A little culture is a good thing

Tuesday morning, March 29
Got up. Got out of bed. Drove the hour drive from Honolulu to Laie to attend the Laie temple to do an endowment session. What a beautiful temple inside and out! It's a marvel. The recent renovations make it look like a completely new temple. The rooms are small and you move from place to place (which I like.) It took a couple of hours to complete the temple work.
Afterward we walked around the BYU - Hawaii campus and got the lay of the land. It's a small but stunning campus. Later we met David Mejia, a young man from Peru and headed to lunch with him and Andy in our rental car. Rick taught his family the gospel many years ago in Peru and we've stayed in touch with him and his family. David is attending BYU-Hawaii as well as Andy. We went to the Kahuku grill and had some coconut shrimp for lunch. After lunch we parted company. Rick and Andy went on their own adventure and Carol, Mom and I headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center that is owned by the LDS church and operated by the students of BYU Hawaii and the people of Laie. Andy and Rick went on a hike to the China-man's hat island and to Pounders beach for some surfing. We each enjoyed our respective activities.
The Polynesian Cultural Center or PCC as it's referred to in Hawaii, is a marvel. Andy referred to it as the Polynesian Disneyland. It's on about 40 acres and it has become one of the main tourist attractions of Hawaii. Bus loads of people take the hour trip from Honolulu over to Laie to participate in the day-long activities. As you can see on the map, there is a small replica of each of the Polynesian cultures in the PCC. Visitors can spend the better part of the day going from village to village learning about each culture. There are native dances and activities to either watch or participate in. There is a large stream that runs down the center of the PCC and a visitor can go on a boat cruise down the stream. At night they offer a large luau complete with authentic flower leis and a buffet dinner with all the trimmings, yes even including poi (a native Hawaiian dish.)
After dinner was their signature program "Ha, Breath of Life" that tells the story of a native boy as he grows to manhood. It is complete with dancing, singing, fire dancing, war battles, love stories, birth and death. It was well done and a good way to showcase each of the different island cultures. Andy and Rick got back from their adventure in time to go with us to the program. There are gift shops galore and lots of places to have a picture taken in native dress. I think the PCC has learned a thing or two about marketing from cruise ships, Disneyland and other resorts. It was well run and a very entertaining day. I would recommend it to anyone visiting Hawaii.
Day four of a vacation in paradise.