Day six. Last chance for a good time.

We had planned to visit the Old Lahaina Lua'u grounds for Ho'omana'o on Wednesday, but we got moved to Friday, so this was to be the beginning of our good-bye to the island. We arrived for a program full of education on Hawaiian culture, history and traditions. And I lost my heart to this land and these people, after days of it teetering on the edge of the cliff.

Ho'omana'o starts with the chant the traditionally-clad staff shares with you to ask for permission to enter the grounds, much as they traditionally would ask for permission to enter someone else's house. We were greeted with Kukui leis and told about some of the uses of the nut for lighting in the days of their ancestors. We then enjoyed breakfast, which was good because I was starving, and a Hula show.

They divided the group into three sub-groups and took us through three sections of the "village" to teach us about some of their history and warfare (which turns out was introduced by a Polynesian chief after learning of the peaceful nature of the Hawaiian people). We also learned that the term Hawaiian is a "political" term used to refer to their people - they don't consider themselves a race or an ethnic class, but a "people," which is hard to understand and harder to explain. We then went on to learn about the history and evolution of Hula and a few of the instruments used with it. Here we got a chance to try one of the instruments and two of the basic steps of modern hula, and combining the two, which surprisingly enough turned out to be as hard as rubbing your tummy and patting your head. Finally, we learned about the old customs in Hawaiian villages, gender roles (I particularly like that pregnant women got to pretty much play in the water for nine months, unlike our modern days when we continue to work our asses off), how they made clothes and marked them for recognition, and how they make Poi, which is definitely an acquired taste. At the end, we heard about fishing, casting nets, and enjoyed one last Hula show.

This was the day we learned a bit more about the Hawaiian people trying to reclaim some of their islands and stop the progress that at this point seems inevitable, and which is developing whatever areas can be developed while losing some of the beauty and much of the natural resources, and which makes it difficult for the people of Hawai'i to preserve their way of living. Moloka'i seems to be next on the list of "hot" properties, and the island with the most to lose, as people there still practice more of a communal living where the fruits of the land are shared, and where trends and fashion are a distant concern of a different world. For more information, visit these links on the Sovereign Movement in Hawai'i. See also http://www.hawaii-nation.org and http://www.hawaii-nation.org, if you are curious about this issue or have any inclinations on it.

We returned to the resort and our modern world (which by the way I embrace, especially since I'm sharing all this on an Internet blog, from my laptop, while using wireless connection), changed into our modern bathing suits, and went to lay by the modern pool of one of the latest developments on Kaanapali beach, like the good tourists we can be. Don't get me wrong, as I don't want to sound hypocritical. I just think we tend to overdo it. There is no balance. Some decisions should not be made solely on the merit of the bottom line, but should take into consideration other factors. I would like to go back to the island in a few years and see that it's still the same. And while tourism drives the development in question, how much supply do we really, really need? Enough of that... this blog is about the vacation and not about ideologies.

We run the girls ragged this last day. We went back to the room, so they could rest and I could pack. I packed, and they didn't rest. And that night we went out to dinner, which we enjoyed in relative peace after shaking the guilty feeling at being out with our children completely asleep at the table, past their bedtime, and out of their beds. I pretty much broke all my rules that night, and since I was breaking them, I decided to let go of the guilt and enjoy the wine, the lobster, and the warm, quiet island air that surrounded us in the dimly-lit restaurant.

We said good-bye to Maui the next morning, with the promise to return in a few years, since we can't seem to stay away.