Greetings from VeryFarAway.
I escaped FawAway, and have washed up VeryFarAway. I probably ought to tell you about it...
So. Before I came here I knew nothing about Hawai’i. I knew it had hula dancing and a volcano. Which is a bit like someone who only knows that Britain has a Queen and some red buses... Since arriving here, my knowledge has expanded somewhat.
For a start I know that Hawai’i isn’t pronounced her-why-ee. It’s Ha-vah-i’i. In general Hawaiian is a lot easier to read than English, or, at least, the pronunciation makes more sense. For example: the state fish is a reef trigger fish, and it’s called humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa. And weirdly it’s pronounced just like that. (Hu-mu-hu-mu-nuku-nuku-aa-pu-a’a.)
Here there isn’t north, south, east and west. It’s towards the mountain (north) mauka, towards the sea (south) makai, sunrise (east) hikina, sunset (west) komohana.
There are thimble berries here. They’re a bit like raspberries but crunchier. They're tasty.
Coconut water is also very tasty; my neurons have renamed it biscuit water for obvious reasons.
The Hawaiian flag caught me by surprise, looking like it does:
I’m assuming that the blame lies with Captain Cook.
I have picked up a (very small) vocabulary of the language, most of which is vastly entertaining to my neurons.
One is invited over for cocktails and pu-pus. This means drinks and snacks.
One might have pooka in one’s tshirt or towel or sock. This is not a shape shifting faery, this is a hole.
Mahalo is thankyou.
Aloha is a greeting.
Keiki is children.
Wiki is quick (or sometimes 'very'). So, wikiwiki is very fast.
Haole is someone without spirit, or, more usually, a white foreigner.
All the adults on the island are called ‘Auntie’ or ‘Uncle’ by respectful children, the idea being that everyone is extended family and there to help and teach each other. It’s quite meekle.
If you have bad dreams here it’s probably because you trespassed somewhere you shouldn’t and pissed off the NightWalkers or some other spirits. Being a witch is considered very Hawaiian (because that means you know about spirits and charms) it’s also considered very sensible. Because of this I have a tiny amount of anti-haole street cred. Or something.
Hawai’i has a lot of weather, and, just like England, people discuss it endlessly. Unlike England, Hawai’i has a lot of weather all in one day. Sun, fog, rain, sun, wind, cloudy-sun, rain, then a bit more sun.
We're staying with K's family in Waimea, which is halfway up a mountain and therefore very green. Sometimes when a patch of fog comes it's fog, sometimes it's really a cloud that fancied greeting the trees. Here's some of the sights on the road from Waimea to Hilo...
Looks strangely like the English-countryside.
Can you tell where the sea ends and the sky begins?
Lots of gulches and little valleys, some of which are full of jungle and waterfalls.
Sunlight turns the sea to molten silver...
Just a rocky cove...
We've been helping round the house: K's been fixing things and I've been pulling up fireweed in the pasture. It's not exciting as work goes, but it does mean I'm getting rather tanned. I'm hoping by the summer I'll be brown as a nut with tentacle-feathers bleached white =)
Lastly, after much deliberation and last minute redesigning, K and I got new ink: Bedlam and her Grey Knight. We're both very pleased with how they turned out; the lady who did them (Kristen at South Sea Tattoos) is very good at colour work.
Shiny shiny!
So. Before I came here I knew nothing about Hawai’i. I knew it had hula dancing and a volcano. Which is a bit like someone who only knows that Britain has a Queen and some red buses... Since arriving here, my knowledge has expanded somewhat.
For a start I know that Hawai’i isn’t pronounced her-why-ee. It’s Ha-vah-i’i. In general Hawaiian is a lot easier to read than English, or, at least, the pronunciation makes more sense. For example: the state fish is a reef trigger fish, and it’s called humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa. And weirdly it’s pronounced just like that. (Hu-mu-hu-mu-nuku-nuku-aa-pu-a’a.)
Here there isn’t north, south, east and west. It’s towards the mountain (north) mauka, towards the sea (south) makai, sunrise (east) hikina, sunset (west) komohana.
There are thimble berries here. They’re a bit like raspberries but crunchier. They're tasty.
Coconut water is also very tasty; my neurons have renamed it biscuit water for obvious reasons.
The Hawaiian flag caught me by surprise, looking like it does:
I’m assuming that the blame lies with Captain Cook.
I have picked up a (very small) vocabulary of the language, most of which is vastly entertaining to my neurons.
One is invited over for cocktails and pu-pus. This means drinks and snacks.
One might have pooka in one’s tshirt or towel or sock. This is not a shape shifting faery, this is a hole.
Mahalo is thankyou.
Aloha is a greeting.
Keiki is children.
Wiki is quick (or sometimes 'very'). So, wikiwiki is very fast.
Haole is someone without spirit, or, more usually, a white foreigner.
All the adults on the island are called ‘Auntie’ or ‘Uncle’ by respectful children, the idea being that everyone is extended family and there to help and teach each other. It’s quite meekle.
If you have bad dreams here it’s probably because you trespassed somewhere you shouldn’t and pissed off the NightWalkers or some other spirits. Being a witch is considered very Hawaiian (because that means you know about spirits and charms) it’s also considered very sensible. Because of this I have a tiny amount of anti-haole street cred. Or something.
Hawai’i has a lot of weather, and, just like England, people discuss it endlessly. Unlike England, Hawai’i has a lot of weather all in one day. Sun, fog, rain, sun, wind, cloudy-sun, rain, then a bit more sun.
We're staying with K's family in Waimea, which is halfway up a mountain and therefore very green. Sometimes when a patch of fog comes it's fog, sometimes it's really a cloud that fancied greeting the trees. Here's some of the sights on the road from Waimea to Hilo...
Looks strangely like the English-countryside.
Can you tell where the sea ends and the sky begins?
Lots of gulches and little valleys, some of which are full of jungle and waterfalls.
Sunlight turns the sea to molten silver...
Just a rocky cove...
We've been helping round the house: K's been fixing things and I've been pulling up fireweed in the pasture. It's not exciting as work goes, but it does mean I'm getting rather tanned. I'm hoping by the summer I'll be brown as a nut with tentacle-feathers bleached white =)
Lastly, after much deliberation and last minute redesigning, K and I got new ink: Bedlam and her Grey Knight. We're both very pleased with how they turned out; the lady who did them (Kristen at South Sea Tattoos) is very good at colour work.
Shiny shiny!