The Backpack Project: Can you believe I’ve lived in Hawai’i for 5 years and I’m just now learning to make a lei?

Today was a really good day. I made a new friend, Jenna, saw the ‘Grand Canyon’ of Kaua`i, and learned how to make a Maile lei.

Jenni, Carlos, and I

I came to Kaua`i with two friends; Jenni, who was born and raised here, and Carlos, who moved to the big island of Hawai`i when he was 9. Last night we were in a grocery store and Carlos ran into a girl he works with on the Hawai`i, Jenna. While we were talking story we found out that she was here alone and invited her to hang out with us.

Panorama of the canyon

Look close at the ocean and you'll see a little sliver that
looks like a cloud shadow, that's Ni`ihau

We all set out to see the Waimea Canyon on our own, but Jenni’s dad wanted to show us around so we picked him up and started up the mountain. We stopped at every single lookout cuz Jen’s dad wanted us to see the canyon for all the different angles. I normally wouldn’t stop at so many lookout points but it turned out that every lookout was different and beautiful in its own way. Also you can see Ni`ihau from Kaua`i so now I've officially seen all 8 of the main islands!

My favorite part of the canyon

After awhile Jen’s dad asked if we wanted to go pick Maile and learn how to make leis out of it. Maile is a vine that is native to the Hawaiian Islands and rather than looking like a necklace, it is left open and just draped over the recipient shoulders to hang down. Maile isn’t rear, but it’s not all over the place either, and it is considered to be one of the nicer leis a person can receive. It is the traditional lei a man is giving for prom (as opposed to a boutonniere) or on his wedding day.

Me picking Maile

First we went out into the forest in Kokee to find Maile vines. It took me about 20 minutes to get the hang of identifying them. After I learned what they looked like Jen’s dad taught me how to pick it. There is a special technique you used to put the top, leafy part of the vine off of the stem so that you leave the rigid green stem behind and are left with this really fragile leaf string. This is way harder than it sounds. I messed up a lot, but I finally got the hang of it and started pulling some decently long strings.

one of my pitifully short pieces

that's better, but Jen's dad still schooled the lot of us

Once you’ve got a big bag full of these strings you pull them apart and start to tie the strings together so that all the leaves face the same direction. Then you take to equal length strings and tie them together with the leaves going the opposite direction. This is the part of the lei that hits behind the neck so that all the leaves on both sides hang downwards when you wear it. Once you have at least 4 strings (normally you’d want 6 to 8) you hold all the strings together at one end and twirl them. I know this sounds ridiculous, but the vines just find a way to get next to each other through the leaves and you do that till the strings are all together to make one big strand.