Yesterday, I woke up and relaxed in a hammock under the Maui Mornin' sun and read. At about 11 I headed down to the school to meet with Ms. G, a teacher of one of the children. She is a charming, bubbly and brilliant woman. First, she gave me a tour of her room- which I hadn't seen yet
The front porch has a tiny picnic table, and door's window was covered with a tissue paper and egg white 'stained glass' collage of birds in a tree. Inside, he walls were painted a cloudy rainbow gradient. All around the room tucked in little corners, over light switches and hidden in plain sight were mini-hand-painted-murals of dwarves, fairies in bubbles, little flowers, mushrooms and other mystical creatures. Ms. G shared that although she makes a new stained glass window each year, the delicate and beautiful hidden wall additions were done by a friend. The floor was cork and the windows lining the walls had soft, gauzy curtains. It was incredibly cozy and homey.
An open kitchen with cabinets of delicious real, whole foods greeted you at the door- teeny tiny aprons hung on hooks. The breakfast bar counter had short stools- obviously for tiny bodies to reach the countertop and multiples of child-sized kitchen tools, real glassware and silverware were arranged in baskets and boxes around the area.
Further into the open room, there were wooden benches with tall sides and rods across the top (I bet they're GREAT for scooting around to make forts) and long silks for imaginative play, a tiny wooden kitchen, hooks with capes, blocks, and long table for eating/art. Pretty much my dream classroom.
We made some green tea, sat on the floor and got to chatting. We talked about everything- how she got into Waldorf, how I became interested, how the flow of their day goes etc. etc. As we continued our conversation, there were some tangents but we stuck mostly to business. She told me a lot about different training/grad school opportunities to keep an eye out for across the country (lots on the West Coast). She informed me about the many different routes you can take after training- commune style schools, permaculture schools, charter schools, public schools, private schools. And the different kinds of teachers you can become.
She got me pretty pumped up about the potential places this path can take me and emphasized the importance of getting to know myself before and through the journey. Waldorf teachers are very expressive and its important to be comfortable in your own skin with the children, parents and teachers I'll work with. I think that generally that is an important part of being a teacher and growing up in general- however, I can see how this particular curriculum begs for expression and strong sense of self.
She let me know that she was planning on going on vacation and probably would need a substitute a few of the days she was gone for her nap-teacher who would be filling in for her. She gave me a TON of names and contact information for people I should talk to around here, books I should read and other 'elders' that I should connect with. We had a seamless, comfortable conversation and really got along. I can feel that she'll be an important mentor to me in my career. I love her already.
Afterward, I hopped in my car and saw that I had a missed text from Anna, a girl from my hometown who just moved to Makawao. I really had never met her in Northport but since we're both new in town we have been trying to meet up. We decided to meet at Cassanova, a little deli and coffee shop during the day and the a bar and restaurant at night. (http://casanovamaui.com/blog/) I got some esspresso over ice while I waited for Anna. I struck up a conversation with the barista over a dress my sister gave me, conversation turned to the hoarding of clothing and then to the fact that we both tried to get rid of a bunch of clothes recently. I mentioned I'd just moved to town and she said she had just moved to Kula, too! She arrived here ON THE VERY SAME DAY two hours after I did from Denver, CO!
I sat down out on the porch because she started getting more orders. Anna arrived and we chitchatted about yoga, our respective stories of how we arrived and our reasons for moving to the island. She is a super cool girl- currently working on a farm and doing massage school. We have a lot of mutual friends but never knew each other. After a few minutes, I went back inside to get some pasta and salad (SO GOOD, SO homemade and pretty reasonable for a gigantic plate of food) me and Kara got to chatting again. We exchanged numbers and when she got off her shift, she came out to talk to me and Anna on the porch.
As it turned out, Kara and Anna happened to be at the same pizza party in Makawao the night before! We all decided that we had to watch the sunset together and decided to meet up at Little Beach.
Anna and I took off almost right away and found Big Beach- beautiful HUGE HUGE HUGE white sand beach with the coolest little grove and huge cliffs lining the back 'wall'. Down the way, I kept noticing drums, people with long hair, tie dyes and coolers headed toward the cliffs. We decided, this must be the way to 'little' beach. Sure enough, after we climbed the volcanic stairs up (got a picture with the GORGEOUS view) and then continued down the other side, through a little magical forest we could see a huge gathering, drum beats and lots of people.
This beach. Man. This beach was full of all kinds of fantastic weirdos. There was a drum circle and people surfing and swimming- definitely the best spot to swim I've seen yet- little protected bay that got some good waves AND you could see four islands at the same time! We swam and climbed around to get some good views and settled in. We met up with Kara and watched some people spin fire poi and met her roommates. Her roomie Avery told me the names of all the different islands. We stayed til sunset and then took off to get home by about 8:30ish so I could get to bed.
It was a fantastic day.
Today I started early and even though I got plenty of sleep- it definitely felt like a Monday. I did awake to an exciting email from my Uncle Rick that informed me that through the six degrees of separation, I know Rudolf Steiner (founder of Waldorf) SO RAD! He worked with an man who was worked with Steiner- I am really excited to hear more of this story. Biodynamic farming and all. So cool. Man. I have cool family.
Anyway, I had a fine day AND my Kula-Mom brought me home a big, beautiful wooden desk. Just after a magnificent yoga practice this morning it just seemed like a lot of work and no play (I am employed and was working, so I really can't complain... as my job is on Maui). But just as with every job, I know these days will happen- hours dragged on, and on, and on, and on. I can't expect to have an exciting every work-day and it was fine... just after making dinner but I was just really exhausted. Really, really exhausted.
That being said, I'm definitely ready for bed.
Aloha Pumehana,
Betsy
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