2 Months Prior to joining
July – October: 2020 A Few months before joining a hālau, I had a vision of things I wanted to experience in Hawai’i, 5 of them in particular. I uploaded a Tiktok highlighting 5 Cultural Experience I would like to have while living in Hawai’i and received the most incredible replies from the local community. From “Mahalo for caring for our culture” to “we need more people like you”. Out of the many, a few tried to convince me to join a hālau hula, basically a school that teaches hula. Why a hālau? Because it will teach you nearly every aspect there is to Hawaiian culture. And if there is any one thing about Hawai’i that has maintained and preserved Hawaiian culture so strongly, it’s HULA. One of the replies would be from one of the members of the current hālau I am in.
He said, “Honestly, I think you’re the only one that comes here for the right reasons. U Wanna join a hālau hula? Let me know, we are always looking for warriors.” We would exchange messages via Tiktok’s messaging service. I would ask innocent questions about monthly fees, location of practice, what a kumu does and such and so forth. He asked about me, where I am from and how long I’ve been here will putting in word with his kumu to arrange a meet. With covid rampant, I suggested a Zoom meet, and that’s when I met my future kumu.
Sept. 9: Yesterday I was in a zoom with a kumu (leader) of a Hula hālau (hula school) to get to know me and to know more about the hālau. I posted a Tiktok a couple of months ago sharing the top cultural experiences I wanted to have in Hawai’i and connected with so many people in the Hawaiian community. One of these people would be the one to gracefully invite me in as “we are always looking for warriors.” Because of covid, there isn’t too much hope in checking it out and getting started but I can’t wait for that day where I get a chance to dive deeper into Hawaiian culture. No better way to do it than join a hālau. 
The second coronavirus outbreak on O’ahu was a difficult and trying time with a high infection rate and high stress. Hula practice was out of the question as parks were closed and this hālau practices in a park. But once the pandemic settled on O’ahu, I found myself attending my first practice on their hula mound and would start a journey of one of the greatest experiences of my travels thus far.
