Day Three - Friday - Pardoned (Part 1)

I'm going to split this post into two as well.

I spent early Friday morning doing paperwork about the accident, so I didn't work with the kids. However, they informed me that the trail was really steep and "you wouldn't have liked it." How quickly they got to know me.

The kids and I headed over to Kilauea Point NWR after that. We got a quick tour, but then it was time for me to do more paperwork with M and the kids got to explore with the biologist and the park ranger.



The paperwork got done and apparently no one is mad at me, but I will be teased mercilessly. I've been told that this is my initiation into the club. I think I would have preferred not being a member.

After we were done at Kilauea Point the kids and I went back to the campsite for lunch and then would be going to Limahuli Garden.

Limahuli Garden is a beautiful botanic garden for native Hawaiian plants. It was a nice easy hike through the hills and had some wonderful views and just gorgeous plantings. The kids were so cute, calling out to each other and excited to be seeing plants they had learned about before. We had a really good time there.

On our way back to Hanalei, we stopped at a beach not far from Limahuli Garden.

Day Two - Thursday Punished (Part 2)

After our great morning at Waipa we came back to the campsite to get ready to do some work at the refuge.

We met up with M and were going to be removing invasive plants (pulling weeds) and getting some areas ready for native plants with mulch, etc. It was super hot out, but the work wasn't too bad, especially with eight people doing it. Well, it wasn't too bad until about an hour in when I realized I was getting eaten alive by mosquitos. By the time we finished I counted 20-30 mosquito bites on each of my legs, a couple on my arms, a couple right below my butt, and one that swelled to the size of a quarter on the delicate skin of my boob. It was awesome. One of the kids looked at me and said, "Colleen! You didn't just get bit, you got attacked!" Thanks, I know.

And then I got bitten twice more while I was in the shower.

It was also really fun when the park ranger coming to help us said, "Oh, you must be Colleen. I heard about the van." Apparently, the guy who saw it happen on the porch decided to tell everyone in the Kaua'i refuge complex. The kids really enjoyed my muttering about that one. "Oh yeah, that's exactly how I want to be introduced. Not, this is Colleen, the youth opportunity coordinator, or this is Colleen, she went to Georgetown Law, or this is Colleen and no, she doesn't understand how you could possibly think a tiny blind snake that looks like a worm is cute. Get away from me."

That night, M had a barbecue for us and some other refuge employees. There were a couple of people my age there, so I thought that could be fun, but they were the only two people I've met since working here who weren't friendly. Almost downright rude. So I just stayed away from them.

By the time night rolled around, I was ready for "bed" and a good night's sleep. It was not to be. A couple of hours into the night I was woken up by the hardest rain I have ever seen or heard. At first I just tried to go back to sleep, but then I realized my tent was leaking. It was my last camping trip all over again. The rain would abate for a little while and I would fall asleep, only to be woken up again, sure that we were going to be flooded. I considered making a run to the van, but then I'd be soaked and in the van. Not a promising option. I ended up just getting inside my sleeping bag, pulling the hood over my head, and trying to sleep like that. It was hot, but at least I stayed dry. I have to say, the sleeping bag I had was awesome (unlike the tent) and I'm grateful to the man who lent it to me.

After that really good night's sleep, I didn't have much hope for the morning. I knew I wouldn't be hiking and working on the trail with the kids. I had accident paperwork to do.

Kaua'i Camping Trip - Day Two: Thursday Punished (Part 1)

After worrying about the van accident as I fell asleep and using a folded up towel as a pillow, I felt less than refreshed as we all trekked off to the Waipa Foundation at a quarter to eight.

The Waipa Foundation was started by a family who bought up a bunch of land to keep it from being developed, and it now also does environmental education and Hawaiian cultural education. So, we were there to help a bunch of auntys and uncles make poi for the whole community.

We split up to help at the different stations, some of us cooking taro, some peeling it, and some cleaning it. Peeling it basically entailed scooping the chunks out of water and rubbing the charred skin off of the taro with your hands. Needless to say, these were all messy jobs.



It was really a wonderful experience. The elders were all so lovely and happy to share their traditions, especially Uncle Calvin (in the red board shorts). When we said goodbye he told me I had to come back and that he loved me. I felt very special to have been included in such a longstanding tradition. The kids really enjoyed it as well. Plus, we were treated to a delicious lunch of chicken stew, rice, and poi of course.



Waipa was an amazing place to experience being a part of the community that Kaua'i is. Everyone who entered made sure they gave an aloha, hug, and kiss on the cheek to everyone present. The older men did the traditional greeting with each other where they put their hands on the back of each others' necks and pressed their foreheads together. This was a part of Hawaii I feel like I never would have been privileged to experience on Oahu; it's too developed and spread out.

The Foundation's land was awesomely beautiful, and they're doing their best to run a sustainable farm. All of the taro peel and scraps were put into tubs for pig slop. We all got a kick out of the piglets! And, between working and lunch, we were sent across the street to a beautiful beach. Unfortunately I was unprepared for the possibility of beach time and just got to stick my feet in.



Oh, and I definitely still hate poi...even though M said this had a nice smoky flavor, it still basically didn't taste like anything to me and had the texture of elephant snot or something. Not my cup of tea. The Hawaiian girls dug right in though!



So, after having an excellent morning, I thought maybe my luck was turning.

I was wrong.

Kaua'i Camping Trip - Day One: Wednesday Punk'd

I'm sure you all missed me last week while I was off camping in Kaua'i, but rest assured that I made it back in (mostly) one piece and have an abundance of stories to tell.

Let me start by saying that I was still getting punk'd by life, even after the food situation was solved and I had arrived in Kaua'i.

I met the crew at the Honolulu airport at 1:15pm and everybody was there on time, so my first worry about traveling with seven young people (not all are technically teenagers, but that's how I think of them) was assuaged. However, I don't think these kids travel off island much, or at least not without parents, because they had a myriad of questions about what to do before we even hit security. I was glad I had checked everyone in online and kept the boarding passes.

The flight from Honolulu to Lihue, Kaua'i only has you in the air for about twenty minutes. I think it's my favorite flight ever. Heaven. I barely made a dent in The Economist I bought at the airport (the only time I'll spend that kind of cash on a magazine...Karri knows what I'm talking about, haha). Getting our bags in Lihue was also a super speedy process, and everything came through fine.

"M" met us at the airport and followed us to the rental car place after Jose picked us up. It was at the rental car pickup that we encountered our first snag - I was definitely glad M was there.

The federal government is self-insured, and as such, employees are not required to have any kind of proof of insurance when doing things like renting giant 15 passenger vans in which to drag teenagers around islands. This vans'r'us type place did not seem to understand that, and wanted proof of personal driver's insurance. Having not driven on a regular basis in the last four years, I do not have such insurance. M stepped in and said he would fax them a copy of his personal insurance card that night, and they seemed appeased by that.

Following M, we started out on our one hour drive back to the Hanalei National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) where we would be camping, with a quick stop at an overlook to see the Hule'ia NWR. Kaua'i has one main road, basically a two lane highway that has lots of curves, turns, and one lane bridges. An excellent place for my first time driving a vehicle that large...

But everything was fine. I did a great job.

And then I crashed the van.

Ok, I'm being a little dramatic. After an hour on the windy road, we pulled onto the Hanalei NWR road, and the end was a mere fifty feet away. I turned right into the yard/driveway area, and promptly hit a fence post with my passenger side. Apparently I didn't gauge the necessary turn width properly. I realized this with a simultaneous CRUNCH from the van door and a slightly too late STOP from the kids.



That's when I just wanted to lay my head on the steering wheel and cry and then go home. Strangely, that wasn't an option. I had to unload kids and luggage and set up a tent, and face all kinds of embarrassment. Turns out not only the kids and M saw it happen, but one of the volunteers staying in the bunkhouse and was on the porch when he saw me "ruin my day." Awesome. (This lovely fella told the whole Kaua'i Refuge Complex what happened, which you'll hear about later.)

So I sucked it up and dealt with campsite setup. We camped behind the refuge bunkhouse (which is way nicer than my bunkhouse). M and I took the kids to a beach and left them there while we went to his house and got Costco pizza and lasagna ready for dinner. That's when I had my mini meltdown - just got choked up, no actual crying, but M was great and told me about knocking a sideview mirror off a government vehicle. And then he gave me a sorely needed rum and orange juice.



After dinner M and I went grocery shopping at the most expensive grocery store in Hawaii. Six dollars for a loaf of bread?!? No wonder Kaua'i is having food sovereignty conferences!

The rest of the night passed fairly uneventfully, although I still felt depressed about the van. M said he'd take care of figuring out what we needed to do, so that was nice. I really did not want to make that call to my boss: "Um, hi. I kind of had an accident with the rental van..." It'd be like telling my parents about my Echo mishap when I was sixteen all over again.

I Must Be Getting Punk'd

Figuring out how to pay for food for seven kids on a youth conservation corps camping trip can't possibly be this hard. There have been waivers, multiple conversations, talks with the regional office, you can't use a credit card, now we have to do a purchase order and find a vendor who will accept payment over the phone, no we can't do that because the kids aren't volunteers because they receive a stipend, we're going to make the kids pay for their own food (surprise! I was so against that idea), never mind, we'll just pay cash from the bosses and fiddle with the reimbursement form, nope, now a one time credit card payment has been authorized.

Are you kidding me????

After several days and many more phone calls, it's all been worked out. The refuge guy who's meeting us will pay for the groceries on his government credit card, but I must purchase everything I'll need to create 88 meals (11 meals x 8 people) at once. Fine, but I have to store it in one big cooler.

Again, are you kidding me????

I also have 500 bucks in my wallet from one of my superiors. I think it's my booze budget so that I don't go insane on this trip.

I leave for the airport in a couple of hours and I'll be on Kaua'i until Sunday afternoon. I won't have internet access (good god, am I really camping?) so I'll post again when I get back. I have lots to tell about my birthday and my gym progress, but it's just been a crazy week trying to get ready for this trip.

Wish me luck! I figure all of this must be making me a better person. Now if I could just stop looking over my shoulder wondering when Ashton Kutcher is going to jump out...

I think I'm getting dumber

So the moped was just out of gas. Luckily, that's quite easy to fix =) I went to the moped shop and said, "Joe, my moped just died." "How much gas is in it?" "I don't know, but the gas light didn't come on." "Um, there's no gas light. That's the gas guage." That?? I honestly thought the gas gauge was some RPM-o-meter or something. It has numbers (corresponding to percentages) and I'd never seen that before, so I didn't even pay attention to that. At least now I know, right? I felt incredibly dumb though...

Stupid Moped

Last night I was riding home from the gym, stopped at a red light, when my moped died. I was sitting there waiting, and it just died. Luckily all the lanes I had to cross to get off the road were also at a red light and I was able to get their attention and push the thing to a parking lot. I was fine, and there was no reason to be that upset, but I was pretty panicky. I think it's because things like that put into high relief that I'm pretty alone here still.

I ended up having to push the damn thing home about a mile and a half. I have a nice big bump and bruise on the back of my leg where the kickstand hit me too! I'm going to take it into the shop after work today. We get off two hours early because it's the day before a holiday, so I get to leave at 1:30. Hopefully the moped is just out of gas and the fuel light/guage doesn't work and it's a quick fix. The store gave me a warranty for the entire time I'm here, so I shouldn't have to put out more money after only having the moped for a week and a half.

So Jess, Mom, Sarah, anyone who wants pictures of me riding, you'll just have to wait a little longer =)