Monday

monday we went hiking. we were picked up at 8am at the hotel. Samson was our tour guide. We hiked up to a small waterfall close to the Pali Lookout. It was great fun and we learned a lot about hawaiian vegetation and what certain things are used for. Samson works at a Poi factor and encouraged us to try Poi. For those of you who do not know:

What is poi anyway?

1. Fresh squeezed coconut juice
2. Sour pineapple pudding
3. A Jewish expression of disgust
4. Nutritious food made by pounding taro

Just in case you're ever in the million dollar hot seat, here's everything you need to know about Poi:

• Poi is made from the popular taro plant: the 14th most cultivated crop on earth.
• Known in scientific circles as Colocasia esculenta, taro is cultivated both in the dry uplands and in marshy land irrigated by streams. The planters of wetland taro built walls of earth reinforced with stone to enclose the taro patch, or lo`i .
• Although taro is eaten around the world, only Hawaiians make poi. Traditionally they cooked the starchy, potato-like taro root, or corm, for hours in an underground oven called an imu. Then they pounded the taro corms on large flat boards called Papa ku`i`ai, using heavy stone poi pounders called pohaku ku`i `ai. The taro was pounded into a smooth, sticky paste called pa`i`ai, then stored air tight in ti leaf bundles and banana sheaths for storage or future trading. By slowly adding water to the pa`i`ai, which was then mixed and kneaded, the perfect poi consistency was created. 4) Poi was traditionally enjoyed with fresh fish, seaweed, breadfruit and sweet potato -- an incredibly tasty and nutritious meal. And when it came to eating poi -- fingers were the utensil of choice. One, two, or three fingers to scoop out the pudding -- two finger poi was considered the best! And many Hawaiians loved their poi fermented a bit, giving it a unique, slightly sour taste.
• The bowl of poi was considered so important and sacred a part of daily Hawaiian life that whenever a bowl of poi was uncovered at the family dinner table, it was believed that the spirit of Haloa, the ancestor of the Hawaiian people, was present. Because of that, all conflict among family members had to come to an immediate halt.

We found out later that week that things that were made from the Taro root came out purple...rolls...tortillas...very fun to eat!:)

view up from the trail

view from the waterfall up this little trail

us at the water fall (left to right: kim, amy, sarah, and Brooke) big joke right here...notice that me and amy are holding hands...i got on the rock and then she got on and was a little shaky so we grabbed hands and then bent down and continued to hold hands while the picture was taken. hahaha

that is behind the Hilton Hawaiian Village on the beach after dinner. it say's "Hello"

us hiking with our group:)

view from our bathroom break pre-hike

us hiking and learning about the plants

Samson the poi lover