Kihei, Maui - 5/3/2001

At Last I Have Vacated

Or is it vacationed? Whatever. In any case, I think I've finally gotten to the point where I'm totally relaxed. I haven't got a care in the world, and the itinerary actually has a free day in it - the only planned activity is going to the Ulalena show this evening in Lahaina.

Aaaaaahhhh...


I Am Destined To Never Tan Again

When I was a kid, I used to really get brown, just like my dad does. For some reason this stopped happening when I got older, and it is now really difficult for me to get anything more than just freckles.

The last time I came to Hawaii, I was very foolish - I went out onto the beach one of the very first days we were there and wore no sunscreen at all. I was seriously, seriously burned very badly. It was the second most painful sunburn I've ever gotten; it didn't actually blister, but I was so tight I couldn't even move, and ended up spending most of the rest of the time indoors. So, I'm trying to be extra careful this time. I got SPF 30 sunblock, and I've been wearing it for extended periods outside.

The thing is, I have been out in the sun every day since getting here. I've actually got a respectable farmer's tan on my face and forearms... if you can call that respectable. But as for the rest of me - freckles. Just freckles. It is so frustrating. I have decided to throw caution to the wind and step down my sunblock to SPF 15.


Cirque Du Hawai'i

So, we went to go see the Ulalena show at the Maui Myth & Magic Theatre in Lahaina. This show started about a year and a half ago, and the theatre itself was built exclusively for this production.

I don't want to reveal very much about the show. I mean, it was utterly cool, and I really wish I could tell all about it - but it's kind of like Blue Man Group, you can't really describe it without partially spoiling the experience. If you've seen Cirque Du Soleil before, you know the kinds of circuslike acts they perform, using dance and trapeze acts and other surprises.

Ulalena is in the same vein, but it's been modified to be a reinterpretation of Hawaiian myth, tradition, and history. The dancing is based heavily on hula; the choreography is just totally spectacular... the dances really capture the essence of the story that's being told. For example, one dance is modeled after petroglyphs and the people dancing really look like the stone etched figures. Another is an evocative tale of the pain of the immigrants that worked the plantations here in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It's been a long time since I've been to a production that evoked such emotional responses in me.

The live band also played some spectacular music using traditional hawaiian instruments. I bought the soundtrack... I can't wait to play it again.


Last Words

We had dinner at Moose McGillicudy's after the show and got sat right beneath a TV that was playing the last episode of Survivor. And of course, it had to be turned up all the way so that everyone in the place could watch the damn thing. You just can't escape crap like that.

My dad couldn't help being really loud and obnoxious about the show, saying how fake it was and railing on its banality in general. And my mom kept acting silly as well, making sly comments and lying to the people around us who were watching the show, saying that she knew who had won already but was being nice by not saying who it was.

I really have to wonder where I came from sometimes.