Saturday, December 13, 2008

Island Cars, Chicken Pox, and Granolas

Ahhhh. I am currently enjoying the peaceful sound of Jacque's and Charlie's battling bands down the street--which restaurant will outdo the other with their tuneless throbbing bass?

We got a lot of things done today, as usual. First, we cleaned our car (whom we've named Haiku, after the town where we got him)! Apparently he leaks, so during the tropical storm yesterday, the trunk got drenched inside--I'm totally not exaggerating--and the seats gained a nasty damp wet-dog smell in addition to their mustiness. We vaccuumed, scrubbed, made seat covers out of old sheets, bought an air freshener, opened the windows to air him out.... Even as a writer, I fail to have the words to describe the condition of this car. A couple indications: there was a bag of old food left under the passenger seat in addition to the hairy bread tossed on the back seat; most of the 83c we found was literally stuck to whatever surface it was on; it took an entire rag to clean the handles above the doors; when you sit on the seats, you get up with a stickiness on your pants that doesn't go away. And, of course, besides the important things like the engine and breaks, nothing works. No light, no way to unlock the driver's door from the outside, only two seatbelts in the back, no AC, almost no defrost. He's the perfect island car and we love him. When and where in the world would we get away with driving such a piece of crap? :)

Then we did some more cleaning, for Retha (in other words, we're working in Hawaii!), starting to pay off our $200 deposit. There are maybe 8 properties that she cleans, but we started out at the main one, "the lodge." Tomorrow she'll take us to "bamboo gate," where all the famous people who come here stay. She said the Wilson brothers (as in Owen, Luke, and Andrew) stay there. Apparently Owen Wilson is here a lot! It makes total sense, he would totally fit here. We tried to set up a p.o. box but discovered we need some kind of proof that we are living in Paia. Jeanie went to the doctor to ask about what she thought were bug bites but turned out to be chicken pox (yeah, they never tell you you can get it twice.... So I might, as well). We spent hours waiting for a prescription to be filled. On the plus side, we got to explore a new part of Maui by going to the clinic in Pukalani (I admit, I'm totally bragging when I toss these names around like I know something about this island), and it was spectacular! We took little windy roads up towards Haleakala, but unlike in Haiku, it's open enough that you get the most amazing view of the West Maui Mountains. Finally, tonight we called Geico and got car insurance, which was much easier and cheaper than we had expected. Insurance is really not that bad if you get the bare-bones stuff (which may or may not be more of a concience relief than an actual help).

Our "fun" thing of the day was joining in this little Paia celebration, where the stores stayed open late and served pupus (appetizers) and played live music and displayed art (there are probably 5-10 galleries within a quarter-mile radius). The goal was to get people to support local business. Hm, I should describe Paia a bit. It's tiny; it has two main streets: the Hana Highway, which cuts through it on its way between Kahului and Hana, and Baldwin Avenue. The two roads form a T, and within a very brief space, both are lined on both sides with boutiques, coffee shops, cafes, galleries, a laundromat, a post office, restaurants, surf shops, and an organic grocery store. It's populated by beach bums, hippies, wind surfers, small business owners, a good mix of international and American people who've given up conventional life. Everyone seems to know each other. I wish so bad people at home could come see it--it's so unbelievable that we're actually living here.

1 comment:

Wu-zy Whatsit said...

take more pics! i'm so glad you decided not to do the other job, this place sounds wonderful. your car cracks me up too. :) btw we spent all of yesterday without power due to an ice storm. it even snapped several branches off out pine tree from the weight of it. the power guys didn't getit back on till 7 or 8 pm, it was off when we woke up. i am so envious of your new stomping grounds and it's lack of cold, snow, and ice. i miss you!