Hawaii 5-0!

The Marriot Resort in Ko’Olina is amazing! Our original intention was to visit to a variety of tourist sites around the island of Oahu, but there was so much to do on the property, that we didn’t leave once! We were involved in everything possible, from fitness classes, to cultural dances and a whole host of other activities. Also, from Oliver’s post, you can see the resort is absolutely gorgeous, so there wasn’t a lot of incentive to leave our new paradise home!

Everyday we started with yoga classes on the beach. After months of travelling on planes, trains and automobiles, it was great to be able to stretch out our bodies and get back into comfortable positions like “downward dog” and “warrior”. It took a few days, but it wasn’t long before we could reach a little longer and stretch our poses a little farther. It certainly helped that we were looking right into the Pacific Ocean and could see the palm trees swaying in the breeze!

We also did a lot of other classes from Beach Bootcamp to Tai Chi, Aqua Zumba, Hip Hop Fitness, and Pilates. It was also wonderful when our niece Anastasia was able to spontaneously join our Global Fieldtrip for a week in Paradise!

Beach BootCamp!

Swinging the kettlebells – Not!

Burpees and Bear Climbing on the beach

Stride jumps in the water – it’s hard!

Building up our muscles!

I never thought the coconut tree could be used like this!

Swinging the kettlebells!

Welcome to Yoga Anastasia!

Aqua Zumba! Dance party in the water!

Hanging loose!

Hip Hop Fitness Fun!

Now Mikhaila’s turn….

Hula dancingHula dancing originated in the Hawaiian islands. Contrary to some beliefs, the hula is not performed in a grass skirt. The skirt is actually made of cloth and is used as part of the dance to tell a story.

Our teacher, Gardenia, gave us full and flowery skirts to wear while we learned one of many hula dances. Our group did such a good job, Gardenia arranged for us to perform at the torch lighting ceremony that night. After the show, we received a CD so we can do the dance at home.

Learning the dance with Gardenia

Practicing the dance

Tahitian dancing

This style of dance originated on the island of Tahiti which is near Australia. Grass skirts are worn because they make the moves look more dramatic.

We also took this class with Gardenia but it was not as easy as the hula. There are a series of movements such as making circles, boxes, and figure eights with your hips. This class was my favourite because it has a faster pace and the hip movements are fun. We watched a group of ladies doing a Tahitian dance at the luau and they were incredible! It would take me a lot of time and practice to really master this skill.

Fire knife dancing

The performers have torches with both ends on fire which they twist and spin around themselves. In the Samoan villages, the guards had a type of staff with one end as a torch and the other a knife. They would swing the staff around and use whichever one they needed (the knife for defence and the torch for light).

We learned 3 movements with the torches while they were unlit, of course. I would only do this if I were a professional, but since I am not, practicing without fire sounds like a good idea.

In addition to the dance classes, we had another really neat activity. This time, a representative from NASA came to the resort. We were lucky to have a private class and were able to ask as many questions as we wanted. He brought a huge telescope and Zoe, my mom and I took turns looking through it. We saw Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Hokulei (an important navigational star), young and old stars, double stars, and a galaxy. We also learned Hawaii is the only place where the Southern Cross and the Big Dipper are in the sky at the same time. Seeing all these celestial objects in space has made me realize how small Earth is in comparison. This class has inspired me to maybe one day work for NASA and learn more about what is out there in the universe.

 

Me looking through the telescope

Zoe looking at the night sky

Our group in front of the big telescope

Aloha!  Zoe here!

We did many activities at the resort.  Some that I really liked were lei making, bracelet making and learning the Hawaiian language.

Lei Making

We made Hawaiian leis at our resort out of beautiful purple orchid flowers.  First, we were given a long needle with a string attached to the end.  We had to pull one of the stems off of a flower and tie it onto the end of the string.  The stem prevents the flowers from falling off.  Then we had to place three to four flowers on the needle and slide them down to the bottom of the thread.  We continued this until the whole string was filled up with flowers.  Next, we tied it off and taa daa!  It was all done.  We gave one of these to Anastasia as a welcome to Hawaii gift when she first arrived.

Making Leis!

One for our cousin!

Bracelet making

For the bracelets, we met a kind lady who was running the activity.  She set everything up and taught us how to make them. We had to weave a black ribbon through a palm leaf and tied it off in the end.  We made really nice bracelets!

Hawaiian Language 

We learned many things in our Hawaiian language class such as the history, words and phrases.

Here is the history:

At first the Hawaiian language was only spoken and never read or written.  In 1820, an alphabet was added.  In 1826, the alphabet was changed to latin, but the language stayed the same.  In 1834, the very first newspaper was printed.  Soon, almost everyone in Hawaii was able to read, write and speak the language!  Unfortunately, in 1893, there was an illegal overthrow of the monarchy, therefore the language was banned.  Punishments were given to anybody in the government or schools for speaking Hawaiian.  Slowly, it disappeared…  In 1978, Hawaiian became the official language of Hawaii.  In 1984 a Pūnana Leo, a Hawaiian language immersion preschool, was started and today there are more than 10.  For students in grades K-12, Hawaiian was taught at another type of school called Papahana Kaiapuni.

The Hawaiian language is similar to Spanish because all vowels are pronounced.  Here is my Hawaiian dictionary:

• Hello- Aloha
• Until we meet again- A Hui Hou
• How are you?- Pehea ‘oe?
• What’s your name?- ‘O wai kou inoa?
• Where are you from?- No hea mai ‘oe?
• Thank you!- Mahalo!

Malama Pono!- Take care!

Katina here again…

You all might be wondering why I used the title Hawaii 5-0, as I’ve made no mention of it throughout this post.  Well, to be honest, I just wanted to use it as a cool title:) Also, the show was filmed right on the beaches of Ko’Olina so there is a connection:)