Everyday things about Big Island life that make visitors go "Wha?" (Hilo: real estate, apartment)

[Mahrie]

Originally Posted by LaTrang

You mean "Madam Pele'" willing.

Not in my reality, LaTrang - no disrespect to any and all native (small 'g') gods (and those who worship them) intended. The planet abounds with tens of thousands of different expressions of faith, and because I respect all people, I respect their choices.

That said, I've been a Christian missionary for, oh..., nigh on thirty-eight years, and while nondenominational I'm unalterably monotheistic.

Shalom Aleichem (Peace be upon you),

Mahrie.

[newUHprof]

Mahrie, where in the world have you been staying and visiting? I don't see mosquitoes on the beach, but if you go for a hike to a waterfall you better bring that spray along! Cockroaches are in all the urban areas (though the hotels spray like mad to keep them at bay). They don't like people, though, so they will run away from you not over you. Millipedes? Yeah, I found one on my neck the other day... kept trying to brush away a strand of hair that was tickling me. Wasn't hair. The centipedes are much worse... found a couple of those in my bedroom and was not pleased at all.

There's lots of bugs here... it's the tropics!

[Mahrie]

Originally Posted by newUHprof

Mahrie, where in the world have you been staying and visiting? I don't see mosquitoes on the beach, but if you go for a hike to a waterfall you better bring that spray along! Cockroaches are in all the urban areas (though the hotels spray like mad to keep them at bay). They don't like people, though, so they will run away from you not over you. Millipedes? Yeah, I found one on my neck the other day... kept trying to brush away a strand of hair that was tickling me. Wasn't hair. The centipedes are much worse... found a couple of those in my bedroom and was not pleased at all.

There's lots of bugs here... it's the tropics!

Afternoon Prof!

Well, I suppose I've 'visited' and 'stayed,' for various spans of time, almost (not quite) all over the globe, and am intimately familiar with the tropics - occupational hazard.

In my experience, roaches can generally be kept at bay by keeping a clean house, hut, tent, or whatever, and centipedes and millipedes seem to flourish in every climate from the Arctic to the the tropics. I've never found any of the above mentioned in my bed though. I've been set upon by earwigs upon occasion but quickly solved the problem by going on a search-and-destroy mission until I located and eliminated their nest(s). I've also had my fill of carpenter ants - also carnivorous, as most ants are, and am well acquainted with silverfish and spiders - even tarantulas. Found a roach in my kettle once and cleaned nonstop for a week, I think. LOL! Mosquitos, as I've mentioned, are ubiquitous in most places on Earth, although I'm pleased to say that they don't exist in Scotland, or they didn't when I was growing up (I haven't taken a poll lately).

I'm restricted, more or less, to a wheelchair nowadays, but have hiked too many wild and wonderful trails to count, and yes, I've encountered numerous varieties of insects. After living in the mountainous wilderness in Canada, I was surprised to find so few unfriendlies in Hawai'i, but I haven't spent as much time on the BI as most of you, I guess I've haunted Maui for the most part, with side trips to Oahu and the BI occasionally. Upon reflection, since it was never problematic, I don't imagine I'd have paid the odd skiter or two any mind, not that I recall seeing any, as I said, but that may just be my general acceptance of them at work, since we tend to keep the best and worst of events in our memories, and not the insignificant.

I suppose the bottom line for me is aggression. I don't bother anything living unless it bothers me with evii intent, and accommodating insects in my bed does not fall under my personal hospitality guidelines. If they want to stay on my friends list, they have to learn to behave. Analyzing my hostilities, I realize that I particularly dislike biting, stinging, and disease-carrying anything and don't roll out the welcome mat for critters of that bent. I can and have acclimatized to many locales and terrains - peacefully, but I have and will become violent if uninvited guests make their way into the Thank You Room. Ugh!

Curiosity is getting the better of me, prof. What, if anything, do you teach at HU?

Shalom,

Mahrie.
Edited to add - if keeping unfriendlies off my persom becomes problematic, I'll go on Prozac, simple! (Just kidding, I'm far more likely to wake the neighboring dead with my well-trained soprano version of screaming.)

[heathkiks]

Originally Posted by roadfamily6now

I love Hawaii!
It is very much like Alaska, only warm.

I am reading up on islands and I have come to a similar conclusion!

[MMoon17]

I expected that there would be lots of bugs (specifically roaches), and this thread is making me more anxious that I accepted a job in Hawaii! I'm scared to death of roaches and the fact that you have flying ones gives me the chills.

Oddly enough I have been to Hilo on 3 separate trips and never once saw a roach anywhere. I did stay in a house across the street from Richardson's that was infested with termites, but never saw a roach.


I hope I can have a roommate that will gladly remove roaches for me since whenever I see them I have a panic attack.

[Jungjohann]

Cockroaches, (buggus giganticus {Lat}), go through an intensive and arduous training program in Hawaii, (funded by the HVB), in which they are trained to remain hidden during daylight hours, specifically from visitors. It is only when it becomes apparent that the person, or persons, as the case might be, is not any longer a 'visitor', but is indeed in actuality a 'resident', that the cockroaches are given the green light by their appointed leader, normally a centipede, (not of the blonde variety), to go ahead and make their presence known. It is then that their sheer numbers and seemingly endless variety can become quite a nuisance to the newcomer, or, in Hawaiian, 'malihini'. Oddly enough, the very word, "malihini', loosely translated in the original Pukui/Judd/Pupule dictionary, means, and I quote, 'Leaving or about to depart in 12 to 16 months". Hope this helps.

Aloha and okolemaluna

[MMoon17]

Originally Posted by Jungjohann

Cockroaches, (buggus giganticus {Lat}), go through an intensive and arduous training program in Hawaii, (funded by the HVB), in which they are trained to remain hidden during daylight hours, specifically from visitors. It is only when it becomes apparent that the person, or persons, as the case might be, is not any longer a 'visitor', but is indeed in actuality a 'resident', that the cockroaches are given the green light by their appointed leader, normally a centipede, (not of the blonde variety), to go ahead and make their presence known. It is then that their sheer numbers and seemingly endless variety can become quite a nuisance to the newcomer, or, in Hawaiian, 'malihini'. Oddly enough, the very word, "malihini', loosely translated in the original Pukui/Judd/Pupule dictionary, means, and I quote, 'Leaving or about to depart in 12 to 16 months". Hope this helps.

Aloha and okolemaluna

LOL


If I don't get a Hawaiian ID, would they not show up? LMAO

[hotzcatz]

Just get a cat, then you'll only find half a cockaroach on your slippers in the morning instead of see the whole thing darting across the floor. Hopefully you'll have a lot of geckos in your house, they eat the little cockaroaches before they can get big.

[winkosmosis]

I was listening to Ahumanu on MauiFM today (these ladies Ahumanu: The Gathering ~ Ululoa Productions)

They said that on Maui it's hard to get driving directions from locals but on the Big Island it's even harder. It goes like "Go that way down the road, around that truck, go down, turn down one street"

[Jonah K]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

I was listening to Ahumanu on MauiFM today (these ladies Ahumanu: The Gathering ~ Ululoa Productions)

They said that on Maui it's hard to get driving directions from locals but on the Big Island it's even harder. It goes like "Go that way down the road, around that truck, go down, turn down one street"

What? We give good driving directions on the Big Island.

For instance, when tourists ask how to get to Ken's House of Pancakes from the airport, the directions are as follows...

When you come out of da airport go straight and make one right at da first corner. Go all da way down da road and make one right at da end. Go half a block and make one right in da parking lot right after da liquor store.

If one thinks like a Big Island local, they'll end up at Ken's. However, if one doesn't think like a local, they're liable to end up in Keaukaha and wonder why they saw Ken's on the left as they were making a right turn.