So another week or so has gone by here in Hawaii. I have to say it’s been great. I just want to say again, that the people of Hawaii are some of the friendliest I have ever met in my travels.
So I’m just going to go through things.
Let’s start with the guys I’m staying with. There are three of them. All 19 years old. Overall they are nice guys. They did think I was going to do all the cooking and cleaning, but I nipped that in the bud right away. I really cemented them into their own cooking when they found out if I did it, they would eat vegan the whole time. 😄 They’ve been a lot of fun, well, while we work and the ONE TIME they left the house we are staying at to surf. I just don’t understand people who don’t want to go outside and have fun in 80-degree weather. All they do is play video games. Not, sit down and play for a bit then go do other things. No, it’s ‘If we aren’t sleeping or working we have to play video games’. In fact on the weekends, there have been times they started on Friday night and barely slept until Monday morning. I honestly don’t have a problem with video games. Seriously, I play them myself. What I don’t do is scream about them at 2 or 3 in the morning. This is where I sigh, roll my eyes and say, “Guys”.😄
All that aside, they are good guys. Very smart, and they definitely are serious about learning and working. I love to see that. They truly show the ocean and the life within it respect. While none are actual divers, they do snorkel. So that’s made some aspects easier to be able to hand off specimen bags to them rather than going clear back to the boat at times.
They’ve also been particularly protective of me which has been kind of sweet. We have had private non-school researchers share our boat a few times. In fact today I made $500.00 working for one gathering specimens when their diver wouldn’t. That will be explained in a little bit though. Anyway, we had one of them tell the guys, “Your diver is pretty hot for her age.” This was related to me by the woman leading our group. She said the guys were like, “Dude she’s like 24. Barely older than us. What type of girl do you like that 24 is “For her age”?” I found this hilarious. 😄
When we went surfing on the one weekend, they made sure to surround my spot on the beach with theirs to create a barrier between me and all the others on the beach. The other people that went with us that day made jokes about my three boyfriends. 😄The wife of the Judo Sensei has been teasing me ever since. It’s all good though. They could have been total asswipes so I think I lucked out.
Now, back to that lazy diver. Ok, he wasn’t so much lazy as a total chicken. Last week in the area we were at, we had some visitors. Absolutely beautiful manta rays. These gentle giants, are not to be confused with their deadlier cousins the stingray. So when they arrive, you can safely swim with them. They are VERY curious, and if they like you, will even let you close enough to touch them. However, please do not do this.
They returned today and the diver that was with the private company research group was down with me and I saw him jetting to the surface. I was like, what the fuck? I thought maybe he had seen something dangerous approaching. Even the sharks in Hawaii’s waters, really, aren’t to be terrified of.
In the last 34 years, there have been 116 attacks across all the islands and that equates to 3.4 attacks PER YEAR and only FIVE yes 5 of those 116 have been fatal. So really, if you just let them be, you’ll be fine.
Well, I didn’t see any sharks, but then I saw a group of mantas swimming towards us. We were only a few miles from the spot they visited us at last week, and some of the markings looked familiar so I believe it was the same squadron (name for a group of mantas). Normally they are solitary, only coming together to feed or mate, occasionally you’ll find a small group like this one which appears to be 4 with an occasional one now and then.
Since that was the only thing I saw I went up top and asked why he’d left so fast. He was in the middle of telling his employer that there was a dangerous animal hanging out so he was done for the day.
I am not known at times to think before I speak and I couldn’t help but laugh at what he was saying. I explained how harmless they were and he would have none of it. For someone who supposedly is a professional diver, he was woefully uneducated in certain animals. Even after I explained the difference in rays and how harmless they were, he refused to go back in the water. Idiot.😄
His employers asked if I could gather their samples because they would only be out today, and if it would be a conflict with our group. Steph, who leads our group said it wouldn’t be if I could do it when I was down getting hers. No special trips for them. They were fine with that and said they’d even pay me. I’m not one to turn down money for something easy like gathering samples while doing the one thing I truly love, diving, so I went ahead and did it for them. When we finished tonight, they paid me $500.00 cash for the work. Nice little payday for about an hour’s worth of work for them.
Now tomorrow when I go to the coffee shop I’ve been going to each day after training, when the absolutely adorable elderly gentleman who runs it, asks me if I had a good time “going down yesterday”, I’m going to tell him I made 500 bucks doing it. 😆 I have heard more innuendo jokes about going down in Hawaii than I have heard in any other country or state I’ve dived in. Hawaii’s got some joking pervs I tell you. The gentleman at the coffee shop loves asking me, because the first time got some weird looks, gasps and chuckles. He finally clarified to some of his regulars that I was a diver, not a sex worker. 😄A few had been giving me the eye, which I think caused his explanation. So now, they’ve all been in on the joking. You’ve seen this coffee shop in many places in Hawaii, and every other state. The fun baristas, and a few people that seem to live at the place. Especially in the mornings when older people are out for their coffee and walks. You also know those people are freaking hilarious and fun. So it’s all good.
Training has been good at both Dojos. At the Karate Dojo, it’s been great having different people to push me. I’ve been doing yoga and katas in the mornings, but really cardio and weights have been covered by all the diving. As for the Judo Dojo, the Sensei finally told me to stop holding back. If he were to lose that’s fine. Everyone should be humble, and always learning, and he’s right. Plus, his wife, who I’ve actually been getting quite close to as she’s just a couple of years younger than me, and we actually have a lot in common, thinks it’s hilarious when he gets, “taken down a notch or two.” I had to tell her my professors said the same thing about me. She thought that was hilarious.😄 So while he is about 10 inches taller than me and quite wiry, I have been able to put him on the mat quite a few times. Which has really entertained his students, and only increased the “fame” of Debirurisu, Devil Squirrel, the visiting Sensei. (See my previous Hawaii update.)
This last weekend He and his wife invited me to a birthday Lūʻau for one of his students. She was turning 16, and for her parents it held a lot of importance, much like it did for mine so I understood all the special celebration planning and such.
So they were throwing her a full-blown, traditional family Lūʻau with a few friends. I was honored enough to be one of the guests. It was amazing. Before it though, I asked if I should bring anything, as I had never attended a really traditional style Lūʻau before so I wanted to make sure, like I do when I travel anywhere, to make sure I followed all the specific traditions, rules, etc.
They told me no. I already knew that, like most Lūʻau’s pork would be the center of the menu, but, I also knew there would be so many different dishes there I would have no problem finding vegan choices.
I had made vegan gyoza and had taken some to the Dojo for the Sensei and his wife, and the young lady whose birthday we would be attending had also been there. She had eaten some and asked after I’d been invited, if I could bring them with me because she thought they were awesome. Who can resist a birthday girl right? So Since I had made so many I was able to take 200 of them, which was just about right.
When we got there though, I was extremely touched that she had also told her parents about me being vegan and they had gotten a few vegan meat products to grill to make sure that I had something other than just fruit, veggies, and poi. They loved the gyoza as well.
So, I’m going to share the filling of the Gyoza here. While I prefer to make my own wrappers, you can use store-bought ones just as easily.
Ingredients:
12 Cabbage leaves (or so depending on how much you like cabbage. I personally use 15) with the ribs cut out, and blanched for 90 seconds in boiling water. Then dried.
1 to 1.5 cups green onions, again depending on how much you like green onions.
3 pounds Shiitake Mushrooms chopped well, to fine. Patted a bit to remove excess moisture. These replace the meatiness of pork in traditional gyoza.
8 crushed cloves of garlic
6 tsp sesame oil
6 tsp soy sauce (I use low sodium because it’s healthier.)
1 tsp sea salt
.5 tsp black pepper
It’s as simple as that. Mix it all together and place about a teaspoon in the middle of a gyoza wrapper, fold, and crimp. Cook to your liking whether it be frying and steaming or just frying, (My fav, I prefer crispy gyoza. Those are mine in the image). If you use commercial wrappers cooking instructions are on the packaging.
It was a great day and night celebrating her birthday and ended with another tradition, a stunning Hawaiian sunset.
So it’s been another great week or so. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
