I got a telephone call out of the blue last month from Alicia Sams of Lawai — whom I hadn’t met before — who told me that a class at Drake University named “Counseling Diverse Populations,” is using my book, Kauai Stories, as a textbook. Students in Iowa are learning all sorts of possibilities in life through personal stories of our island’s people! How cool is that?
Even better, the small class visited Kauai earlier this month as part of their studies. They spent half of each weekday at Friendship House in Kapaa, where Alicia works. Friendship House is a clubhouse model for working with people who have psychiatric disabilities such as schizophrenia, bipolar or major depression, said professor Matt Bruinekool.
During the rest of their time here, Professor Matt and co-instructor Wade Leuwerke instructed their students to act like anthropologists, talking to residents and learning what they could about their lives. The insightfulness of the students’ observations thrilled me; they “get” Kauai.
“In Iowa we tame the land, we till the fields. There is no tilling down these mountains. That’s part of what you embrace when you live here,” said graduate student Rosie Thierer. “You live within the context of these mountains and the ocean and find a way to co-exist and thrive together.”
Quang Phan said that before this trip, “I just thought of Hawaii as the hula skirt and the ukulele. But coming here, I see that the island is Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and more. It’s so multicultural and much more than I expected.”
Katie Hunt agreed.
“The integration of so many cultural backgrounds into something that still seems cohesive is amazing. You see the pieces that remain uniquely Japanese, Hawaiian, Tahitian, Polynesian, Chinese and Filipino, but they all fit together,” she said. “People hold onto ties to their past but they are also living in the present.”
Naturally, Kauai folks were happy to take the time to chat with the students – a surprise for Zach Kadow, who said that although the Midwest is known for its nice people, individuals there are more reserved.
“People in the Midwest are so very polite that you don’t want to step on other people’s toes, so you have a conversation but you make sure it’s not too long because you don’t want to stop them on their day,” Zach said (At this point, my partner Lincoln, who was born and raised in Minnesota, began laughing very hard – but Midwest quietly – in agreement).
“Here on Kauai, it’s a different type of niceness,” Zach said. “People are always very receptive and they’re always happy to talk about Kauai. You’re not interrupting someone’s day if you have a five-minute conversation.”
Many students said the highlight of their Kauai visit was the night they enjoyed a potluck in Alicia’s home, followed by a talk story session with six people whose stories are included in Kauai Stories who generously shared their time and friendship: Vic Allen, Leina`ala Pavao Jardin, Keala Kai, Wilfred Ibara, Lincoln and Alicia’s grandmother, Jane Vegas.
That night epitomized the warmth and acceptance the students experienced on Kauai.
“I read about family and ohana in Kauai Stories and I thought, ‘That’s nice,’ but I really didn’t believe it until we were at Alicia’s,” Rosie said. “We truly felt the spirit ‘We will embrace anyone who comes to us.’”
Student Ashlea Lantz said being able to connect with six of the people they read about who talked story with them that night, “was one of the coolest things. It captured the feelings of aloha, being accepted and the unconditional respect that everyone has for one another. We came in with handshakes and left with hugs.”
Some of my favorite moments of the night were watching the visitors from Iowa be entranced with our six speakers: eyes wide with amazement when Vic, who went blind at 38 years old, spoke of swimming in the rough ocean channel between Oahu and Molokai; delighted when Leina`ala’s darling 13-year-old daughter, Jeslie, danced an impromptu hula for them; imagining what it was like aboard the Hokulea while Keala talked of navigating the Polynesian canoe across oceans only by the stars; feeling Wilfred’s love for this island and his joy of returning home after working for a time in California; relishing Lincoln’s surprise at receiving freshly baked banana bread from our newspaper carriers as a mahalo for bananas from our tree; and gazing in appreciation at some of Jane’s beautiful handmade Hawaiian quilts.
The Drake University students are right: that night at Alicia’s house was a microcosm of what we get to experience every day on this island. Lucky we live Kauai!
We know there are trade-offs to live here. Noticing them — and what we receive in exchange — has caused Zach to view life differently than before.
“People on Kauai are more willing to give up career opportunities or things that probably don’t exist on this island to be with their families. I’ve always been told you should never sacrifice yourself for other people, but it seems like people here do that all the time, and from what I’ve seen, people here seem a lot happier,” he said.
“A really cool takeaway for me from this trip is to kind of slow down and define what your priorities actually are and learn what makes you happy.”
• Pamela Varma Brown is the publisher “Kauai Stories,” a collection of 50 humorous, touching and inspiring stories in the words of Kauai’s people, available on Amazon and locations islandwide, and the forthcoming “Kauai Stories 2.”
