It's amazing. Just like I thought it would be. It's more jungly and country than I thought and not nearly as overrun with tourists and resorts as I pictured.
I'm learning a lot and have already realized that I know VERY little about most anything having to do with farming, cooking, or being of nature in any way. So, I'm soaking things in, asking questions, and trying to let my knowledge grow.
It feels like a vacation so far - we harvest coffee beans on Friday for about 5 hours and then a big rainstorm came through so we called it a day. Tomorrow will begin a full work week, so I'll get the feel for being a bonified farmer a little more this week. Yay! So far it's felt more like a vacation - went to Pu'uhonua O Honaunau (Place of Refuge) on Saturday and did some snorkling. AMAZING. Wow. Beautiful coral and fish and turtles. Wow.
And today we went to a Hookena Beach and it had black sand which is hot hot hot. We brought the snorkle gear and did some more snorkling, but it wasn't quite as beautiful as the day before (can you believe I can say things like that?). The sun is my frenemy, so I'm trying to embrace it and let it embrace me without it burning my very pale and freckly skin.
The family is incredible. So kind and warm and they have 3 nutso kids, but they are sweet and bubbly. But also intensely wild at the same time. The littlest one has this curly white blonde hair and the best imagination ever. He's pretty stinkin' cute.
I'll try to get my head out of the clouds and write more things down to share with you all soon!
Aloha!
Showing posts with label hawaii. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hawaii. Show all posts
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Oh, You Know, Just Another ADVENTURE!
First, go way back and read this post from January of 2010.
You've read it? Okay, awesome. So, now you're caught up. Approximately two years ago, I was at a crossroads in life. What to do next? I vividly remember writing that post laying in what was once my bedroom and I only saw two options, so I informed my small, but mighty blog audience about them. But there was secretly a third option that dropped in my lap at the last minute and that became exactly what I've been doing for the last 2 years. North Korea focused. Solid, solid times of activism, growth, introspection, and change for the North Korean people. And, in completely superficial terms, I think I got to accomplish a little bit of that Zooey that I wanted. I was able to spruce up my wardrobe, wear skirts and cute thrifted threads on the reg.
Two years later, yet another crossroad. It's a trend in my life. If you know me, then you know that. And now I'm going to accomplish a little bit of Dennis. That's right, folks. I am going to WWOOF in Hawaii come the end of this month! Bucket list. Check.
Theshort long-ish story: last April I purchased a WWOOF-USA membership on a whim, because it was something I always wanted to do and I hate putting my money to waste, so I knew that if I bought it, I would HAVE to use it. In the mean time, I'm the biggest poser of a WWOOF spokesperson out there - every time someone talks about traveling, I'm like, OMG have you ever thought of WWOOFing? Gab, gab, gab, and I pretend to know all about it, even though I'd never done it and never met anyone who had.
Then it was December and I was finishing my time with LiNK. My talks of WWOOFing over the last year was mainly for me - to plant those seeds inside my own head so that I would actually follow up on something that I knew, deep down, I wanted to do. I initially wanted to go to New Zealand. Who doesn't? BUT airfare alone let me know that now is not the time. And I had my handy-dandy WWOOF-USA membership which included Hawaii and I decided that wouldn't be a terrible place to go in the winter time, right?
So, at the end of December, I started reaching out to some pals who I thought would be good travel buddies and emailing some farms. Farmers have emails? Yes. I know, ironic.
I would do it in waves. I would read a farm's profile in my directory, decide if I dug it, then email them. I emailed my favorites first and then my second favorites the next week and so on and so forth. Some farms led me on in the meanest online-dating sense of the phrase. So much hope and so much let down. That happened a few times and was unfortunate. I wanted to go so bad.
So, finally, after my friend from college, Josh, got on board to come, one of the farms I emailed initially wants us! Josh has got all the labor-skills that farmers want and I've got the ability to write a classy email that causes intrigue. It's a dynamic duo, of sorts. At least until we get to the farm and the owners realize that I burn easy and can't carry 10 pounds for more than a few feet. Kidding (sort of - the daily push ups start now).
What they don't know, won't hurt them, until it's too late! And I will be leaving in a few weeks to live near Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii for at least a couple of months, volunteering on a farm (in exchange for room and board), living with a seemingly precious family (husband, wife, 3 young kids), learning how to farm organically and living off the grid.
Aloha, my friends!
You've read it? Okay, awesome. So, now you're caught up. Approximately two years ago, I was at a crossroads in life. What to do next? I vividly remember writing that post laying in what was once my bedroom and I only saw two options, so I informed my small, but mighty blog audience about them. But there was secretly a third option that dropped in my lap at the last minute and that became exactly what I've been doing for the last 2 years. North Korea focused. Solid, solid times of activism, growth, introspection, and change for the North Korean people. And, in completely superficial terms, I think I got to accomplish a little bit of that Zooey that I wanted. I was able to spruce up my wardrobe, wear skirts and cute thrifted threads on the reg.
Two years later, yet another crossroad. It's a trend in my life. If you know me, then you know that. And now I'm going to accomplish a little bit of Dennis. That's right, folks. I am going to WWOOF in Hawaii come the end of this month! Bucket list. Check.
The
Then it was December and I was finishing my time with LiNK. My talks of WWOOFing over the last year was mainly for me - to plant those seeds inside my own head so that I would actually follow up on something that I knew, deep down, I wanted to do. I initially wanted to go to New Zealand. Who doesn't? BUT airfare alone let me know that now is not the time. And I had my handy-dandy WWOOF-USA membership which included Hawaii and I decided that wouldn't be a terrible place to go in the winter time, right?
Mmm, don't you feel warmer just looking at it?
So, at the end of December, I started reaching out to some pals who I thought would be good travel buddies and emailing some farms. Farmers have emails? Yes. I know, ironic.
I would do it in waves. I would read a farm's profile in my directory, decide if I dug it, then email them. I emailed my favorites first and then my second favorites the next week and so on and so forth. Some farms led me on in the meanest online-dating sense of the phrase. So much hope and so much let down. That happened a few times and was unfortunate. I wanted to go so bad.
So, finally, after my friend from college, Josh, got on board to come, one of the farms I emailed initially wants us! Josh has got all the labor-skills that farmers want and I've got the ability to write a classy email that causes intrigue. It's a dynamic duo, of sorts. At least until we get to the farm and the owners realize that I burn easy and can't carry 10 pounds for more than a few feet. Kidding (sort of - the daily push ups start now).
What they don't know, won't hurt them, until it's too late! And I will be leaving in a few weeks to live near Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii for at least a couple of months, volunteering on a farm (in exchange for room and board), living with a seemingly precious family (husband, wife, 3 young kids), learning how to farm organically and living off the grid.
Aloha, my friends!
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