This week was very intense, consisting of a lot of grammar, more vocabulary, more numbers, and more of using worksheets rather than ʻolelo Hawaiʻi. We learned Pepeke ʻAʻano, Pepeke ʻO, Pepeke Aike He, more Papani, reaching numbers up to the thousands, and also learned about and started our first Oli (Kunihi). Monday was the hardest because we had much to learn and understand it altogether on that day. We did more worksheets and had little class activities in the week, which was okay because we had the opportunity to read, write, and ʻolelo Hawaiʻi on our own and understand it a little better of how it’s spelt or putting sentences together and actually seeing it. I’m glad we had got that out of the way.
Throughout the week we had practiced our Papani. Last week we practiced by being separated into 2 lines and each person from a line going all the way in the front, facing us, and pointing in the correct way for every Papani said. For example, Kumu would say "au" which means "I" so we had to point to ourselves or he would mix it up and add numbers which we had to make with our fingers, sometimes he would say "11 or 15" to throw us off which was pretty funny. This week we added on by saying and pointing to 2 or more gatherings, like he would say "kaua" which means "You and I" so we had to point to ourselves and the person in front of us or he would say "ʻoukou" which means 3 or more people in front of us, not including ourselves, and we would point to all of them. We’re always learning new Papani, so doing this had become a regular thing. I like doing these class exercises because it helps me to memorize who is where and pronouncing it correctly.
Another class activity that we had was making posters and a lot of them. Since we had plenty of grammar work and grammar rules, Kumu decided to put up posters to help us if we forget or maybe don’t know it, and hang them around the room for us to look at if we needed help. This had also became a regular thing. We were divided into groups and assigned to write out whatever was on the board or paper that needed to be made into a poster. The posters help a lot whenever I’m stuck and most likely to my classmates too.
My problems this week were all with the Pepeke’s. I was confused and mixed them together and messed up on making them hoʻole. I would forget the structure for making them negatives. It looked and sounded wrong but that’s because our english mind messes us up and we don’t think it’s right when it is. That was my major problem. A great tip was to think like Yoda or think pidgin. "The waves are nice." translated into pidgin or Yoda would be "Nice the waves." or like "I am the student" translation is "The student I". Thinking like this helps constructing better sentences and practicing it in ʻolelo Hawaiʻi. At home my Ohana isn’t really familiar with the Pepeke’s or making and saying sentences, so ʻolelo Hawaiʻi is kind of hard because i can’t communicate with them or get feedback or help. But it’s okay because each day I’m teaching and going over what I learned today with them and helping them understand it better. Another thing that was kind of hard was the Kunihi, memorizing it took awhile because it was long but i got it down by Wednesday. By Friday i could say it like it was the lyrics to my favorite song but i got nervous about messing up and by the time it was my turn to Oli, I forgot some words and actually did mess up. I need to remember to not over think and just let it be. I also Kunihi at home and continue to practice on it.
Our vocabulary is building everyday. Each day we get a new vocabulary list which is about 25 words or so which is difficult memorizing because while we are on a new list, I’m still continuing to practice and memorize the other vocabulary list the day before. I like to make flashcards and practice them all day and use my time on the bus in the morning and sometimes before class to review the flashcards and have my friends quiz me and do the same for them.
On Friday we had our Hoʻike, it was difficult and very stressful. 3 pages, front and back, having everything that we had learned this week. I took my time answering the questions, skipped the ones i didn’t know, and came back to them later, once I was finished. If I had rushed through them and poorly guessed on them, I would have resulted in a bad grade. Even though I don’t take this class for credit, I do enjoy achieving good grades and knowing that I had did my best and understood it.
Today we had another activity including the 2 other classes, Intro Hawaiian & Hawaiian 2, as we are all one, like Kalo. We had to bring 3 laʻi and we were going to make lei’s. After our 20min. break, all classes went out onto Konia Fields, onto the mats where we were divided by boys and girls. We had Kumu Noe who is really nice and helpful and funny too. We washed our laʻi by wiping it down with the washcloths in the ʻumeke full of water, allowed it to dry, then we began to snip and pull out the stem. Afterwards we took our ti leaves, wrapped them up, and put them in the microwave. While this was taking place, we went along with Kumu Mele who is also nice, helpful, and funny, grabbed our tool, and headed out to the garden. There, we picked weeds or "nahelehele", cautious not to step, sit, or go over the Kalo. It was very hot outside and I was working up a sweat out there. After awhile, we finished, washed up, then went to go grab our laʻi from the microwave which was in Kumu Mele’s classroom. Then walked back to the field, onto the mats, and were taught by our cool Kumu Kalani. Twisting another piece of laʻi in was a little confusing and mines did not come out the way I wanted to but later at home, I re-did it and it came out perfect which I then gave to my sister.
I look forward to next week and next Friday’s activity, but not waking up at 4 in the morning everyday, for the rest of Summer School.
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