Dirt

Good morning! It has been too long since I have posted anything, I apologies for my neglect of this blog! I am almost done with my stay here at Hale Akua Garden farm, and it has been an amazing, life changing experience; I’m not leaving yet though so I won’t get into all that now. Right now I am sitting in my room listening to Christmas music…….and I have been since November 1^st. The other wwoofrs say I’m worse than the department stores, I just can’t resist the lights, music, and cheer (wow that sounds lame :p). Im going to be honest here, all this Christmas music makes me SUPER excited to come home!!! Plus I just really miss my dog! So I am looking forward to home, and I am also looking forward to returning to Maui in March!

I will really miss working on the farm. At first I didn’t really connect to what I was doing, and I didn’t have enough appreciation for the work and connecting to the land as I do know. So much energy has shifted in and through me, and it happens when I am connecting to mother earth. I have really embraced the work we are doing, taking care of the land (the land doesn’t need us to take care of her, she really takes care of us), and creating an ideal environment for the food that is growing. From the outside it looks like I am a farmer working on the land, growing food. In reality, I am a farmer working on the land, and she is growing me, creating an ideal environment for me to grow! The trickiness of the Universe is amazing. Yesterday I was in Mana (the grocery store we shop at, and sell to) and I was in the veggie section. I was near the eggplant and noticed that the sign in front of it said “Lady Finger Eggplant Hale Akua”, I got seriously excited about this eggplant. Every day a 2:00 I go into my garden and harvest eggplant that I have watched grow from seedling. I even spent a day sawing bamboo shafts hammering them in the ground with a rock (cave man style) and then wired the plants so they stand up right so they are happier. I spend every day with them, harvesting, maintaining, weeding, and singing to this plant that grows a beautiful food that I harvest package and send off the a store where someone will buy it prepare it and ingest it! It was so amazing to me to see this little veggie that I have developed a relationship with, and put my energy into sitting in the store waiting for someone to buy it. It feels so good to share something you have spent time and energy on, energy I am proud to share with others.

Seeing the eggplant on the shelf made me really think about all the food I buy, and what energy went into it. Was it planted with love, was it sung to, or was it just a product of mass consumption with little energy put into the plant at all. And if I buy a certain product would it be a statement of support for the demise of our world, or be a sustainable choice? This is just something to think about, because this might not even occur to anyone. A lot of time it is hard to get people to care about the nutritional content of the food they are consuming let alone the energy put into it! This is one of the many reasons to grow your own food; you know where it is from, what energy went into it and the degree to how organic it is, which in the end leads to a more sustainable lifestyle which benefits the earth and all her beings. I am extremely fortunate to live on an organic farm. We are able to eat the food we grow; it is really beautiful to eat food you have spent so much time with. During the day I have a variety of the food on the farm. I have the luxury of walking over to the tomato bush and eat fresh cherry tomatoes, pick a piece of kale and enjoy, meander under the mulberry tree looking for the most ripe berries, getting my fill on the most delicious celery. Arugula grows wild, and there are fruit trees all over the property. One of my favorite things is the edible flowers and huge amounts of herbs that are available to us. The other day Bettina and I were even eating the grass (it’s good; don’t knock it till you try it). I have also eaten dirt, which is actually a way to see what deficiencies the soil has. For example if your soil is more acidic, you need more calcium and magnesium. But honestly our soil tastes great! Well anyways connecting to the earth and getting in touch with her energies has really opened me up so I can access places of new growth. Well its Thanksgiving week and I am swimming in things to be grateful for. I hope everyone has a beautiful week and a beautiful holiday! Aloha!

Butter-fly away

Last weekend was a good weekend; it included the usual, friends, beach, and fun. This week has been a weird week. Tuesday in our morning meeting our manager Lisa told us to prepare ourselves because the week was supposed to be hot, with no wind, clouds or rain. The day ended up being super-hot with no wind or clouds. Around 10:30 I decided enough was enough and organized a rain dance. The organization of a rain dance is quite easy, It goes something like this “hey guys, let’s do a rain dance”. After dancing around and being blessed with two rain prayers from Bettina and Michael we went back to work. Ten minutes after our dance heavy clouds came with their friend the breeze and blessed us with hours of shade. Around 1:00 the rains set in. Not only did it rain, it poured, and it didn’t stop until Wednesday night. Everyone was so shocked that it was raining; the raider didn’t even pick up on the rain. It was seriously crazy, we were the only place out of the whole state of Hawaii (aka all the islands) where it was raining. Either we are seriously good at rain dancing, or I had a pretty good intuition rain was on the way. It was awesome, and since it was still pouring Wednesday, we didn’t have to work. Instead of work we got to do seed inventory and watch The Botany of Desire. It was nice I didn’t have to work because I woke up with a sore throat which turned into a full on cold (or something) so I ended up not working Thursday and today (the 22^nd). Getting sick seriously put a damper on my weekend though. Tonight is the full moon which means the full moon party and I am stuck inside my room. I am grateful for my health though, getting sick has helped me take some down time to nurture myself. It forced me to stop and rest, something I haven’t really done since I came to Maui. I have been reading, sleeping and actually laying out in the sun (most people wouldn’t assume this is normal “sick behavior” but it actually helps a lot). The past two days have also given me an opportunity to re align with my personal path. I have sat with myself in silence and heard the yearnings of my soul, which felt so nice. I find it so funny that it takes getting sick to really stop and take care of myself. It makes me think about all the people who don’t take enough time for themselves, and how much we could all benefit from doing so. Maybe getting sick is a way of forcing you to get rest when you don’t give it to yourself. I also have come to the conclusion that since my throat was the source of this “dis-ease” I have a block in my throat chakra. I realize I haven’t been fully speaking my truth, fully expressing myself and maybe being too accommodating to the point where it forces me to ignore the expression of my needs. This is something I know I have done all my life; I only recently realized this aspect about myself. I am now looking at how I can connect to my needs, fulfill them, but also be there for other people without compromising myself. I won’t lie and say it is easy; as a matter of fact it scares me. The funny part is I am not sure why I am scared of expressing my needs, and using my voice. When I finally seize the opportunity to do so I realize it isn’t scary at all. Maybe I have a deep seated belief that says “if you don’t accommodate others they will not like you”, which would make a lot of sense for me. I am grateful I am in a safe environment that encourages the expression of ones needs. Being here has opened my eyes to this habit and has helped me start to work through it. So I am actually pretty tired its only 10pm but sleep comes easy when your letting go of a cold! I hope all is well for everyone! Maybe you could even ask yourself if you give yourself enough time to rest, and what areas could you nurture yourself more? Are there times when you are too accommodating and push your needs aside? Growth is beautiful! Lori Grace, the owner of the farm says “we aren’t just growing plants, we are growing people”. Let’s celebrate our growth together, cheers!

Fun in the sun at 21!!

It’s a Bob Marley kind of morning (also known as a super great morning to listen to his beautiful music). The sun is shining, I have a nice warm cup of coffee and the sun is shining in my windows, “Is this love that I’m feelin?” I think it is! I am so happy, I am bubbling over with jubilation! There is no specific reason for this joy, except for the fact that I am alive, like really alive!!! Before I came to Maui I was in an extreme funk, living in a place I didn’t enjoy, working in a dark spa, really going nowhere, and doing nothing I enjoyed. It’s super sad to think about being so young and being between a rock and a hard place scared to go forward not know what to do. Leaving Orange County was the best thing I have ever done for myself. I was so caught up in the confusion of what to do I never took action towards living my life. Now that I have, everything is flowing, new doors are opening, and I am growing and changing so much and it’s the best feeling in the world. Even some of the harder things I have gone through are enjoyable. I would rather be growing than stay stagnant. Plus whenever I get down I think to myself “will this really matter in five years” and when the answer is “no” it blows over faster than I can say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. So anyways my birthday was on Wednesday (13), I am officially 21 and 100% legal (I think I need a shirt that says that). I had an amazing birthday, the people I work with and my friends made it super great. Before I go into what happened on my b-day I’ll go back to last weekend when Bettina and I went snorkeling!

I still have to cover a few things from last month like the full moon party, this awesome meditation dance class and lots of beach time. To be honest I can’t remember all of it right now or I would write about it. All you need to know is I have been having so much fun, meeting so many amazing people, and loosing quite some sleep ;). There is another full moon party soon and it is on a Friday so I won’t have to work the day after with zero hours of sleep (which I did and totally rocked the farm doing it), I’ll be sure to write about that one though! Ok so last week Bettina and I decided to go to Lahaina to go snorkeling, which I was so down for because I have never been. Bettina Isis and I left around 2:00 to go to Lahaina, meet Ben there and walk around the town. Honestly Lahaina looks like Huntington Beach; it’s touristy and reminded me
of home. It’s a nice place if you want to be a tourist and forgo the real Hawaii experience, which some people like, but they are so missing out! The first thing I saw was the banyan tree which is In the middle of town, it is so amazing! At first glance it looks like a normal park with some scattered trees, but when you look closer you notice all the branches are connected making it one tree. It is so mind blowing to see one huge branch stretch from one tree to another. I have no clue how it works, its beautiful magic. We kept saying it was a Pandora tree, which I find myself saying about a lot of things on Maui. I honestly can’t describe how cool it is, you have to see it for yourself! After seeing the tree we walked around the shops and got a bite to eat at the cutest little oceanfront café. By the time we were done with lunch/dinner the sun was setting and Bettina and I decided to go find a camping spot. Honestly we got THE COOLEST, most beautiful camping spot ever! The free camping spots are literally sandwiched in between the ocean and highway. It literally takes ten seconds to walk to the ocean and ten to the highway. It is a little sucky because until about 11:00pm you hear cars passing nonstop, but after that you are left with the sound of waves crashing on the shore. By the time we got to the spot the sun was just about to go under the horizon, the moon was already up and the sky was painted with oranges pinks and purples. Naturally we jumped in the crystal clear water to have a nice sunset moon bath. The water was warm shallow and dead still. We were the only ones in the water, and we couldn’t see anyone around. It felt like God had giving us a sacred pool to rest in and witness the most beautiful scenery. Bettina started singing a beautiful ritual song and out of nowhere this huge beautiful white bird flew over us and then disappeared. The whole experience was blissful, I just kept picturing girls hundreds of years ago enjoying the same thing looking at the same moon and feeling the same magic we were. I could really feel how everything is connected, no time, no place, no me, no you just one. That sounds so cheesy but it’s the only way I can describe what was going on in my mind, or rather my heart. After our swim we climbed up this beautiful tree and just meditated there for a good 20 min. The evening was pure bliss. After out meditation Steve and Christian came to keep us company. Bettina and I flaked on being prepared for proper camping and forgot fire wood. The first thing Christian did was pull out his machete and started cutting off huge branches for a fire. I started joking about how convenient it would be if he had a saw too, and the next thing I see is him whip out a saw and saw down the branches for perfect fire wood (this guys is so crazy, he does the most unexpected things). We had no matches so Christian lit the fire with a rock and metal by making sparks. He is seriously a jungle man; I swear he could survive on his own in the wild no problem. It was so nice sitting around the fire singing and listening to music and eating yummy chocolate trail mix, I love camping. When we finally went to bed we decided not to set up with tent and just sleep on our blankets under the stars. It was a beautiful idea until around 3am the ocean decided to creep up on us and wash us out. The water made it all the way up to my knees, which was seriously the best way to be awoken from a deep sleep (NOT). After we moved back and dried off a little I slept like a baby till morning. When we woke up the boys wanted to go home and Bettina and I were still set on snorkeling, so they left and we headed off to get food and eventually snorkel. Snorkeling didn’t go as planned because it started to rain on us. It wasn’t even nice Hawaii rain, it was cold spitting rain. Lahaina is the dry side of the island, so it was Ironic that it started to rain on us (and not ironic “haha”, ironic “this sucks”). I took it as a sign that we weren’t supposed to snorkel there, maybe there was a shark and I would have one less arm right now, who knows. After waiting to see if the rain would stop, we ended up going all the way back to where we had camped and snorkeled there. It was still a nice spot, it didn’t have the most beautiful things to see, but for a beginner it was nice. The reef where we were was dead so it was all brown, but I saw some beautiful fish. I also scrapped my leg on some nice sharp coral. Apparently doing this is really bad because staff infection is extremely easy to get on the island and staff lives on coral, so you see why having coral cut you isn’t too great. My leg is totally fine but please snorkel with caution! After we snorkeled we went home and got ready for Isis’s going away party. The party was really nice; there was good food and good company! I already miss Isis, but she will be home in a month, so it’s all good.

For the sake of avoiding rambling over unimportant subjects, ill skip ahead to my birthday! The morning was beautiful and the sun was shining. When I got to the kitchen there were flowers and a candle on the kitchen table that Bettina had collected for me. It was so beautiful and sweet. At lunch my managers brought me vegan chocolate mousse cake and everyone come to the kitchen to sing and enjoy some food. It was really nice to have everyone around and acknowledge my birthday, it was special! Wednesdays are the grocery shopping day so we went into to town after work. Since it was my birthday we stayed in town and got some coffee and just hung around for a while. Later that night we went out for some drinks and I ended up not even being carded (buzz kill) but it was still fun. After we were finished we went back to the farm and had some fun island style in Bettina’s room till we were all practically asleep. It may not sound too exciting but I thoroughly enjoyed myself!Cheers to a new year, I cant imagine starting it in a more beautiful, magical place! Love to all <3

birthday flowers <3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1k6XL1U_JjIR8cgEdteZ_aw1eHkKPympwaf5fZfykFIbCYU5n7U-NpW2G3n566rnQ4yy-2lCnEIEHJJcWIPwmkvoFQQCgxPZn9F0C_pIcz7N3pKeZKUsrHTfxCwMCQFO6SuzDgU9zQch/s1600/P1000198.JPG">

Lahaina camp site random pic of my manager Lisa

Beautiful Bettina Birthday Beer....and Steve

these two pictures are the same sunset, everyone was pulling over (including us) to watch the beauty unfold <3>

This is the Banyan tree! I did not take these pictures, but I figured there should be a visual for when my description failed <3>

Love is surrender

Cheers! It’s been a while since I have written, and the only thing I can blame this on is sheer laziness. I would love to be more tasks oriented (that’s a lie) but whenever I have some down time I would way rather sit in my room doing absolutely nothing, or go to the beach! Its not like I am super busy (well I kind of am) but communal life can be seriously draining, so when I get to be alone I take it and run with it. I have been here for over a month and I love it. Time is flying by and I have no clue how to slow it down, so I am soaking up every moment and fully enjoying myself. I am going to be completely honest with you about my experience here, because it’s not all rose beds and butterflies. I didn’t expect it to be perfect either, I knew I would grow and things would change, I would change. Change and detachment are a few of the biggest things I have been faced with. Isis said it perfectly the other day “here you will learn about plants and how to detach from life.” She was really talking about the impermanence of things, people, and situations and learning how to let them go when they are ready to be let go of. I have had to let go of parts of myself and my personality that no longer serve me. I am also learning how to get in touch with my emotions and really see myself in a new light. Every experience I have had has taught me something about myself, and brought out parts of myself I have suppressed. Beyond all the drama of our everyday lives is a secret lesson we are supposed to learn to further the evolution of this life. If we can push through the “problem” and get to the heart of the situation so much growth can follow. In the end living in a community such as the one I am living in is seriously beautiful. We are all here to support and love one another. This is such a beautiful thing to watch and feel. Watching others open up and grow has helped me blossom too. Last Thursday was Isis’s last day on the farm. Now it’s just me Bettina, Gil, Michael and the new guy Peter. I have seriously become attached to Isis and she brings such an amazing dynamic to the group. I especially love that there were three girls, having three works really well. Letting go of people is just a fact when you come to this farm, so you both have to embrace it and let go or resist and suffer (which really goes for all things in life). When I came to Maui my intention was to embrace change, and that’s exactly what the island gave me an opportunity to do. I’m not complaining, but it’s definitely been a nice little challenge. As all things in life the universe, god, whatever, gives you opportunities to grow. Sometimes these growth opportunities aren’t as grand as others but in the end all growth is a positive move forward on our journey! Now I have three weeks of stuff I have done to write about, I will try my best to get that done sooner than later, but seeing as my 21st birthday is tomorrow….I might be a little occupied ;) . Peace and Aloha!

May this sickle bring you many blessings

Sunday and the liven is easy! I’m glad my room is in a secluded part of the property, because I’m sitting in my room singing Celine Dion at the top of my lungs while stuffing my face with Stacy’s simply naked pita chips…so good. I was going to hitch into town today but it’s been raining on and off and I would hate to get stuck in it on the side of the road. So I think ill stay at the farm, singing, swimming and writing….maybe some laundry…maybe not. It feels good to have some alone time, this week I have come to appreciate time with myself a lot more. I love communal living, but it is so good to get out and spend some time by myself. For some reason this week was a little harder than the others, I can’t tell you why but I felt like being alone a lot more. It’s not anything anyone was doing; I think I just needed time to go inside and feel what I was feeling, and to keep flowing with life. It is beautiful to sit with your feelings and go down to the root of them and express and let them go. This week was pretty quiet but rather busy. Mondays after work all the WWOOFers have to clean the kitchen together, which was so nice because it was disgusting. There was only one boy on the farm so the girls kind of took over and set a new standard for the way things are going to be, which is clean! Tuesdays we have a non violent communication meeting after work. We pretty much sit down as a group with Shiva and talk about our needs, how we are feeling, what we need or express anything we feel. It is so nice that they have these meetings because I honestly believe that communication is the most important thing to keep the peace and happiness alive. On Wednesdays we go grocery shopping as a group, which is an interesting adventure, quite complicated but in the end it works. Monday through Wednesdays are always busy which is fine, but it makes it harder to plan personal outings. On Tuesday I went yoga pant shopping, because I had to cut mine shorter to use as farming pants. My legs were constantly covered in mosquito bites, and I am seriously mean covered. It looks like I have some sort of illness….its gross, but wearing pants and long sleeves when farming has helped so much. On Thursday I went with Isis to Steve Blake’s house to do some work trade on their farm. Steve Blake and his wife are amazing herbalists, so it was an honor to help out. I am trading my work for an herbal database. The program covers thousands of plants, there medicinal uses in Ayurveda, Western, Native American, and Chinese health. It tells you how to plant, grow, harvest and create “medicines” (be it tinctures, lotions, serums, teas, cooking, salves) and so much more. The program is a valuable thing to have. The work we had to do wasn’t even that bad. Isis and I weeded what at first looked like a jungle, but when I was done it looked like a work of art, what can I say, I’m a Libra ;). Friday is harvest day, and every new WWOOFer has to go with Lisa to deliver the product, which meant going into town! I love going into town, I love Lisa, and I got to stop working three hours early, it doesn’t get better than that! It was fun seeing the places that use our veggies, it is so gratifying to see the plants you work with every day go to a good home! When we were in town we got some coffee and lunch and Wes, Lisa and I ate on the beach. I love how everything I have done here so far has involves the beach; this is seriously my home, especially since I’m secretly a mermaid ;). After we got home I decided to meet Steve at the beach, I wasn’t going to hitch hike but when I got to the main road a guy leaving Door of Faith Road asked if I needed a ride, he seemed cool so I took him up on his offer. His name was Steve and he is from Santa Barbra. He was super cool, and I enjoyed talking to him. We talked about all the ways Maui is different from California; there was a lot we could relate to. Most of the people I have met did exactly what I want to do, pack up and move to Maui. Most of the people I know have been here for years and call Maui home. I know this isn’t the case for everyone (my mother loves to remind me of that fact) but for now it really doesn’t matter. All I am concerned with is that I am following my heart and living my truth. Anyways, the beach we went to is famous for wind surfing, which is super fun to watch. I would love to learn how to do it, but I hear it’s really hard, so swimming will do for now. Swimming in the ocean is really healing for me. I feel so connected to nature and to myself when I am with the ocean. I have always felt this way, but it is so much easier to go swimming in the ocean here because it is so close to home and it is so much warmer! After swimming we rented the movie The Beach, I don’t remember how we even got on the subject of the movie but it ended up being really synchronic to our lives right now, so it was perfect. We made dinner at his house and it made me realize how much I miss having a big kitchen and real meals!!! We made stir fry and rice, and it was the best thing I have eaten in a long time. I’m hungry just thinking about it! This weekend felt like a three day weekend because Friday was so easy for me! I kept thinking it was Sunday yesterday and was pleasantly surprised I could fall back asleep when I woke up this morning! Saturday I went to the beach and got super burnt, but it just looks like I am extremely tan. All the effort going into keeping myself semi pale went out the window in less than an hour, oh well.

Saturday night I got a babysitting job, which was great! Things manifest at an accelerated speed on the island. Everything here is more intense, emotions, energy, etc. weather it is positive or negative. Things manifest faster than I have ever experienced, and my Saturday night proved to me I was in flow with the Island energy. On Wednesday I decided I wanted to make some money, and Saturday night I got a babysitting job. Talk about some smooth manifestation. I watch Rowan, the son of one of the amazing women who work here. I ended up only having to watch him for three hours, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Being around children is so beautiful (especially when you get to leave them with the parents after). He was only fussy when I put him to bed but singing to him did the trick, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I also got some time in to journal which was nice. When I got back to my room there was a HUGE cockroach in my trash can. I’m surprisingly not scared of them anymore, but this one was as big as my pointer finger, so it had to go! After he was escorted out of my room I was able to sleep! Today is a lazy day, which I needed. I have done nothing of importance, and I’m about to go watch a movie, the only down side is I ate all my pita chips. I hope everyone had a beautiful weekend, Malama pono.

"And me, I still believe in paradise. But now at least I know it's not some place you can look for, 'cause it's not where you go. It's how you feel for a moment in your life when you're a part of something, and if you find that moment... it lasts forever.." -The Beach

Enjoy the beach and cut the bullshit

Guten Morgen!!! Right now I’m sitting in my room listening to the pouring rain, and I love it. I call times like this “rainy day moments”, because you can experience all the things you love about rainy days in a rainy moment. Right now sitting in bed, I get to feel lazy and calm listening to the rain and loving it. Its great knowing the rain will pass and the sun will come out. I love knowing that it’s going to be a perfectly clear beautiful day (mostly…remember, I am talking about Maui) and I can fall asleep to the sound of rain. . Last week was a crazy/good week, Wes officially left, Wednesday was Steve’s last day and farming was intense. On Wednesday we went grocery shopping for the first time as a group which was way more complicated that I though it would be, but I love going into town so I didn’t really care about what was going on with the food. After grocery shopping I went with Bettina to some thrift shops and bought some pretty dresses. I didn’t bring any of my normal clothes so I had been wearing shorts and t shirts all the time and it didn’t feel like me at all, so I’m super happy I can dress the way I like again! After shopping we met up with Steve and got some coffee and food. After thoroughly stuff my face we went to the mall so Steve could get some interview cloths (by the way he got the job *big smile*) and Bettina could get a phone. Maui malls are exactly like malls everywhere else, so you can totally forgo “malls” on your itinerary. Weather or not I like malls doesn’t matter because I was with people I love, so it’s all good. I honestly don’t remember Thursday, obviously nothing too exciting happened or I would totally remember. Friday Bettina and I went into Makawao and ended up going into the shop Lala works at and they have the most beautiful things. I bought jasmine and rose oil, both smell divine. Bettina got some Tibetan prayer flags to decorate our kitchen with. I loved the store; they sell what I would call Fairy cloths, long pointy sleeves, jagged hemmed skirts and dresses, pointy hooded coats and crazy vests.
Later that night we left with Christian to go camping in Hana. The road to Hana is the craziest drive I have ever been on! It’s all up (or down, I’m not quite sure) the mountain. So we were driving on these super curvy cliffs at night at a speed less desirable for this kind of landscape, but we got there just fine. When we got to the camp site Christian took us to a blow hole, except you couldn’t see it because it was pitch black out. While we were sitting on the rocks he whips out a didgeridoo and starts playing it. Even though I was half asleep the sound of the waves and the beautiful didgeridoo were truly magical. That night sleep didn’t come easy because being the genius I am, I forgot a pillow. FYI when camping, bring a freaking pillow. The next morning after Christian went spear fishing (this guy is crazy in the best ways) we went for a hike up to a waterfall. I totally forget the name of the water fall, woops sorry. The hike was beautiful, there were cliffs that looked over smaller waterfalls, and to get to the big waterfall you have to go through this amazing bamboo jungle. If I could describe the land in a couple of words it would be a “fairy land”. Everything was green and lush, there were little waterfalls everywhere, and every time the wind blew through the trees and bamboo it sounded like wind chimes. When we got to the waterfall Bettina and I went for a swim in the small pool under the water. I have swum in only a few waterfalls, but I have to admit it is my favorite thing to do besides going to the beach. Being connected with this element is so amazing and magical and opens my heart to myself and the magic of life. When the boys were tired of watching us soak up the spirit of the falls we hiked back down to the camp site.Later that afternoon the boys we were camping with went to go pick up their friends who were running in the Hana Run while Bettina, Christian and I went off to the beach. For some reason I was extremely exhausted and managed to forget my bathing suit at the camp site. I seriously don’t know how someone can forget a bathing suit when going to the beach, but I managed to accomplish this with ease. I was fortunate enough that Christian had and extra shirt, so I went swimming in my panties and his shirt. I am also not sure what beach we went to, but it was probably the second most beautiful beach I have been to so far, the first being Big Beach. The waves were perfect for floating and swimming in, and the water crystal clear. We hung out there for a while but since the waves weren’t good for surfing Christian took us to another beach. Instead of swimming I totally passed out in the back of the van for a while. When I woke up Christian and Bettina were enjoying fresh coconut water and meat which they shared, waking up to fresh coconut water is seriously the best treat! After my little nap at the beach we went back to the camp site to meet up with the rest of the group. The rest of the night we just hung out around the fire, went on a few walks, and slept. Sunday we packed up and went to black sand beach. Its not as much black sand as it is black rocks, but the parts that are sandy are amazing. Before you hike down to the beach there is a fresh water cave you are able to swim in. Swimming in the cave is on my top 3 favorite things I have done/seen here. The water was freezing but you don't really care because you are so fascinated that you are swimming in a freaking cave! After black sand beach we come home. If I can suggest 2 things to do before you die it would be go swim in a water fall and go swim in a cave.....just do it. LOVE to all <3