Written by Ali and Lila W.Â
A main highlight of this week was learning hula dances directly from the children at the camp. We paired up with them and they helped us thoroughly improve our hula skills! They taught us some of the words that go along with the dances and their meanings so that we could understand the meanings behind the dances we did.
Another highlight of this week was hiking on the Kilauea Iki Trail. During this hike, almost the entire time our group had hiked through the crater of Kilauea, which was a an out-of-this-world experience knowing that only lava had formed a bowl and the fact that when you were higher up, you could see people miles away on the crater! Also at the end of the trail, there was an actual lava tube called Thurston Lava Tube that was absolutely astonishing being in and also knowing the lava formation of that.
Another highlight of this week was going out for dinner at an area containing many food stands, live music, and a dance floor. We all enjoyed traditional Hawaiian food and practiced more of our hula dancing skills. We had so much fun on the dance floor and sang along to the fun live music. We formed a conga line going all around the dance floor and the tables and talked to some native Hawaiian dancers.
But transformation is never easy! What has been challenging for the group this week?Â
As much as this experience has been amazing, there have been struggles. As a group, bugs have been a huge issue. From the astronomical amount of mosquitoes creating a number of bug bites on each of us, to even seeing a couple of scary cockroaches crawling around at night, getting used to the bugs have been by far the biggest struggle for us.Â
What are you looking forward to in the week ahead?Â
For this week, we’re being exposed to more Hawaiian culture through staying with another native named Momi. We are so excited to soak up the sun doing a ton more sustainable environmental projects while looking at the absolutely stunning view from Momi’s land!! 😀
