The Real Maui

Oh Maui... Land of Mai Tais and big wave surfers, luaus and friendly islanders. Prior to coming here, these were the images that occupied my imagination- basically, Gauguin's Tahiti meets Gidget. Although the rational side of me knew better, I definitely had a romantic concept of what Maui would be like. Like everything else in life, the reality is far more complicated and far more interesting.

While out riding our bikes, we've been able to get a fairly good sense of the "real" Maui. From the angry driving locals (one of the guys was even spit on!) to seeing the variability of the landscape (the western part of the island is anything but lush- the dry, windswept terrain is what I imagine Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, to be like), my idea of Maui has been altered a bit.

Likewise, I'm sure that my experience has been shaped by the fact that we aren't experiencing Maui in the typical, tourist way. Since we are here to train, we've avoided the sweet, umbrella drinks and hokey hula dancing. Much to my chagrin, not yet had any Hawaiian food, either. No roast pig, poi, poke, lomi lomi, haupia... *sigh* Fortunately, we do have Chez Jordan Rapp providing us with culinary deliciousness every night. While here, we eat, sleep and stretch when we aren't training. That also means that we aren't spending time at the beach between sessions, in the futile attempt to even out tan lines (I'm currently sporting a tiered effect of five shades of brown from different training garments). I'm secretly hoping that tomorrow I'll get to lie down at the beach for the first time, once we are done with our open water swim race. And I still have another week to meet my cute surfer...

While the reality might not mesh with my preconceived notions of Maui, I can't imagine a better way to experience the island. My only real complaint is that the locals shout and honk at us on our bikes and, frankly, that happens everywhere. To be honest, Maui is pretty darn incredible, even when experienced with a crazy bunch of Canucks...