Slack Attack and Ethnobotany Week
Well, when we last met I had just finished up in Maui and was about to head back to Kauai.
First up we had a rad last day in Hana. We had a big luau with laulau made from local pork and poi, sushi, and a host of other amazing local food. I ate too much and then got drunk with the Gardeners.
Our first day back in Kauai I bought a ukulele. I have played it everyday and its rad. I'm getting good fast and Van Ray can play some so we teach each other different songs and rhythms. I learned belauan reggae songs as well as a few hawaiian ones and all the old standards that I used to play on guitar/mando.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I was slack and procrastinatory. I stayed up every night playing uke and not getting enough sleep. We had lectures about the importance of bird to island ecosystems and went seed collecting which was cool but I was just vaugeing. All night and day I had headaches and tooth pain. I decided to shell out on Thursday and go to the dentist. I had a gum infection on one of my wisdom teeth and got antibiotics and vicodin scripts and had an excellent day off work on friday. Smacked out and listening to trance.
This week was the start of ethnobotany week. Which meant a few things. Firstly we had rad lectures on Monday and Wednesday and Friday about ethnobotany in all its facetes and had some hands of examples of things like traditional medicine preparation, weaving, coconut husking, etc. It was great to meet all the Hawaiian gardeners. Some are from Ni'ihau, which is a smaller island next of Kauai. Ni'ihau is a hawaiian cultural preserve. No outsiders are alowed on the island and hawaiian is the official language. Was a real spin talking and learning from these guys. Thursday we dug an emu (earth oven) pit and friday morning sealed it in and ate for halloween.
To celebrate ethnobotany week I started drinking B. cappi tea which has been amazing. Also lots of yandi to tune me in to plants, people and cultures. Me and Van Ray made a presentation about ethnobotany to emphasise culture over plants or plant compounds in isolation and the need for cultural exchange not biopiracy.
We are up on the North Shore the next 2 weeks to work at the limahuli gardens. This is the first week I've really started loving some of the landscapes of the island. It is getting wetter and more lush and in some of the valleys it is like jurrasic landscape. So rad. Weekend has been cruisy. Got ready to go roadtripping then jsut cruised beaches for a while. Had a barbeque, the usual.
I have also begun organising my wwoofing on the big island when my internship ends. I got positive reponses from a number of farms, I'll post on the blog when I have worked out when and where.
Until next time. Stay well.
Harris
First up we had a rad last day in Hana. We had a big luau with laulau made from local pork and poi, sushi, and a host of other amazing local food. I ate too much and then got drunk with the Gardeners.
Our first day back in Kauai I bought a ukulele. I have played it everyday and its rad. I'm getting good fast and Van Ray can play some so we teach each other different songs and rhythms. I learned belauan reggae songs as well as a few hawaiian ones and all the old standards that I used to play on guitar/mando.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I was slack and procrastinatory. I stayed up every night playing uke and not getting enough sleep. We had lectures about the importance of bird to island ecosystems and went seed collecting which was cool but I was just vaugeing. All night and day I had headaches and tooth pain. I decided to shell out on Thursday and go to the dentist. I had a gum infection on one of my wisdom teeth and got antibiotics and vicodin scripts and had an excellent day off work on friday. Smacked out and listening to trance.
This week was the start of ethnobotany week. Which meant a few things. Firstly we had rad lectures on Monday and Wednesday and Friday about ethnobotany in all its facetes and had some hands of examples of things like traditional medicine preparation, weaving, coconut husking, etc. It was great to meet all the Hawaiian gardeners. Some are from Ni'ihau, which is a smaller island next of Kauai. Ni'ihau is a hawaiian cultural preserve. No outsiders are alowed on the island and hawaiian is the official language. Was a real spin talking and learning from these guys. Thursday we dug an emu (earth oven) pit and friday morning sealed it in and ate for halloween.
To celebrate ethnobotany week I started drinking B. cappi tea which has been amazing. Also lots of yandi to tune me in to plants, people and cultures. Me and Van Ray made a presentation about ethnobotany to emphasise culture over plants or plant compounds in isolation and the need for cultural exchange not biopiracy.
We are up on the North Shore the next 2 weeks to work at the limahuli gardens. This is the first week I've really started loving some of the landscapes of the island. It is getting wetter and more lush and in some of the valleys it is like jurrasic landscape. So rad. Weekend has been cruisy. Got ready to go roadtripping then jsut cruised beaches for a while. Had a barbeque, the usual.
I have also begun organising my wwoofing on the big island when my internship ends. I got positive reponses from a number of farms, I'll post on the blog when I have worked out when and where.
Until next time. Stay well.
Harris
posted by Angel Ironhead at 12:49 pm
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