Passing-Thought

2004 Hawaii Trip (day 6)

Wednesday May 19

Bill finally decided to take me around the island on Wednesday to show me some beaches. I prepared my camera equipment while Bill prepared his Jeep for the journey (IMG_6452). According to Bill, these Jeeps have great engines but are notorios for their poor cooling systems. So, he made sure it had plenty of water. We started off on Kam highway to take the long way around the island in order to avoid rush-hour traffic. I rolled down the passenger window so I could take some pictures of the scenery as it passed by (IMG_6464-6535).

Our first destination was to visit a couple of Wycliffe missionaries who were working on a Hawaiian Pidgin Old Testament(IMG_6539-IMG_6553). Joe Grimes had asked me if I would like to be a part of his Hebrew session at Zippy's in Mililani with his partner Earl Morihara. Joe had already led a project to complete the New Testament and now was in process of working through the Old Testament. This morning they were in 1 Kings. Bill and I tried not to interrupt them as they talked through a rough draft of a passage, but I wanted to know more about Pidgin, so I asked Joe to tell me about its origins. We also talked about Pidgin and its community's cultural identity, since to perhaps most english speaking ears, the language sounds like some kind of gangster slang. He told me about its origins in a mix of cultures from Japanese to Portugese involved in plantations in Hawaii in the mid 1800's. Within a generation, Hawaiian English Creole ("Pidgin") became the language of heart and thought for many people in the Hawaiian Islands. I wondered about the relationship between language and cultural identity. Brittish culture probably thinks Americans have degenerated their language in a similar way that Americans look down upon "slang" cultures. And those who are looked down upon despise those who dismiss their value. I'm thankful that Wycliffe Bible Translators are taking the road to become all things to all people. I have every confidence that God's word alone can tear down cultural pride in a way that unites diverse cultures through love in Christ, rather than a superficial Nazi-like concept of pure-race, Westernization, or ivory-tower tribalism.

After departing, Bill had realized that his keys were locked in his Jeep. Although it was not his custom to lock it, I had asked to do so, since I had all my computer and camera equipment in it, and I had heard that burglary was very high in this area. Bill was not dismayed, however, since he had experience in breaking into his Jeep. (hmm...how did he get this Jeep anyway?) I found a local laundry shop and the lady at the counter was gracious enough to allow us to take a hanger so we could break into our car (IMG_6554-IMG_6556). We were gone in 60 seconds.

We stopped at Pastor Pete's for a little bit, and he took us to lunch to write a list of things that Bill and I could help him while he prepared for his trip to Uganda. We ate at a Long John Silver's with an A&W Root Beer shop. By the end of the lunch, Pete had written a list of things for us on a napkin. After entry 7 there was an ellipsis (...) followed by entry number 1000 which read "have fun". Today, Bill and I decided to skip to entry number 1000.

North Shore Beach (IMG_6557-IMG_6578) was pretty but the waves were not impressive. The first thing that Bill wanted us to do at North Shore was jump off a cliff (IMG_6564). 25 feet (give or take a leg). Not too intimidating from the bottom, but I knew that things would look different from the top. Bill prompted me to follow him, but I pretended to stay behind simply to film his jump. Of course, when he finished, he wanted to return the favor. My first defense was that I didn't enjoy the feeling of falling and so it didn't sound like fun. But Bill quickly trumped me with a triple-dog-dare: "Are you a man or not?" So, I accepted my fate and climbed the cliff. Once I got up there, I waved to Bill and decided that philosophically pondering the jump for any duration would not prove my manhood, so I found a spot to jump and went feet first. Fear tried to grip me half-way down, but was quickly drowned by the water below. Salt water thrusted its way into my cavities, nose and all. (If you ever have an urge for an enima, try this.)

The Hawaiian beach is no welcome for single Christian guys. The distant ocean falls from the blue sky and meets us at the shore laughing, "Where is your romance? See all the beauties here? Look long, but do not touch! Only long." Bill reminisced of his lost love (IMG_6573). This was the beach where he read her last letter. I tried my best not to wonder why the quiet girl next to us was sitting alone (IMG_6575). The waves would retreat from the shore only to gather again for a repeat attack.

We left North Shore in search of better waves. I spotted some waves at Sunset beach and found a good spot for some pictures (IMG_6581-IMG_6629). Before too long the local surfers were riding there (IMG_6600). Then, after picking up some snow-cones, we stopped at Turtle Bay to see some more rocks (IMG_6631-IMG_6661). There we asked some righteous sea turtles if they could help us find Nemo (IMG_6638).

Then we made our trek back "home" to Kaneohe (IMG_6662-IMG_6692) in time for evening Bible study. A light from heaven showed us the way (IMG_6696- IMG_6702).