Finally we arrived in at the Kahana Lo'i. You could smell the aroma of white ginger & pikake surrounding you. You could hear the birds chirping the guava trees. You could hear the kahawai (water stream that is very important for the lo'i) flowing around the lo'i.
My hula friends & I were sitting down on the big branch of the koa tree above the river. We were just talking about random things when we could hear Kumu calling, "Wahine, Hele mai eia nei oluolu(Ladies, please come here)." All of us jumped off the branch & went into the cold river swimming to the shore. "Yes, Kumu," we all announced. "I'm gonna teach you guys how to make poi." Kumu replies. I was so excited because I have never made poi before.
So we sat down around Kumu. He brought out steamed kalo(taro), pohaku ku'i ai (poi pounder), a koa wood bowl, & a bowl of fresh water. Before he taught us how to make the poi, he had told us that poi is considered the an important & a sacred part of daily Hawaiian Life. He took the steamed kalo & started to pound kalo onto the wooden poi. He would pound it until the kalo became mushy & sticky. About every minute or two, Kumu would put water on the poi pounder & the poi to make it less thick.
Two & a half hours had past, & Kumu finally finished. I took my two fingers, & scooped up the poi into my mouth. It made you feel like you step back in to the past where our native hawaiian used to eat this in every meal.
Til this day, I eat poi with my family to keep my Hawaiian Tradition going. My siblings & I will past it on to our children so that our Hawaiian culture will never be forgotten.
hey kiana! ok you did great descriptions but I think you should put more of your families memories about poi. I think you should add a story where poi was apart of a memory that was important to your family. Great descriptions though I could picture the scene :)
ReplyDeleteHi Kiana. Your ideas and organization was clear because you described what had happend chronologically and you had specific details. The voice in your story was also clear. It really had that "Hawaiian" feeling to it and I could picture what was going on in your essay. But I have to agree with Angela. I think you should put more of your families memories with poi. Another thing I think you should work on is the difficulty in your vocabulary. But other than that, this is a good essay.
ReplyDeleteHi Kiana,
ReplyDeleteNice job on your description of making poi and good use of the Hawaiian language as your describe the ingredients and the implements used to pound poi.
I agree with Angela and Alex that it would be good to include a bit more about your family or perhaps about your "hula family" if that is the context that is most closely connected with the food.
I would also suggest a bit more visual description of the kalo and the poi as it is slowly transformed from the root into the actual dish.
mrs s