Luana Shares! (Part 1)

I am thrilled to have my friend, Luana, share about her experiences growing up in Hawaii. As you read her answers you will see how excited she is about her life in the islands and all the cultural and culinary experiences she treasures.

Maile Onakea’s mom is named Luana. Maile is Leilani’s best friend in my books. How cool is it that I chose that name for my character before I even met the real Luana! Since her name is part of The Hawaiian Island Detective Club, I’ll give you a little overview.

Luana is pronounced loo-AHN-ah

Meaning: Enjoyment

Gender: Female

Luana grew up on the Big Island of Hawaii, the same as my niece, Nicole, whom I interviewed on September 13, 16, and 20 of 2010. Thank you so much for sharing with my blog readers, Luana.

When you were a kid, what was your favorite thing to do?

As a kid, my favorite thing/s to do was to play in mountain streams, catching little fish and tad polls, and swinging from natural vines like Tarzan and jumping into the water. I also loved to ride my bike down to the beach just to sit in the sun and relax while watching the surfers. I loved running through our pasture land along the cow trails, climbing into guava trees and finding that "perfect" guava to snack on! Whenever we had a GREAT BIG rainstorm, my sisters and I would run outside and play in the rain for as long as we could, running and sliding in the grass and splashing through big puddles . . . We always found fun things to do outside!

What was your favorite food?

Growing up in Hawaii I had many favorite foods, but something I really, really loved was lau lau served with poi. Yummmm! It's so hard to truly pick a "favorite" food because I loved so many foods in Hawaii! Such as Mochi, a yummy dessert/snack food made out of rice flower. Till this day, EVERY time I go home to Hawaii the first thing I do is head to the grocery store to purchase some fresh mochi! Mmmmmm good! My favorite fruits were mango, passion fruit, and lychee.

Favorite Hawaiian food?

My favorite Hawaiian food was lau lau (pork wrapped in taro leaf then steamed) served with rice and poi. I also loved ANYTHING with coconut! Pickled mango, pickled lemon, and "crack-seed" were some of my favorite snacks. :)

Favorite Shave-Ice flavor?

My favorite Shave-ice flavor was coconut and guava, HANDS DOWN!!!! Ohhhhhhh yeah!!!!

Did you learn the hula or go surfing, and at what age?

Well, I did take hula lessons at a very young age, for a very short time. But, as time went on, and after watching lots and lots of hula over the years I learned very well how to mimic them. I loved to dance hula on my own. 

When I was in middle school my sisters and I found an old surfboard at a garage sale. We tried and tried to learn to surf on it, but the board was small and shorter, being better suited for an experienced surfer rather than young learners. But boy could we girls cut up the water on a boogie board!!!! LOOK OUT!!!!

Such fun times growing up in Hawaii, Luana!

Please join us again on Monday for Part 2 of my interview with Luana. She has a lot more fun and interesting things to share.

Mahalo for visiting!

Cheryl

www.cheryllinnmartin.com

cheryllinnmartin@yahoo.com