Week # 11

And then there was one!

Tomorrow starts our final week of work, and it is a short one - 2 1/2 days. Hardly worth getting our clothes dirty over. It will be busy though, as we have Praise & Worship on Tuesday and Convocation on Thursday evening. Both nights are highlights of a session and bring several guests to Haggai. Wednesday evening there is a special Rotary get together for a visting GSE team from Argentina.

Yesterday I took a helicopter ride with a fellow volunteer from BC. Marlene didn't want to go this year, but I wanted to see inside the Haleackala crater, without a three day hike to do so! My pictures didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, but we did get a peek at the crater. The wind bunches up clouds, so you need to fly around the clouds, but you can't go over the fence line of the Haleackala National Forest, so it is a bit of a challenge to get a decent view. Overall, it was a wonderful trip and well worth the effort and money. I highly recommend.

We leave here Friday lunchtime, but because of the the time difference and connecting flight at Los Angeles, don't arrive in Toronto until 6:00 am Saturday. It has been another great experience, but it is time to go home - lawn to cut, flowerbeds to weed and family to reconnect with.

Week # 10

And another breakfast - we do other things, but Saturday breakfast is a favourite. This group includes friends from St Catherines whom we have served with three times, a couple from Saskatchewan, and a lady whose husband served here 10 times, once for a full year. She has taken over most of my office duties.

The couple from Saskatchewan are missionaries to the Native people. This couple are on a sabbatical and using the time to serve here. We have a second couple on sabbatical, from Minnesota, where he is a professor at Northwestern College. So all volunteers are not old retired folks like us!

I picked up a new faculty member at the airport on Wednesday evening, who was travelling from Mecico City. There was some concern whether he would make his connection at the Los Angeles airport, because of where he was originating from, but he sailed right through, no questions asked. He lives in Puebla, about two hours from Mexico City and he naturally feels the swine flu situation is overblown. Hopefully, the worst is past.

With only one weekend left, it is always reflection time on what we didn't get to see or do. While I would have liked a trip to Lanai, a small nearby island, we have done pretty well otherwise. My to do list also included an individual study of the book of Isaiah, which is only part done, so a project for the plane ride home.

Week # 9

Another week and only three more till we will be homebound.

The two pictures show some ladies doing pool exercises and a breakfast that Marlene prepared yesterday for some of our fellow volunteers.

I think she was showing off her B & B skills with the breakfast, she says she was advertising. Two of the couples are from Dallas, Oregon and the other from St Catherines, Ontario. All have been here before several times.

The ladies in the pool are all volunteers and it is the second left who you might recognize. I question how hard they are working during the day, if they have energy at quitting time to do exercises in the pool. The men are probably all in their rooms, exhausted!

Our speaker at Rotary on Wednesday told us about sea turtles! - two main kinds "hawksbill" and "green", they grow up to 250 pounds, up to three feet long (shell length), can hold their breath for up to three hours, and the hawksbill is an endangered species. That is why our speaker has a job, finding ways to promote population growth. Pretty interesting stuff, eh!

Other interesting news here is that mortgage foreclosures for March statewide are 523% ahead of a year ago. So if you were thinking of a real estate purchase in Hawiai, now might be the time.

No Rotary meeting next week, but on May 13th, a Group Study Exchange team from Argentina will be visiting, which I look forward to. Marlene and I are hosting a member of a GSE team from Brazil for two nights, at the end of May in Stratford.

Week # 8

And then there were four!

Last Sunday evening we had an Easter dinner on the lanai patio, and as you can see the ladies wore their Easter bonnets. The men also wore hats, but not quite as creative. It was a very nice evening!

We were also out last Thursday for a very nice evening upcountry to a rural town. We went with a couple from Grand Rapids, Michigan - he is a fulltime volunteer and they have been here two years now. She is a teacher on leave, and he is retired, but they have decided to return as her leave will not be extended. This is the third time we have volunteered here with him.

We were out again to our favourite breakfast place yesterday, but with different volunteers, than previously.

Hard to imagine we are in our final four weeks. We have been receiving participants this weekend for the session which begins on Tuesday. I picked the Resident Coordinator up from the airport today - he is from Singapore. The RC coordinates the students/participants for the next five weeks, looks after any problems, and it is a big job. These participants come from so many varied backgrounds and cultures.

Our volunteer numbers are down and if two brand new men volunteers are excluded, we will only have five maintenance cleaners tomorrow. But there are more recruits on the way!

At Rotary on Wednesday we had a speaker talking on sustainability - he told us that because there is so little food grown on the island, if boats and planes stopped, we would only have a four day supply of food. That is pretty sobering, but I think a little bit stretched as well. This week the speaker will talk about the mating practices of sea turtles?

Week # 7

The pictures are from our recent trip with the Thompsons from Stratford - to Maui's well known volcano crater - Haleackala, and which has a peak over 10,000' above sea level.

Yesterday, the volunteers were able to attend the communion service they hold here at Haggai for each participant's class before they head home. It is a Passover Meal communion, with the explanation of the 4 cups, and what each food represents in the Jewish tradition (about an hour) It was very moving!

Next week Marlene will be preparing breakfast for 3 people here from Head Office in Atlanta, all week. It is a bit intimidating, when everything is different from her own kitchen, even the altitude! Me thinks she fusses too much.

We went to a Good Friday church service last night at a local church - Hope Chapel. The music was more like a rock concert - not that I have a lot of rock concert experience! But the place was packed for two services by YOUNG people!

In fairness, they have a regular Friday night worship which I think they consider their weekly contemporary service for the younger population.

Week # 6

Yesterday was another breakfast out, and we went back to a golf course (Wailea Golf Club) we had visited previously. But the weather was much nicer as you can see from the pictures. The golf fees for an 18 hole round of golf are $225, but their breakfast price in the restaurant is quite reasonable. The name of the restaurant is “Seawatch” and the pictures show the reason for the name. The two volunteer couples with us are from Oregon and Alabama. The Oregon couple are doing their 9th term here at Haggai, the Alabama couple their 1st. It was a very nice morning.
I had three airport runs yesterday, one delivery and two pickups. I was able to combine the two pickups as there was only an hour between. Schedules can change with delays, etc, but fortunately both were on time. My pickups were from Kenya and Uganda, so they both were arriving from long trips with 2 and 3 connections.
We also had a new volunteer couple arrive last night, and Marlene has volunteered us to “buddy” with them - make sure they find the dining room, find a church to go to, etc - so we look forward to this role. They are from Oliver, BC, just south of Kelowna.
We are now in the second half of our work term, so time is flying by. The current class is in their final week, and it is always busy with plans and preparation for convocation. Following that there will be a week without participants, and the following group will finish the same day we leave for home.

Our visit last Sunday with Rheo & Sally Thompson and their daughter Heather from Stratford was wonderful. We drove up to the Haleackla crater, had a nice lunch upcountry, gave them the manatory tour of Haggai, and toured some other areas. They had visited here on a cruise previously, so were familar with some of the island.

Week # 5

We have had an interesting week. The weather has finally changed for the better, but the men (or most of us) had an outside job raking the soccer field which needs de-thatching once per year. Now that doesn't sound like much, but we did about fill a 20' x 8' x 6' dumpster with the rakings. The de-thatching needs to be done both ways and in total it took 2 1/2 days. I missed the 1/2 day due to my office job, so naturally I received some ribbing from fellow volunteers.

The speaker at Rotary this week talked about the 103 islands to the northwest of the main five Hawaiian islands. Frankly, I didn't know there were other islands. One of the 103 has four people who were granted a permit to live for a year, and a single female has set up a home on another, apparently through a strange set of circumstances. The remainder have no inhabitants.The speaker was going on how one island was 15 million years old and another was 12 million years old, so obviously he doesn't read the same Bible as I do, but it was nonetheless interesting to hear his story. He belongs to an organization which rows to these islands, to discover and research. A helicopter would be an easier mode of transportation to explore the islands, at least in my opinion.

We had a nice breakfast this morning at a local hangout, 2 for one if you're there before 9:00am. The picture shows the group we went with.

To-morrow we are renting a car and going touring. Rheo and Sally Thompson and their daughter from Statford are vacationing at Honolulu and we invited them to come to Maui for the day. To our delight they accepted, so we get a chance to play tourist/guide and probably see some new things ourselves.