Tragedy and beauty

Our last full day in Maui … already?  Yes, a little hard to believe, but then that’s sort of how quickly time flies in this place, even though you feel like things move reaaalllly slooowly.  Like the cars on the "highways" of Maui, obeying the 35 mph posted state speed limit.

Given that we had hit the pool yesterday, today was more about the beach.  Still on Pacific time, we woke early, munched on our bagels and downed some cereal, just in time for the sun to begin warming up the water.  I decided to rent some snorkeling gear, having been told that there was some good coral reef right on the beach that our hotel looked out upon.  I was skeptical at first, especially since my last snorkeling experience had been at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia - it would be hard to top that adventure.  I remembered from that trip that we had to travel a fair distance out to into open water, so I didn't think I could just wade into the water, and within a few feet be amongst coral.  But it was true.  Kaanapali beach had coral that were so easily accessible that you could not be blamed for thinking  that it was an expensive, fake, set-up.

My snorkeling adventures did come to an abrupt end, however, when I noticed a lot of commotion on the beach right by where I had left Saeeda and Nuha.  I decided to swim back to shore, and no sooner had I got there than I realized that the excitement was due to a group of people trying mightily to revive a lady who was lying prone on the sand.  Saeeda and Nuha were huddled not far away, having had to scatter as the lady had been pulled in from the surf.  A few minutes later EMT’s arrived, and it became clear from the conversation that the woman had been snorkeling and had passed out.  Her family had dragged her out when they had noticed something wrong.

Saeeda, Nuha, and I decided to leave the crowd of gathering onlookers – the EMTs were trying to revive this poor woman who had gone into cardiac arrest, and gawking was not going to help matters.  What I found strange was that the same thing had happened the day before, while we were at the hotel pool.  From our poolside chairs, we had seen an older gentleman pulled from the surf, also having passed out while snorkeling.  The EMTs had not been able to revive him, and he had been rushed to the hospital.

The three of us went back to our hotel room to change, sobered by the reminder that tragedy can strike even in the happiest of places.  Still, in a way that made me appreciate Hawaii's beauty even more.  There's only so much time that we have on this planet, and the beauty that surrounds us is vast.  Being able to visit some of that beauty is a blessing, and for that I am grateful.

The island's affect on the mind

Ah Maui.  Boy did we enjoy it the way it was meant to be enjoyed today.  We woke up late, had breakfast in the room, and headed for the pool, where we lay around some more.  The lounge chairs reclined at the perfect angle, the sun was just the perfect amount of hot, and the kiddie pool was just right for Nuha, who if left to herself, would have remained there all day.

All that hard work in the morning required a nap back in our hotel room, after which it was time to get ready for the luau that we tickets to.  As with other native traditions in places that depend so much on tourist revenue, the Hawaiian luau has become more of a spectacle that amuses visitors than an accurate depiction of local custom.  Despite this, the kid-friendly Polynesian Village luau that we attended was a pleasant experience, one made more so by what came across as genuine hospitality by staff that looked as if they enjoyed what they did for a living.  Nuha enjoyed making leis, I got to taste kava juice (which the muscled, bare-chested, islander manning the station promised “was good for my banana”), and Saeeda delighted in seeing me up on stage trying to imitate one of the warrior dances.  There were plenty of dances thrown in from neighboring islands – Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand all got a shout out.  And the firedance was really neat too.

In all, a great day to relax and cleanse the mind.  I’m starting to rethink this whole having to work for a living thing.  Why can’t we just live in an island state of mind?