Days 10 & 11: The North Shore

Samantha's pineapple plant

On Friday I borrowed Janine's car and drove up to the North Shore to hang out with Samantha. For those of you who don't know, Janine and Derrick both own manual cars, a fact which challenged to my ability to get around the island sans public transportation. Knowing this, I had a friend give me a few lessons on driving stick back in Rochester before journeying to the island. Driving on O'ahu, however, is much different than driving in Rochester, which is perhaps, by comparison, the flattest place on earth. Before Friday I had practiced driving a few times in Janine's car, my heart about to explode from sheer anxiety whenever I was forced to come to a complete stop and get into first gear while stopped on an incline. When I missed TheBus to Hale'iwa Friday afternoon, Janine tossed me her keys and booted me out the door to a 60 minute drive (in good traffic) up the island and a trial by fire driving experience. Shaky and sweating, I was reminded of the first few times I was allowed to take my parents' cars to friend's houses and out for errands when I was 17 and learning to drive. The major difference between the automatic driving experience and the manual driving experience, as a beginner, is that when learning to drive an automatic car I was afraid to accelerate, when learning to drive a manual car I am afraid to stop. In fact, my anxiety over Hawaii'i's stop-and-go traffic patterns sent massive jolts of adrenaline to all parts of my body such that, when I finally arrived at Samantha's house (after stalling out a grand total of 11 times) I was shaking.

Highway driving? No problem. Crazy people merging? Got it covered. Stopping at a red light and starting again without holding up massive amounts of traffic behind me for 5 minutes? Sent me into a sweaty panicked state.

Once I lost my confidence to get into first gear from a stop, I was doomed to dread each and every crossing pedestrian and stop sign between me and Samantha. On my arrival to the North Shore I threw the car keys in my purse and tried to brainstorm ways to get the car back to Kaneohe the following day without personally having to drive it.

View of the North Shore from Samantha's deck

After a warm greeting and a few glasses of water, Samantha took me to Aloha Hour (Happy Hour) at a Mexican restaurant with two of her friends. I unwound slightly over a Mangorita and pupus (appetizers) while listening to Kimmy and Kelsey's lively stories about work, fiances, traveling, and teaching. Life on the North Shore seems to differ drastically from life in Kaneohe. Hale'iwa is a historic town with an extensive surfing community. The local shops, immediate and plentiful access to the beach, and layout of the town contributed to a community-based feel that was very laissez-faire. The community seemed to be young and connected in a small-city sort of way.  I would have stopped to take pictures of the North Shore as I traveled up it, but was too afraid that once I stopped the car I wouldn't be able to get it started again. Following Aloha Hour, Samantha, her friends, and me went back to Kimmy's beachside apartment to prepare a dish for the Raw/Vegan Party that we were to attend later that night. Samantha made "Save the Dates" - raw balls of dates, chopped walnuts, and cocoa powder that resembled truffles and tasted like heaven. They resembled the date balls in this recipe. With  Samantha's "save the dates" and Kimmy's Strawberry-Kiwi Sorbet in tow, we trekked 40 minutes out to a house party in the middle of nowhere.

Front lounging porch at Raw/Vegan Party

The middle of nowhere turned out to be a beautiful property nestled (again) on a steep hill. It was a one story house with multiple outdoor areas sporting Eastern-style decorations, Koi pond, hammock, plumeria and hibiscus trees, and a fire pit. I met many 20-, 30-, and 40-somethings from all walks of life, including one man from Binghamton, NY who couldn't remember my name and kept calling me "Rochester" while recounting tales of trying to surf in Irondequoit Bay. After a plate of delicious raw/vegan food and few glasses of a watermelon-basil concoction I found myself lounging on a one-armed couch outside, staring up at the full moon and inhaling the scent of tropical flowers. An older local man who had set up shop on the front lounging porch with a personal cooler offered me a drink and we talked about life in O'ahu, including his family, the teaching system, living communities, roads, and the job market. Most notably, this gentleman regaled me with stories of his construction crew and his attempts to strike fear and respect into the hearts of his crew members by doing insane things like eating bugs.

When I say bugs, I specifically mean Hawai'i's giant centipedes (Scolopendra subspinipes), which can grow past 6 inches in length, are as thick as a thumb, and are highly poisonous. I have only seen one so far and, let me tell you, I quickly turned and ran in the opposite direction out of sheer terror. If you are brave and would like to actually see a picture of one of these monsters, try this link, although I disagree with the author's account of the size of the creatures, as the one I saw (which turned out to be already dead) was at least 9 inches long. The thought of this man tearing the heads off of one of these centipedes and chowing down as it continued to multiply and wriggle in his mouth was enough to make my jaw drop. The rest of my time at the party was spent exploring the owners' giant collection of travel books, watching surfing movies, chasing cats, exchanging stories with guests from all over the United States, and trying to learn surfing terms (i.e. a break called the "gas chamber"). When there were lulls in conversation, the topic would inevitably turn to surfing - who had surfed when and where, how great it was, and tips to surf better.

Midnight found us headed back to Hale'iwa under a full moon that lit up the entire night. We gathered a trove of sleeping bags, blankets, and long-sleeved clothing (first time I have worn pants since my arrival to HI) and walked over to a beach next to Kimmy's house to lay out on the beach and wind down with the intention of spending the night there. 

Full Moon

As I helped Kimmy lay down a blanket next to some very large rocks, one of them moved. She laughed at my startled expression and pointed out that what I had thought to be rocks were actually sea turtles who had beached themselves for the night to sleep. For the remainder of my waking hours on the beach I stared at those sleeping beached turtles in wonder. The night was bright and eerie thanks to the full moon and the waves crashing against the shore were soothing and put me quickly to sleep. I had anticipated that sleeping on a beach would be an uncomfortable experience but after digging a hole for my head to rest in underneath the blanket I was actually quite comfortable. I awoke in the wee hours of the morning to a brightening day feeling tired but amazed and extremely grateful for the experience. The sea turtles had quietly slipped back into the water while we slept.

Sunset Farmer's Market

A few cups of coffee preceeded a morning trip to the Sunset Farmer's Market, a small tented affair held in the parking lot of a nearby elementary school. Here I tried homemade coconut mochi for $1 and met a woman affectionately introduced to me as "the pearl lady" by Samantha, who had gifted me a beautiful pearl ring purchased from the pearl lady for my birthday the week before. Ann has a knack for picking and creating beautiful jewelery pieces for her customers by learning about their personalities. She identifies styles and tastes through personal stories and by getting to know a person. Upon learning my name and a few of my interests, she selected a pair of earrings for me that I had (unbeknownst to her) already been eying, and allowed me to take them with me without full payment upfront, as I had not brought enough cash with me. If you are interested in her work, check out her website. All of her pearls are sustainably harvested and examined by her prior to purchase. She has a great energy and a creative mind!

On our way back to town Samantha insisted that we stop by her favorite place - Beet Box Cafe - which was everything she promised it would be. We chowed down on organic smoothies and breakfast dishes. The Beet Box Cafe is an organic vegetarian cafe located in back of a small locally owned food shop that resembles a Co-op. I happily munched on eggs scrambled with a crunchy, toasted sprouted corn tortilla and jalapeno jack cheese topped with homemade salsa & avocado, brown rice & Brazilian black beans topped with "Love Sauce" while sipping on a banana, strawberry, blueberry, hemp protein, bee pollen, spirulina, spinach, & almond milk smoothie, then browsed some of the nearby boutiques before preparing for the drive back to Kaneohe.

Having been unsuccessful in my ridiculous attempts to convince Janine to come and drive me home in her own car, I apprehensively began the drive back, already in a cold sweat. Thanks to a few pointers from Steve (Samantha's boyfriend) and some tough love from both Samantha and Janine, I managed to make it back safely and only stalled out once! I felt so accomplished that I immediately called a bunch of friends at home to tell them. Their responses were lack-luster and indicated that they didn't feel my accomplishment was as big a deal as I did, but I am proud of myself. Friends with manual cars, I can now DD for you!