Musings

Other than the obvious perfect weather and scenery, I am thinking about what is different between life on the Big Island and Toronto. here are a few of my final passing thoughts.

Time
Life on the island is slow. Things get done on "Hawaiian Time". Road work that was underway last year when we were there has advanced little. Compare that to the breakneck pace at which miles of Bathurst St. have been widened up here in Aurora; things move there at a snail's pace. Damage to roads and buildings that occurred in the Oct. 15, 2006 earthquake - still being repaired. The pace is slower. People are nicer, more relaxed; although traffic congestion is a problem, drivers are considerate and let you merge, or pass if necessary. Clerks in stores, waiters in restaurants, all seem more helpful and friendlier than here.

Medical
I had the fortune (or misfortune) to need some medical care while there - three days in a private, spa-like, American hospital is quite a change from what we experience as medical care here. No waiting in the ER, immediate admitting, CT scan, x-rays done in minutes, doctor taking time to explain all the options and then a specialist to provide the care. The nurses and aides were all over me like the commissioned sales people at Future Shop. "Do you need anything", "are you comfortable", "here's some soap, shampoo, razor, and shave cream if you need it". Was this a dream? Was I on some Candid Camera show? When I was discharged they voluntarily copied my file along with a CD of my x-rays to bring to my GP at home. And the room - the room! They had only private rooms with three piece bath, table and TV set all set up like one gets in a motel, (in fact I've stayed in worse motels) a sliding glass door walk-out to a private lanai surrounded by tropical plant garden.

But would I trade our system for theirs? No. Only those rich enough to pay the outlandish costs of this service or those with exceptional health care insurance (luckily I was covered) can get admitted to such facilities. The signs in the ER made it clear that if you couldn't pay for your care all they were required to do by federal law was diagnose you. Nice!

Island People
Whenever Canadians interface with local Americans we are shocked by their lack of knowledge about our country. On the island multiply it by ten. When I said I was from Toronto, there is a blank stare returned... "Canada", "The East", - okay, getting a little better, "Near Buffalo", not much better. They'd then say things like, "my aunt went to Seattle once". They have no idea how lucky they are to live there.

The Travel Guide

If anyone is contemplating a trip to the Hawaiian Islands the best guide book for each island is from the series , "The Big Island Revealed", "Maui Revealed" etc. It is detailed and complete, with terrific reviews, explanations, and driving directions. Cost here was about $19 at Chapters, available there at Costco for $9.


Kapu

Remember I said the people were nice. That is true of all the interactions we had. And we weren't exclusively in tourist areas. Living at Mike and Betty's for the month, we were more like locals as to where we shopped, walked, etc. The one thing we noticed was the prevalence of "Kapu" signs. (Kapu means "forbidden") They are equivalent to our "No Trespassing", "Private Property". It seems that almost every house, lot, building is either fenced or posted with the signs. I could understand it in the tourist areas when visitors drive down private roads by mistake, walk across property to get to the beach, but even up in Waimea and elsewhere this strong territorial imperative, this private ownership, was evident.