Well, I finally made it to Hawai'i! As soon as I arrived, I jumped headlong into the orientation activities here at the East-West Center. Saturday evening, I went to a
kava & music party.
Kava is a drink made from the root of a
plant (
Piper methysticum) which is related to the black pepper plant (
Piper nigrum). The plant is commonly called
kava (but is known as
ʻawa in Hawai'ian) and is grown and consumed throughout the Pacific Islands. I was told that in many Polynesian cultures, it is prepared as a drink and served for formal occasions (such as
meetings with one's superiors or people of higher rank) at times when one is making a request or conducting a business transaction.
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| Stirring & serving the kava... |
Kava is not alcoholic, but it does have some chemical
properties that are quite noticeable. It is noted to reduce stress without interfering with one's mental acuity. In my experience, the flavor was palatable (neither good nor bad), but it did have an interesting effect of making my tongue and throat numb. After it is prepared, it is poured into a
large bowl and served with smaller wooden bowls/cups. Before receiving a cup, you are supposed to clap once. After drinking it, you are supposed to clap 3
times. It was cool to participate in this custom. I understand that it has a small but loyal following at the EWC and some
of the students gather periodically to drink
kava.
Quite interesting for me, we also learned how to make leis with
ti
leaves.
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| Cutting the ti leaves... |
There are many different kinds of leis in Hawai’i, not just the
well-known ones made of orchid or
Plumeria flowers. The
ti plant
(
Cordyline fruticosa) has long leaves
on woody trunks. To make the leis, the leaves are cut off, before being cut in half
lengthwise (removing the thick leaf vein/stalk) so that you are left with two
leaf blades per leaf (you need 5 prepared leaf blades/lei).
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| Prepared half-leaf blade... |
After preparing
the leaf blades, you iron them to make them more flexible. Taking one ironed leaf blade, you begin by twisting it into a cord.
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| Ironing & twisting the leaf blades... |
Then, you
wrap the middle of the cord around your big toe and then twist both sides of the cord simultaneously to braid them together.
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| Beginning the braid... |
Once your braid gets to the end of the leaf blade, you weave in two more leaf
blades and twist them together to extend the cords and continue the braid.
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| Braiding the ti leaves |
You
extend the leaf cords once more with two more blades before tying off at the
end.
The knot is usually big since the tips of the leaf blades continue to
protrude. The loop around your big toe can then be removed and strung over the
knot on the other end of the strand to form the lei.
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| Finished! |
It was fun to learn how to
make them, but they are definitely much harder than it might at first seem.
Extending the leaf blade cords was especially difficult.
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| The final product... |
During the party there were a lot of the people who sang and danced. Several played ukuleles, guitars, a flute, and even a banjo. The dances/songs were Hawai’ian, Tongan, Indonesian, and Maori (from New Zealand). It was a joy to meet everyone too.
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| Singing & playing ukeleles |
