The popularity of the Polynesian Festival at the wharf last weekend – complete with outrigger canoe races, hula dancing, luau specialties, shave ice, lomi lomi (massage), Locals (flip flops), traditional arts and crafts, lilting slack-key music, and crowds dressed in their best Hawaiian florals – proves how far-reaching the Spirit of Aloha extends. Around our town, like on the islands, bumper stickers read “Live Aloha” nearly as often as those that say, “Keep Santa Cruz Weird.”
Having lived two years on the Big Island and a year on Kauai, I’ve always associated the plumeria flower with Hawaii, though it’s actually a native of Mexico, brought to the islands in 1860 by German doctor William Hillebrand. When friends and relatives traveled there to see me, I’d string my own delicate frangipani leis to give when greeting them at the airport.
An old Japanese kama’aina taught me the two “unspoken rules” of receiving a lei:
- It should always be accepted kindly, since a lei symbolizes the affection of one person for another; and
- It is considered impolite to remove a lei from your neck in the presence of the person who gave it to you.
The proper way to offer a lei is to gently drape it over the shoulders, allowing it to hang gracefully both in front and in back.
I wandered through the various pavilions looking in earnest for a fresh plumeria lei. Although I spotted red, white, and pink carnation leis (photo ~ rt), kukui nut necklaces, and pretty plumeria hair ornaments, I found none flaunting my favorite tropical gem. So for now – or until we visit Hawaii again – I’ll have to be content wearing facsimile plumeria blossom perfume.
This 16th annual event appeared to be a great success. It is remarkable to consider that, although Native Hawaiians are the poorest and most landless of people on the islands, the power and beauty of their music and traditions continue to send the Spirit of Aloha into hearts of others all over the globe.
To learn more about the plumeria, view the work of University of Hawaii, Manoa, Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences Professor Richard Criley.
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Viktoria, your colorful description of the Hawaiian Islands
brings back fond memories when we visited you and Aldo and
grandsons Orlando and Lorenzo. It beckons you to return.