Beach Clean Up, Whale Watch and Makalawena!

The turtle blinked so slowly, it was as though even his eyelids were tired.
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On Saturday, my friends and I went to South Point to participate in a clean up of the shoreline. Hawai'i gets trash from Asia and the western US so there was litter covering the coast- much of it was plastic. It was disheartening in a way, because we all knew that within a span of time, the sea would carry more trash to the beach and cover it again. But it was still nice to clear out some spots, to meet new friends, and it also was a very educational day. You can learn a lot about pollution and recycling but when you see the effects with your own eyes, the lessons sink in on a deeper level.

Ok so this is why visitors need to respect signs on the island... South Point is pretty but it's also windy, muddy, and unpredictable. Not good for cars - most tracks through the dunes were created by ATV's and cars park up on high drier land.
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I think it was important that we went out and did the clean up because only weeks before, our school went out to Green Sands which is a beach around that area. The entire zone is Hawaiian homelands, so it's with great respect that we should use the property. It seemed fitting to return the amazing beach experience with a few hours of picking trash.

Such a great weekend

That night I was so tired I went to bed early, but not before going out for Mexican food and hitting the dollar theater to see Casino Royale with 10 of my girl friends. We oooh'd and ah'd at James Bond, though I really think Pierce Brosnan was way better looking. Personal preferences...

South Point... sorry I didn't take pics at the trash covered coastline, I was engaged in actually picking up the trash.
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Sunday morning I woke up bright and early to go on a whale watch put on by the marine science dept of my university. It was so cool because I was there with folks who knew a lot about the ocean and marine life, and it was a privilege to learn from them.

The day was quite overcast as you can see from the pictures, and there was some misty rain, but I was comfortable in a t shirt and shorts. Some of the people from warmer areas were cold, which I thought was funny since it was maybe 60 degrees at the lowest. REAL cold was back in MA!!!

My neighbor Steve on some rocks at South Point after spending a morning picking trash
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Monday morning was another early one, because my friends and I rented a car and took it out to Makalawena. I really love Waimea and then the Kona side of the island because it's like being in a western movie, with the deserts replaced by rolling green hills and mountains beyond them. Residents wear button-downs and cowboy hats, there are sprawling ranch towns, and street side community rodeos where tourists are stared at like, "why are you here? This isn't a beach..."

The beach was a little disappointing at first because it was overcast so the water didn't shimmer and the sand didn't gleam as it had during my first Makalawena trip. But never fear, we had a blast soon enough.

At the bay protected by the Coast Guard... I snapped this while waiting for our whale watch to start.
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First, we decorated my friend Jess and made her into a mermaid.

But then we turned her into a merman. And Jessie decided she needed a penis so she spent about an hour trying to make one before it actually stayed put and didn't crumble. I decorated the fin and scrounged around for coconut shells remnants to use as chest hair and a crown. The chest hair never looked right so we scrapped it. But we were able to use the coconuts as a crown and as another body part... hey we're college students. No one said we're mature.

This shot made me feel really happy- it's a scene I've seen in New England too!
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The result was the most hysterical looking sand creation ever, followed by Jess and Jessie covering eachother with sand.

At one point during the day, something triggered a homesick moment in one of my friends and she got really quiet and sad. Such experiences have struck each of my friends and myself every once in a while during this exchange. I think for me, it's hardest to be so relaxed and having so much fun without being able to share the amazing experience with the people I love the most. But if I had to pick a second bunch of people to experience it with... wow I'd pick the people I'm with. I never expected in my greatest visions of this semester that I would find such compassionate and fun friends. In homesick moments, we all immediately band together and hold hands and wait for something funny to chase the homesick pang away.

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On the walk back to the car, I spotted a sea turtle. It was just resting on the beach under a palm tree, and at first I wondered if it was fake.  I was very excited to be the first one to see it because I had a few seconds to just gaze at it and file the moment in my head, and it didn't feel right to talk right away because the scene was so pristine. After I calmed down, I found my voice again and got my friends' attn, and for a while we circled the turtle taking pictures and murmering in awe. A set of parents strolled by and turned around as soon as they saw us because they wanted to grab their kids- they had a son and daughter and it was sweet seeing how reverent and respectful they were of the resting giant.

The coastline around Hilo
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Such a great weekend has fueled me this week as I churn through relay for life organization, exam preparations, and paper writing. Even in Hawaii, schoolwork gets done!