. He possessed some of the most rare and valuable woods on the planet with some little pieces costing as much as 5000 dollars! The studio was very well constructed, it was completely soundproof and even the balcony gave a view of the west Maui mountains! There was also this couch in his studio that seemed like the most comfortable I had ever sat on, but it was just a lack of sleep that caused such comfort! Leg 11: Grimes Guitar Shop / Home Sweet Home Mr. Hill ever so kindly dropped Max, Chanel, and I at our homes. The first thing I did was take a long shower and a 2 hour nap. Then, I found out that a good friend of mine had birthday party for her little sister! My entire family attended this party and I even made some new friends! This entire retreat was definitely an experience that strengthened the bond between all of us. All of us had never spent that much time together. It was a almost like a spiritual journey, or a labyrinth. There were many twists and turns along the way. Although, every time I completely a journey, I almost feel kind of sad that it has ended. I hope that later in all our lives we will get to bond again. Maybe we will even have a 10 year reunion! Today was the first day of May Day practice! Everyone was edgy since it was our first time preparing for the big event one month from now! At least we were able to complete the introduction of all the princes and princesses and the rest of the May Day Court. Surprisingly, the little ones were able to listen and easily do their given tasks. With each day of practice, we bond and become more knowledgeable of everything. Soon, May Day will come, and I am sure we will be prepared!
Today, my class finally got to work on our Aquaponics system after it had been disassembled for our bazaar. It was infested with mildew, bacteria, mosquitoes, leaches, and centipedes. It was a perfect cesspool of bacteria. We all had to carry each and every water tank filled with waste and organize them in the positions they were supposed to be. Some of us couldn't obtain any leverage while carrying the tanks, so often at times we couldn't contribute to lifting them. We washed down each of the tanks being aware of centipedes and scorpions nesting inside and under them, and there were many of them! One of the water tanks, filled with waste, had a bell syphon which could literally suck the waste out of the tank using negative air pressure. Cleaning the tanks was a disgusting job to do, but it was our responsibility. Hopefully, next week, we will fish for tilapia and get all the hardware set up including the pump and the filter so we can start growing all kinds of vegetables.
The movie of the Adventures of Ulysses was a great movie for me. It was almost like the original story but left out some scenes such as the Sirens and it combined a lot of other scenes. The movie was good, but the book itself was great. The book seemed much better than the movie because it allowed my mind to imagine the story, the characters, and everything else. I am just glad that I read the book first so I could introduce a new adventurous story to my mind.
My class and I have been putting a lot of effort into our garden. Howard, our landscaper, has finished a beautiful stone foundation around the beds and have created a fine crisp soil for the plants. We have cilantro, basil, tomato, dry land taro, and many other types of plants growing in the beds. Last month each one of the plants were no bigger than seven inches tall!. But now the tomato plants, especially, are one foot tall! We water the garden every single day, and sometimes the rain does us the favor. All the lettuce are pretty much ready to be harvested, I am sure we will do that very soon. The other garden patches by our school cemetery are still being built. Last Friday, the class worked for one hour during class time, dumping wheelbarrows and buckets of soil on cardboard to create the beds for more dry land taro! Two garden beds are finished and one already has Taro that has grown about eight inches since it was a seed. My classmates and I still hope to create a peaceful sanctuary-like area around the garden with picnic tables. I hope that our idea will be put to use in creating the perfect garden.
Today was the Sacred Hearts School Open House. It went pretty well and I saw quite a lot of people viewing each classroom. My job for the Open House was easy but kind of crazy! I was in charge of the registration for walk-in people. At first there was no one who would check in at my table. But I gave it 30 minutes and there were at least 5 families at my table at the same time! I was scrambling very quickly trying to write down nametags and information on charts! I took care of everything in the end. It was my first complicated job that I had had. Open House went very well, and it left people very pleased.
As I entered the room after chanting the welcoming Aloha Oli chant, I could feel the energy of everyone in the room, especially Ms. Enriquez. I was so nervous and scared that I thought if I screwed up, the people sitting at the table in front of me would hate me. What was I thinking! I talked about my I Am From poem, my parents diversity, and my spiritual life. It was the best group of subjects I could possibly talk about. I was asked many psychological questions, I thought they would be the most difficult questions I would ever be asked, but they were easy! They were questions on peace, spirituality, and situations at school and around the world. I was so nervous and almost shaking by the time I came out of the interview room. I thought that my efforts in my interview were to their full extent and I really wonder what position I will achieve.
3/3/14 UPDATE! The May Day court has been selected and I am king!!! It's funny because when I was in 3rd grade, I thought this day would never come. I never thought I would already be an 8th grader and I would be king of the May Day court! As we were arriving at the Maui Theatre, we were greeted by Steve Grimes! We had to be there wearing special shirts with whale pictures on them. The week before, I lost mine! I had a friend send me a picture of the shirt, I took a plain white shirt and drew the same exact thing that was on all the other shirts! It turned out to be pretty well drawn, and looked like a black and white version of the real shirt! While we were practicing our song, Where In The World Are The Whales, we all were nervous because we would soon step onto the stage and sing it to the whole audience! The time had come, and the announcer brought us onto the stage! As we sang our song, we weren't comfortable at first, but as we kept singing, we started to enjoy ourselves! We left the audience with joyful smiles on their faces, and most importantly, we had fun.
Students from many schools on Maui poured into the theater and sat staring with wonder at the instruments laid out on the stage. We were greeted with an exotic introduction, Halie Loren, the main singer, serenaded us with her very relaxing and soothing music played by her bandmates. Halie told us about her early life experiences, and how she came to live her dream. The band played sad music, and joyful music, as well as different interpretations of "Over The Rainbow" (by IZ). Literally, I was almost lulled me to sleep with her voice and rhythms because she was so talented. It was a great experience to watch a live jazz band!
|