Of Sunrises, Mokoli'i, and Mormons

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Here we are at Tuesday already. We decided last night to try to have a big breakfast around 9:00 a.m. or so, and then head north to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Were we at home, I'd have rolled out of bed around 8:00 a.m., taken a quick shower and been ready in plenty of time. However, on Oahu, the sun comes up at 6:00 a.m. Every day (give or take 5-10 minutes). All year. Apparently, all the birds on the island decided to sleep in the palm tree just outside our window and they all woke up at once making quite a racket. Thus, I was awake at 6:00 a.m. again.

Actually, it wasn't really that bad. The birds are fun; I like how noisy they are, and when the sun comes up, I generally wake up. It turns out, Laura Grace was up, too. So, we threw some clothes and shoes on, I grabbed my 5d and my 70-300mm f/2.8L and we headed to the beach. The sunrise wasn't as interesting today. However, that 15 minutes after sunrise provides the absolute best light, so I took some impromptu portraits of Laura, some of which came out very nice.

We played around on the beach for a while, and then figured we ought to get back. See, I'm the chef on this trip, so if I don't cook, we don't eat. That's fine, too, I like having a job and chef is a good one for me. We headed back and I made some coconut and pineapple pancakes for everybody and we all piled in the Freestar and went north(ish).

We stopped at Kualoa Regional Park for some pictures of Mokoli'i, more colloquially known as Chinaman's Hat. We all went every which way, frantically grabbing photographs here and there. It was pretty fun, and I got the obligatory group shot, and Laura got a couple of another red-crested cardinal which turned out nice. Eventually, I noticed that everybody was gathered around the van, apparently waiting on me, so I got up from my spot on the ground (I was taking an interesting shot involving a nifty tree in the forground and a palm tree and mountain in the background) and headed back to the van.

We pretty much headed straight for the PCC after that stop, and we arrived around 12:30 p.m. local time, where we spent the rest of the day and evening.

I don't have a lot to say about the Polynesian Cultural Center, Latter-day Saints, authenticiy, or any of that, now that I think about it. Cheryl has made a very thoughtful post (Polynesian Consumers' Co-op) about the whole thing, so I refer you to there.

I did enjoy the center, quite a lot. The tour was kind of lame, but I'm not a guided tour kind of guy; I don't like people deciding for me what I should see, and I don't like being rushed around from thing to thing in a mad "gotta collect 'em all" dash to see the most possible things in the given time period. Sometimes I like to sit and reflect. Sometimes I like to take 20 minutes to get that one photo I want. Sometimes, I want to sit and watch the other tourists.

So, if you're at all like me, skip the tour.

The center is a collection of purportedly authentic villages representing each of the seven major groups of islands in polynesia. It's run by the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints and staffed almost exclusively by Brigham Young University - Hawai'i students, who get tuition and board offset by their labor. (By the way, what is it with Mormons and poly- stuff, eh?) I know this because they mentioned it after every show. And at the luau. And at the intermission in the night show. And, of course, at the conclusion of the night show. The deal with the students is a good thing, I think, because education is a good thing, and increased access to education is a good thing.

So, on to the villages. The seven groups represented are: Hawai'i, Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Fiji and Marquesas. Strangely, Marquesas seems to have been omitted from all of the shows. They were not represented in the canoe pageant, nor in the night show. Our tour guides also did not take us there. So, I'm dubious.

It was interesting to see the differences (and similarities, which is what ties these particular cultures together into "Polynesia") in traditional dress and dance and music. I think my favorite village was Aotearoa. This may be because of prior exposure to a bit of New Zealand in that movie "Whale Rider". Now, I really want to be Maori.

The poi exhibition was particularly interesting; I learned that peanut butter and mashed potatoes are also poi (poi just means stuff that is pounded or mashed). The poi we think of when we think of Hawai'i is actually taro root poi, and it's purple. I have had it described to me as tasting like wallpaper paste. The stuff we had was made right there by the guy in the hut, and I actually liked it; it tasted kind of like malt-o-meal. Apparently, it's much better fresh, and the canned stuff really does taste like wallpaper paste.

Our guides, Dondon and Elisha, took us around to various huts and such and we got to see some shows. I enjoyed the shows, but I go in for that sort of thing. Cousin Benny's Hawai'ian show was good, the Samoa show I thought was among the best at the center, and the New Zealand show was way cool.

We learned a little bit of hula, which was cool. We also learned a bit of the Tahitian style of dance, which is different from the hula (much more hip-shaking, and the men really do look like they're doing the funky-chicken), but equally cool.

The luau was interesting and the food was good. The show was hard to follow, at least for me, but everybody seemed to be having fun. Did I mention the food was good? I did not notice the abject lack of caffeine (though I'm told they actually have caffeinated coffee there now). I liked the fruit juice a lot more before I found out it was just canned Dole orange-pineapple-mango. I didn't mind the steam tables; how else are you going to feed 600 or so people? We'd be there all night if we had to wait for waitstaff to take our orders, go get the food, and bring it to us.

Now, the night show was really the crowning jewel for me. I thought the dancers were very well rehearsed and I got caught up in the show often enough that I didn't end up taking a lot of photos. I did get some, and I'm very happy that I brought the EF 50mm f/1.4 lens along, because it is the only lens capable of taking decent photos at a show like that in such low light.

Athe end of the day, I'm not sure the question of authenticity is all that important. Let me pose an analogous question. Are the Brandenberg Concertos diminished somehow when they are performed by modern orchestras? I think not. I think old J.S. would have been tickled pink to hear his Well-Tempered Klavier played on a Moog, as well. Just as it is almost impossible to hear baroque music played on actual period instruments, we may never know what "authentic" is any more, because the islands have been polluted by outside western (and eastern) influences, and they've adopted what works and tossed what doesn't. Time marches on, and the best we can hope for is a mere glimpse into the past, because it's not there any more.

I found the visit to the center to be a worthwhile endeavor, and I think we all got something out of it, especially Laura Grace, who had an opportunity, that not a lot of seven-year-olds have, to get a window into other cultures past and present. That is a Good Thing .

As usual, for more photos, see my Hawai'i 2006 Flickr set.

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Photos

Laura at Sunrise
I love the light at sunrise.