Tourist Season in Maui

I knew it would happen, I'd get off the plane in Kahului and be assaulted with the smell of plumeria. A scent permanently linked in my brain with the years 1983-1985. Like orange blossoms at night growing up in California. One whiff and I'm playing hide-and-go-seek with 15 neighbor kids until 9pm on a summer night.

Plumerias are: my first job at O'Rourkes Tourist Trap, driving to Lahaina over the Pali, our beautiful house one block from the beach, the dog who came with the house, Pilikia (means Trouble-and he was, we had to find him another home), many sunset walks on the beach, sand in my pantyhose after the Christmas party with Dean (our first fancy "date").

So, Dash and I are staying with my Mom in her new apartment, that has an ocean view (if you stand in the corner of the lanai on your tiptoes), it's beautifully landscaped, doves cooing, franklins cackling(they sound like a tire jack that needs oiling), other little birds chirping, the SMELL of the OCEAN wafting over mixed with the PLUMERIA! I'm gonna SWOON! I don't even care that the size of Kihei has probably tripled over the last 25 years, and there's a constant undertone of traffic (if you use your imagination it sounds like the waves).

Dash and I walked to the beach yesterday, swam for about an hour, then up to Mom's pool. Then ate something, read a book. And then we started all over again. I think that's the plan for today too, and tomorrow, and the day after. Right next door a family is staying with a girl about Dash's age and they are already fast friends.

The atmosphere in South Kihei is the polar opposite of Volcano. And while I miss the four kinds of plants I see up there all the time (Koa, Ohia, Pukeawe, Ohelo), I'm thrilled to be in a beach ecosystem (albeit one planted mostly with non-native ornamentals). No lava here either. Actual white sand.

On Monday I went up to the glorious Kihei Aquatic Center where they have 3 pools and a Masters swim group that meets every evening. I swam about 4000 yards with them on Monday night and I'm still trying to recover the use of the left side of my body, my neck is a tad stiff. I have to turn my whole body to see what's on that side. The Masters join in the workout with the youth, so there I was sharing the lane with a 14 year old girl who kicked my butt the whole 2 hours. It was very enjoyable.

Mom is doing great, enjoying watching cartoons with Dash and playing DragonFable on the computer. We're making a huge pot of Portuguese Bean Soup for dinner tonight.

A hui hou! (this is a huge rainbow we saw driving back to Volcano the other day)

Mochiko Chicken

We must be settling in because the days are starting to go by very quick. It didn't take long to become involved in lots of activities. I'm officially a Sunday School teacher again, grades 4-6, an age group I've never had before.

We went to the 4th of July parade in Volcano Village, it goes from the post office, about 1/2 mile down to the community center. It was mostly dogs and nice and short like a parade should be. I worked at a food booth afterward, dishing out nachos with cheese. Our next door neighbor turned 50 and had a huge party in his back yard, with cool Chinese fireworks that hang from a tree. Sitting in the backyard, looking over at Mauna Loa, I had an Island Living magazine moment.

Dash has made a friend with a delightful boy his age that lives right down the street. He's headed over to play right now. Nathan is an only child too and loves Pokemon--a perfect match. He has also been going to summer camp at his school on Monday's and Thursday's. It's small, mellow, and he seems to like it. It gives me a chance to get my work done and go to Rotary and bible class, which before I was dragging Dash to, and he begged me to take him to summer camp. Sitting through a women's bible class is just way too much to ask of a 9 year old boy.

Yesterday I took the boys hiking in the national park. We drove about 15 miles toward the coast to the Hilina Pali trail. It's about 2.5 miles down the 1500 foot cliff and to the ocean. Some day when we're a little more prepared with food, water and bathing suits, we'll make it a day trip to the ocean. It's difficult to describe and the pictures don't do it justice.

Dean is in Manuka this week with his crew doing Miconia and Coqui frog operations. I spent most of last weekend shopping and preparing a huge tub of potato salad, pasta salad, ribs and such. Dean reminded me that even though I had a lot of starches already, he still needed to provide rice. So I bought a 10-cup rice cooker. Rice is required at every meal here. Not providing rice is like not providing plates. People will look at you funny. Good thing it's cheap.

I've been questioning the local ladies at church for good crowd pleasing local-style foods and discovered some things I never would have tried on my own.

Here's a recipe for Mochiko Chicken, try it, it's ono!

2.5 lb bag of chicken tenders (no skin)
1/2 cup Mochiko (sweet rice flour)

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup chopped green onions

4 chopped garlic cloves (must use fresh!)
mix everything together (except the chicken) and marinate the chicken in it for 24 hours in the fridge.

Deep fry it untill golden brown. I've never deep fried anything before, so if you know a better way try it-- but I put about an inch of canola oil in a big skillet and fried the chicken pieces. I'm sure this is not the most healthy thing to eat, and it's a lot of work, but try it at least once. If you've ever had Mochi crunch, you'll recognize the flavor in the chicken.

This Monday, Dash and I are flying over to Maui to stay with my mom for the week. I'm excited because there is a masters swim group that meets at a REAL pool with lane separators every evening, right down the road from her condo.

We're off to Hilo for a grocery trip (and to see if we can possibly get in to the first showing of Harry Potter 5 at the movies).

Aloha!