Where In The World Is Sum1?

Marvelous Maui, Second Time Around

         I am a very lucky man with the job I do, and this week finds me once again in the beautiful Hawaiian Islands, specifically Maui.  I'll be teaching a class on radio maintenance to the County of Maui technicians, the same students I had in November on my first trip here.

         For this entry, I thought I'd talk about the Hawaiian language.  Before Europeans arrived in the late 1700's, the Hawaiian people had no written language.  Of course the Europeans and Americans found this to be unsatisfactory, and missionaries quickly came to the islands to establish a written English alphabet for them.  The Hawaiian language is most closely related to the Marquesic language, which I'd supposed would be spoken on the Marquesas Islands.  There are only 13 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet, but one of the consonants is a glottal stop.  The letters are (in this order in the Hawaiian Alphabet) A, E, I, O, U, H, K, L, M, N, P, W, and ' (the glottal stop, or Okina).  I love the language, and find it fluid to listen to.  I just wish I could speak it some.  I do pronounce many Hawaiian words fairly easily, and love hearing people who are not familiar with the language trying to pronounce them.  Of course, one of the more famous words is the name of the Hawaiian state fish, the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a.  Just repeat it over and over a few times, and see if it doesn't flow off the tongue.  Another word I love in the language is the name of a Hawaiian Princess, Kalanianaole.  Of course there are a few rules for words in the Hawaiian language.  Every word must end in a vowel.  A consonant can only be followed by a vowel, therefore a word like follow cannot exist as a Hawaiian word, the two ll's are together.  You can (and frequently do) have more than one vowel together in a word, like Oahu, or the town I lived in during my time in the Navy, Aiea.  There are many other rules and pronunciations of sounds, but I'm not qualified to write about them in detail.  For example though, sometimes a 'k' can have a 't' sound, and a 'w' can have a 'v' sound.  You have to be proficient in the Hawaiian language to understand those substitutions, and I am far from that.

         The Grand Wailea Resort leaves a small card in your room at night when they turn down the covers.  Here is tonight's card:

E moe malie me ka 'ala o napua 'awapuhi

Sleep soundly with the sweet scent of ginger blossoms

         Now, on to other things.  I mentioned in my notebook about meeting Annette   &  Jeff   for lunch Friday, and here is a picture I took.  I have to wonder why I'm the one with the messy hair, and not smiling!  (Not the mention the excessive waistline!)

         This is the view from my hotel room last night as the sun was setting.

         As the summer heat hits us, be careful, stay hydrated, and keep cool!  Winter will be here soon enough, and we'll be fighting to stay warm, so appreciate the warmth while we have it.