Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Potlucks, pizza, and whales

My goodness, these have been a good couple of days. On Sunday night, we had a potluck. Everybody made a dish to share and most everything was veggies from the farm. Honestly, it was probably the best food i have ever tasted. Let me tell you what we had: Emily and i made green beans with coconut, ginger, and tamari; there was a squash/beet/carrot stir fry, a salad (with lettuce from the farm obviously) with avocado and a homemade green dressing that had garlic, parsley, cilantro and some other stuff, fresh baked sourdough bread, rice, and a black bean salad with parsley. Man.

Monday, Ken traded lettuce for pizzas with a local pizza place, and it was the best pizza. Good gravy. There was one with feta, artichokes, spinach--pizza heaven. Later that day after we finished with the harvest, we gathered for what we all thought was a few hours at the beach (Emily stayed back for this one). We ended up getting some beer and staying until sunset. Just before sunset, we were blessed to see a humpback whale jump out of the water. My heart nearly exploded with joy. Then, since it was Karuna's last night, we went first to a kava bar, then to the Kona Brewery, and then to a bar. It was quite an entertaining night.

Today, Emily and I replaced our full bed with 2 twins in our tent and so we will both sleep a little better with our own bed. We just got a new intern today and there are going to be three more people leaving within the month, so there is a lot of transition on the farm right now. It reminds me of Maggie's Place a bit in that respect.

I'm feeling more comfortable and familiar with the farming duties, and things just keep getting better.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Hitch hiking

Emily and I hitch hiked twice today! It was so easy. It's pretty safe and common on the big island and also it's our best way of getting around. Even so, my mom probably won't like it when I tell her we did it. It kind of stinks not having a car, but it was really fun to try hitching.

We went to the small catholic church and then to the farmers market to get lunch--a burrito from the burrito lady. Then we hiked down to the Captain Cook monument at Kealakekua Bay and snorkeled for the first time. Snorkeling is so so cool. I cut my foot on the reef when I jumped in. Then we tried to hike along the coast over jagged lava rock only to have it dead end, so we had to turn back. Then my water ran out and we still had to hike all the way back up to the main road, probably a 1000 foot elevation climb. I haven't been that thirsty in a long time. Emily hiked the whole thing in flip flops! Also, another guy from the farm we were hiking with got food poisoning from an avocado and was puking on the way up. But anyways, we're back and I downed a liter of water and scarfed an entire papaya, so all I need is a trip to the outdoor shower and i'll be good to go.

Burrito! Only 5 dolla! (I told you things were expensive here)
Coriena

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Avocados

Emily never writes on here.

We went to an avocado festival today. They had a free make-your-own-sushi table. Avocados are everywhere. It's like a dream.

We went to a bar last night that we can walk to. It was very small. There were a lot of older people who were dancing to the live rock and roll music. We saw half of them today at the Avocado Festival. It was the first time Em and I had beer since we got to Hawaii, so it was okay for us.

Oh, and we went to a snorkel beach yesterday and saw 3 sea turtles. And some pretty yellow fish. The swimming was awful though b/c of the rocks. Black sand was cool though.

Papayas,
Coriena

Thursday, February 19, 2009

A few photos!

Emily's are better, but here are a few:





Chameleons!

There are lizards everywhere. When you walk, the leaves are always rustling with lizards running away from you. Yesterday, I saw the coolest chameleon with these 3 horns coming out of its head. Ken the farmer picked it up and handed it to me and said it was a Jones chameleon, I think. It walked all over my arm and had the coolest feet with sharp little claws (i had little scratches all over my arm, actually). He started turning darker b/c he was threatened, but didn't freak out on me thankfully.

I also tried going for a run yesterday. Man. This particular spot on the big island is not ideal for running unless you want your running workout to be a hill workout EVERY DAY. The main road is the only relatively level road but it's a narrow, two-lane road that has a good amount of traffic, curves, and barely any shoulder at some points. Also, I haven't found any frisbee games close by.

I really want some cake. Papayas are great and all, but man a nice slice of cake would be so good right now. Or cookies. Or even a dark chocolate bar. (So if you were thinking you'd like to send me a package with some sweet goodies, that would be a-ok).

Bye for now,
C

Monday, February 16, 2009

Hi from HI

Em and I are safe and sound in Kealakekua, HI on Kealaola farm. The internet at the farm has been out since we got here and even now that it's fixed, the computers are kind of slow, so we'll have to wait til Mom sends Em's power cord for her laptop to post pictures. The weather is superb, the water is warm. We spent Feb 9-12 on Oahu with Gina. Oahu is gorgeous and excitingly familiar as they film Lost just miles south of where Gina lives. Gina was a great host and took us hiking up to Maunawili falls where we swam in a waterfall pool, one of my goals while here - check! Gina and Em jumped off the not-so-high waterfall cliff, and Gina found out that I am a huge wuss b/c i wouldn't jump. I did, however, try surfing. I may not have been a wuss for trying, but i definitely wasn't good at it. I could barely stay on the board while laying down paddling. Em and I took a little trip to Haliewa and got picked up a Chocolate-haupia pie on the way back per Gina's recommendation (it's a coconut concoction, yum.) Oh and Mat introduced us to fresh off the tree coconut milk and meat--really good. I really liked Oahu.

The Big Island is much different than Oahu. There's black lava rock all around and the mountains/volcanoes are much different looking--less steep and no deep eroded canyons. I must say, Oahu is prettier from what i've seen so far, but i've only been on a small part of the Big Island. Kealaola farm is so nice. They grow beautiful lettuce and coffee and have lots of fruit trees like bananas, papaya, guava, tangerines, and tons of avocados!!! There are 4 other apprentices here right now who are all nice and it's fun to get to know them and work with them. We laugh a lot. Emily and I are staying in a large camping tent under a solid tarp structure. Don't worry, it has a bed in it. It's fun to think we'll be camping for 4 months. We use an outdoor shower that is quite liberating. The work has been hard, but manageable. It'll get better when Em and I build up our back and hamstring muscles b/c we squat and bend a lot with planting, weeding, and harvesting lettuce.

Some other things: food is so dang expensive here! It's hard to get around cause we don't have a car, but I hope to try hitching sometime.

Also, i wanted to comment quickly on my 2 weeks in San Diego. I love San Diego. It is a fun place. It was fun to hang out with Leen, Beth, Laura, Bekah, and the long lost Diana Dunn! It was great to ride bikes and hike and play frisbee on the beach and go to the San Diego Zoo and Sea World and wear a wetsuit for the first time. That city never lets me down (nor the people there that I visit).

Love and miss you all. Send me an email or write me a letter! Our address is on the website: www.kealaolafarm.com at the bottom.