reminiscing .. HAVA-EE

two years ago today, i was lucky enough to be sent to the East West Center/University of Hawaii for a fellowship on Leadership in Education. along with 24 other participants from 5 countries, i basked at the beauty that is Honolulu, Hawaii and at a world class university . the University of Hawaii (UH) in Manoa boasts of 18,709 students and 2,016 faculty-a student-faculty ratio of 9:1. UH offers bachelor's degrees in 88 fields, master's in 87 and doctorates in 55. such envious stats indeed.

the East West Center, which funded my fellowship is located in the University and is its main research and development facility. together with two strongwilled Islam women colleagues we were subjected to a rigorous and intensive four-week Institute that tackled short workshops on global interdependence and education. i learned more in those four weeks than i had in my four years in college! that was how intensive and nerve-wracking it was. but it was also most definitely fun .

we had luaus and barbecues, community parties where we dressed up in our national costumes (yes, imagine me in Filipiniana), roadtrips (such a rich visual and olfactory experience) and foodtrips (oh gawd the food is fabulooosh, i swear), lei and wristlet-making and a lot more. i got to meet people who helped shape my yet unshaped self. i learned so much about their countries that i could never read in books or even encyclopedias. theirs were REAL stories. real stories that mattered.

hawaii (which the locals pronounce as ha-va-i. with the stress on the second syllable) in general has a very diverse set of residents. native hawaiians, chinese, japanese, native americans, filipinos, samoans, polynesians and a lot more. in this diversity should come a wide range of cultures mishmashing together. but that is not the case in hawaii... its as if everyone from different cultural backgrounds mold into their own special culture--its like a special bond that was born out of a love for their environment and the sheer effort to make their community highly amiable and special. i don't know if i'm making much sense but that is how i perceived them. compared to mainland america, hawaii is, in my opinion, the cleanest of all the states i have visited (which is not much :) everyone calls each other cuzin. women parade around the city, the malls and the university with plumerias (they look more like our very own calachuchi) behind their ears or strategically placed in their hair. it is such a happy place. where everyone has a ready "shaka" (please see this for an explanation). sheer positivity.

i loved my brief hawaii stint. and cannot even put into words the rush of emotions when i indulge in the memories i had back there. i'm so looking forward to revisiting the rainbow state.

oh, the rainbows.... will be another entry to come..

aloha and mahalo cuzins!

note: all pictures are original and were taken by me. bow.