Duty and Joy

"I slept and dreamt that life was joy;

I awoke and saw that life was duty;

I acted, and behold, duty was joy." 

- Rabrindranath Tagore

Snorkeling at Po'ipu

Po'ipu Beach

On Wednesday we saw another "must see" beach: Po'ipu.  There's a natural kiddie pool of sorts that's about a foot deep and is sheltered from the breaking waves by rocks.  Mario and I thought it was perfect for a toddler, but Windham was unimpressed.  He played in the sand most of the time while I went snorkeling in the adjacent bay.  Mario rented some snorkeling gear for me along with 2 small bags of fish food.

The bags dissolve in the water, slowly releasing the fish food.  I wanted to use them one at a time, but I'd walked a long way to get to the bay and didn't want to mess with my flippers and get out of the water to come back for the second bag.  So I stuffed it in my swimsuit and snorkeled farther from shore. 

The bags began to dissolve releasing pieces of fish food into the water. Several fish appeared almost instantly and came right up and began devouring the food rapidly.  Before I could even think that was cool, several schools of all different kinds of fish--some of them as big as my calf!--swarmed in from all directions, mauling me for the food!  I screamed a muffled underwater scream and tried to wrench the food away from them.  


Then I remembered something I'd read on the fish food bag:  That in the unlikely event that you're mauled by fish, to drop the fish food and swim away.  I dropped the first bag, yanked the second out of my swimsuit, and splashed away from the voracious tropical fish.  I pulled myself together self-consciously hoping no one had noticed and continued snorkeling.  I was rewarded with a very enjoyable experience and saw several schools of really beautiful fish.  The elegant coris wrasse were my favorite.  The needle nose fish were the creepiest.  They swim right at the surface of the water so they're really difficult to see until the last second when they jet in front of your face with their needle noses.

After our beach adventure and an afternoon nap we headed down to the beach in front of our hotel again.  Mario did a photo shoot of Windham and the resulting cache of incredible photos will help us remember our trip forever.

Beach, Eat, Repeat

Tuesday morning we walked to the local farmer's market and scored some life-altering butter mochi, rumbaton, and mountain apple. 

Ke'e Beach. Pictures don't do it justice.

Then we were on our way to stunning Ke'e beach.  The drive to the north shore was absolutely breath-taking with endless scenic views and quaint one-way bridges.  The scenic vista with Mario and Windham was one of the most impressive.  It overlooks a valley maintained by the National Wildlife Refuge that cultivates taro.  In addition to it's important role as a staple of the traditional Hawai'ian diet, the plants of all growth stages provide shelter for many species of birds.


Ahhhh, Ke'e Beach.  It's one of the best snorkeling beaches on the island but the tide was way too strong the day we were there.  The waves were wildly unpredictable and incredibly strong.  Little ankle-biter waves would gently break 2 feet from where the ocean meets the sand, then WHAM!  Instantly double in size and almost knock you off your feet.  Windham loved the excitement and was in heaven.  

We had a late lunch in downtown Kapa'a at a delicious BBQ place called Chicken In A Barrel.  (Barrel as in a wave barrel.)  Toward the end of our meal, Windham saw one of the many free roaming chickens on the island walk by and hopped off my lap and began to chase it, bib, utensils, and all.  It was pretty hilarious.    

"Let the Aloha grow all over you"

Hotel grounds

When we arrived in Kaua'i, Hawai'i, we were greeted by perfect, warm sunshine and a delicious breeze.  It was better than the best weather I've every experienced anywhere.  I told Mario I felt like we had stepped into another country.  (Which we kinda had, but that's another story.)

The first thing we did was hit the beach, of course!  We stepped out our back porch, walked across an open field, and we were there.  After dinner, Windham hit the hay while Mario and I stayed up giddily planning our week's worth of adventures.

The title of this blog post, "Let the Aloha grow all over you," is from a native Hawai'ian named A'liki we met later in the week.  "Aloha," as I came to learn, doesn't just mean "hello," and "good-bye" like I thought it did. The "Aloha Spirit" is a concept that embodies love, respect for others and the environment, and personal responsibility.

The "Aloha Spirit" is commonly understood as:

• Akahai, kindness, to be expressed with tenderness;
• Lôkahi, unity, to be expressed with harmony;
• `Olu`olu, agreeable, to be expressed with pleasantness;
• Ha`aha`a, humility, to be expressed with modesty;
• Ahonui, patience, to be expressed with perseverance.

So when A'liki told me to "Let the Aloha grow all over you," it touched me deeply, and I promised myself to try to do that not just during our vacation but once we'd returned home as well.

Navidad Salvadoreno - Costa del Sol

View from the balcony.

We spent our last week in Costa del Sol on the Pacific Ocean.  It was paradiseful bliss.

We spent the week playing in the waves, building sandcastles, swimming in the pool, lounging in the hammock, doing some capoeira on the beach, and running after the baby so he didn't:

• jump in the pool, (which he tried to do on many occasions,) 
• run into the waves, (he thinks he can swim,) 
• grab the statues and other knick knacks in the house

We had hot water!  We had AC!  It was incredible.  The family that takes care of the property was so wonderful, too.  They kept the place spotless and even brought a guy selling conch shells to the house at our request.  We will be returning to La Bella Vista for sure!

Navidad Salvadoreno - Noche Buena

Tia Angelita's nativity

Tia Angelita's tamales

Noche Buena, or Christmas Eve, is the highlight of Christmas in El Salvador.  Families create large, elaborate nativities that adorn the floors of their living rooms.  The Christ Child is covered until Dec. 24th and fresh fruit, gifts, and new plants are presented as offerings.  The gifts represent things you'd like to get for Christmas (like a toy car, chocolates, flowers, chickens,) and the plants are grown specifically for the nativity.

Tia Celsa's nativity

Tamales are also very important in the celebration of Christmas.  Each household has their own special recipe.  The tamales are distinctly different from Mexican tamales.  The masa is much softer and more moist. The filling is typically some variation of bone-in chicken, potato, olives, and whole corn.  They're steamed in banana leaves and eaten with limon, hot sauce, and a little salt.

A few cuetes going off outside

Cuetes, or fireworks, are another important and fun and dangerous tradition.  Fireworks laws are more relaxed than in the U.S. so people set off everything from black cats to straight-up sticks of TNT called bombas.  And everything in between.  :) Everyone sets them off at midnight on the 24th but some people get antsy so you hear them every now and then all evening.

Navidad Salvadoreno - Part 3

Tazumal
There are only 3 archaeological sites in the country that are open to the public: Joya de Ceren, (the Pompeii of El Salvador,) San Andres, (a small, poorly-preserved pyramid,) and Tazumal.  Tazumal is at the northwest tip of the country right near the border with Guatemala.  It was a long drive for the baby, but we were rewarded with the largest and most interesting ruins in the country.

There were 2 pyramids that appeared to be connected by levels of stairs and walkways.  A small section of narrow, underground corridors had also been excavated.  We also saw what appeared to be shallow, narrow channels lined with smooth stones (rain gutters??) and stairways that led down into rectangular structures.  There were no maps to assist the uninformed tourist, and where there were signs they were too faded by the sun to read, and what you could read was frustratingly vague.  ("This is an important archaeological site used by the Maya.  It may have been ceremonial in nature.")

It was sweltering, and after a couple of hours I was soooo done.  Mario haggled for some beautiful jade pieces, and we were on our way home.

Ilobasco
The town of Ilobasco is the best place in the country aside from the airport, (no joke,) to find artisanal souvenirs.  We were on a mission to get a well-made, traditional but not-too-Catholic nativity.  I almost bought the one pictured here,  meanwhile Tio Jairo and Windham tried out a marimba in a gift shop.

We did find a perfect nativity, but unfortunately for Tia Xiomara, her perfect nativity had been bought by someone else while she browsed other stores.  Come to find out, WE had bought the nativity she had her eye on!  Oops.  We settled the awkward dilemma using "Finders, Keepers."

Pollo Campero
What trip to El Salvador would be complete without visiting Pollo Campero?  You may turn up your nose when I describe Pollo Campero as the Salvadoran KFC, but consider this:

1.  It's the only building in the department (like a county) with AC, and it was summer in El Salvador
2.  It's the only restaurant in the department you know won't make you sick
3.  It's the only restaurant in the department where you can actually get good service from kind, helpful servers

Not too shabby, right?  Plus they gave Windham a crown.