WELCOMING PARTY

Aloha

Lots of things going on here, and I’m staying in the middle of most of them. I love it here!

Let me tell you about the big party that was given for all new faculty at Univ. of Hawaii – Hilo and the Hawaii Community College – Hilo last week. There is a group in town that was formed specifically to create community links with and between the University / College and the businesses and public leadership of Hilo. One of the important areas they see in this role is that of making new faculty welcome to the community and helping us assimilate into our new hometown. With that in mind, they annually throw a party for the new faculty and have speakers, fun information about the cultures and cuisines of the area, and entertainment (what would a party in Hawaii be without Hula Dancers??) as well as a feast of local delicacies and traditional dishes that would make your hair stand on end. Speakers included the Chancellor for the University system Hilo facilities, the Community College chancellor, and the immediate past University Chancellor, along with the Mayor (he was a hoot) and other important community leaders. Several state representatives were there but, thankfully, they didn’t speak.

Now…..about Hawaiian dancing…..!! Let’s clarify something right off the bat. I can’t sing (some of you are only too familiar with that deficit of mine) and I clearly have no rhythm for dancing. Stick figures look more graceful. There were two dance groups who performed, and both pulled those of us sitting near the front up to join them for part of the …dare I say ‘entertainment’? It was hard, sad, humiliating, funny, embarrassing, and tons of fun. Swaying hips only look easy. It took me months to learn to Twist in the 60’s and about that time the dance fad passed on to other fads. But I can still Twist with the best of them…..which of course doesn’t help a bit with doing the Hula. The second group was a younger age group (young to me anyway) who had on tight black outfits with silver hanging spangles around their hips. They combined some of the swaying of the Hula, but added much in from Tahiti where fast and suggestive hip shakes are the norm. Now picture me trying to do a tamed down version of this exotic and erotic dance style……STOP THINKING, it will make you go blind. But, despite not being able to do line dancing, hula or Tahitian dancing, I did get up there and try!! That’s what counts, right?? Please say yes to that.

They also introduced us to unusual local fare of the various cultural groups. Each was supposed to be very different from the mainstream dishes known around the world, and were said to be favorites of the ‘real’ people of those ethnic groups. We were reminded that many of these dishes came from years ago and were the outcomes from economic needs to not waste anything from an animal consumed for food. I’ll just let your imagination run with that for a few seconds………ok? Got it?? Yep….you got it. Well, they wanted a new faculty member to come up to try each dish as it was presented, and the idea was that this faculty member was adventurous and a good sport…..cuz some of these things tasted awful. Ok, I’m game for some things, and when I heard the word peanut in the name of the dish, I volunteered to try it. My first clue about this error on my part was when I got to the table, the comedian who was doing the MC’ing of the whole thing said, with a big grin, to his partner “I bet she thinks there are peanuts in this!!” Uh Oh!!! Too late to go back now. Actually, it was a piece of meat….mystery meat for sure, but it looked like a small chunk of pork, and tasted like that…..Thank Goodness! It came with a single Okra which I also ate. Got my well deserved round of applause and a nice little gift for agreeing to be a target, and finally got to sit down. Some folks had things that were much worse, like Chicken Tail and other dishes made from the far end of the animal. One woman just said “It’s an acquired taste” when asked about her taste test. But all in all it was a rare chance to learn about some innovative ways to ‘use all of the animal’ so that none goes to waste. I gained a great deal of respect for such ingenuity and perseverance in times of need. Today those dishes are family traditions at gatherings and special meals. Sort of like some of our special dishes we fix for our family gatherings….maybe my Cranberry Salad at Thanksgiving and Christmas would qualify for this sort of category.

At the end of the evening, they instructed (begged) the new faculty to take TWO of the table centerpieces home with us. Each one was different, and had fresh local flowers done in a beautiful arrangement. I took two that had such flowers as Antheriums of red and white, Bird of Paradise, and various greenery. They are still beautiful a week later. We also were given a tote bag full of lots of fun stuff along with a Tee-shirt for our College or University. I did feel welcome and appreciated at the end of the evening, and that was a first for me in any teaching setting. I love this place!!

On a more somber note, tho, at the beginning of the evening I had seen one of my students there who explained her boyfriend was a new HawCC faculty member and she had come to see him introduced. A few minutes later after going through the appetizers (pu-pu) line, I saw someone rush up to the edge of the pavilion where we were and in a clearly panic shouted that she needed a knife quickly. One was immediately grabbed from the food line nearby, and she rushed off. Seconds later, Anna, my student was at my shoulder whispering that there might be a need for medical help out in the park area. I followed her out and we walked about 20 yards to a covered picnic table area where some men were cutting down a young man who had tried to hang himself. The issue was that the rope was still too tight around his neck and they were working to loosen it when Anne and I got up there. That was successful, and they lowered him to the ground at which time the young man began to jerk and writhe and wrestle with those trying to hold him down to keep him safe. It did not demonstrate the usual seizure movements, and with his panicked look and struggling against the men it was more apparent that there was either some O2 deficit issues and/or drugs on board factors. Police and EMS had been called earlier by bystanders, and police got there quickly. The young man had no friends or family who came looking for him, but did have a wallet on him. I left when the ambulance pulled into the parking area adjacent to that spot in the park. It was obvious he would survive the attempt, but at what cost to cognition and emotional status is only a guess. This was a first for me, and I am still thinking about it a full week later. I have since learned that suicide among the youth and young adults in Hawaii is very high. It is a sad fact of living in this beautiful and caring part of the world. My hope is this young man can get the help he needs and look past the pain of the short time to a better long time in life.

Enough!! School is going well, my clinical group is doing well except for one poor soul who is just too tunnel-visioned to see the RN-level of big picture. He has not been successful in the learning lab, and is likely to not pass this semester clinically. Others in the group are not having difficulties, and are fun, funny, and enthusiastic about this new career they are starting. They make it worth my time to be on site and alert at 6:30AM…..and most of you know I’m NOT a morning person!!

With that update on some of the things in Paradise that I’m enjoying, I will let you quit reading for now. I promise to get back with a blog about my drive up to Wimea and the breathtaking coastal landscape that I drove along to get there. This island is magnificent, and I am looking forward to more exploration soon.

Aloha to all of you,
Janene