Whoa, I can't believe it's been almost 1 year since anyone has posted on our site!! And I was the last one to post too...Well...Just an update: Here's a photo of Janice, Emily, Cheryl, John, Paul, Junior, and Kelly at Hurry Curry in Old Town Pasadena. Our goal: to catch up and also to make a care package to send to Dino Saldajeno in Suriname.

Another Episode from "The Atlas of Hawaii".

fact and fiction
UKULELE - Most people think that Hawaiians invented the ukelele. Actually, it is a local variant of the Portuguese cavaquinho, introduced by contract-laborers in the 1880s. Musical Hawaiians happily took it up, as earlier they had adopted the Spanish guitar.

GRASS SKIRT - neither is the grass skirt native to hawaii. Hula dancers adopted it from Micronesian immigrants in the 1880s. Skirts made of ti leaves, cellophane, or plastic are later variations of that borrowed theme.

Local expressions
PUPU: Originally the Hawaiian's word for shells from sea or land; now almost exclusively reserved for hors d'oeuvres and cocktail party snacks.

MABUHAY: hello, or greetings, in Tagalog.

"SUCK 'EM UP": usually pronounced "Sock 'um op," and generally (but not always) referring to alcoholic beverages, this can be a toast, an expletive, and invitation, or a cheering exhortation, depending on the speaker and circumstances.

"GO FOR BROKE": Originally a playground colloquialism for "Do your best," during World War II, this became the battle-cry of Hawaii's soldiers of Japanese ancestry as they fought their way to fame and glory in America's campaigns through Italy and France.

That's all for today!! Have a good spring break guys!!

-Paul

You bettah go to that EPIC conference this weekend now, ya heard?

-Paul