Stingrays & Surfers…
He picked a good day to escape Honolulu.
"Excuse me, sir, no sleeping in the café. Thank you."
Java wakes up, embarrassed, and sees the drool he left on the table. ‘Java’—his full name seems easily forgotten by both Hawaiians and Americans—wipes his mouth with the nearest napkin, peering at the barista, warming up pastries. He glances at a newspaper, at the date, and scratches his head. July 19th, 2002. He must have dozed off while reading it, particularly the financial markets section. It mentioned Indonesia, his home country, a few times, except the financial lingo felt too tedious and mathematical to read, so he went to the crossword section, but fatigue caught up with him.
It has been a busy few days for ‘Java’. He arrived four nights ago, and in three nights, he will be leaving Hawaii—or should he recall it as America—to fly home to Sumatra, his home province. A place both familiar yet very different to Oahu, as he stays in Honolulu. Not where he reads the newspaper, in Kihei, a car ride then a flight from Honolulu. He has one day off from meetings and business, market surveillance, and market research. His job, a company-paid trip to Hawaii, involves research to study, analyze, and develop reports to his stakeholders in Sumatra—specifically, how they can grow their hotel's tourism business.
So far, his observational research has found surfing, hiking, and local cuisine popular attractions. It could also be the geography, yet he finds Hawaii challenging to get around. In addition, he also has had a hard time finding time to pray, as he’s been busy with travel or meetings. Yet he still makes the time to pray; he even has had to do it out in the open, much to the intrigue of Hawaiians. He does miss home but enjoys America because it feels so…developed, modern, and progressive. The people, the governance, and the attitude. It has a positivity to it.
He sighs, rubbing his eyelids. He shouldn't compare apples to oranges. Feeling tired, he pulls out his notepad and checks his itinerary for today. He came to Kihei to visit an aquarium, see the beaches, and drive around; two out of three he has done. He has gotten very close to a beach and had to drive from Kaluhei to get to Kihei. He always drives in Sumatra, yet he notices Americans drive far more strictly and slowly than Sumatrans—driving like daredevils along the windy roads.
He crosses off what he has done with a pencil and taps the pencil's eraser against his lower lip, thinking about whether to drive around more and get more use out of the car rental. He considers, mulling it over.
"Hey man, you a local?”
He turns to see a surfer, a tall, white young man with tanned skin, sunglasses, and long, wavy blonde hair.
Java frowns. "Sorry. No. Are you?"
"Duuuuude. Yeah." He wiggles his thumb and pinkie finger, which apparently means ‘hang loose’ or ‘surf's up’ or ‘mellow’.
“But like, brah…I'm from the Big Island, dude. You ever been there, bro?”
Java shakes his head, shaking off his inner work expectations for unexpected conversations with 'locals'.
"First time in America…Hawaii…Maow-Mau-i. Maui. First time here, sir."
"Ah man, that's so rad. Welcome! Bro, you surf? I’ve been surfing for years, man. My old man taught me!"
He has seen many foreigners come to Sumatra to surf, bringing their large, tall surfboards and wavy, blonde hair.
He grimaces with awkwardness. "…I…can't swim. I never—never learn to swim. Many in my family cannot."
The surfer gasps and turns to face Java, a head taller than him. "What?! Yo, bro. Like never?"
Java sips his cold, bland coffee and then curls his lips disgustedly. "Not really, no."
"Oh man, wow. Okay…okay—hey, so like…where are you from again, my dude?"
Java smiles politely. "Indonesia. Sumatra, Indonesia. I am here for my hotel company."
The surfer leans back, gets up, and turns to point at Java. "Bro, stay there. I’ll be right back."
He laughs, covering his mouth with a fist, fascinated by the surfer's height, who looks like a giant. He picked a good day to escape Honolulu.
He considers ditching the aquarium to watch Jason—the chatty surfer—surf and rip through the waves, yet from a brochure at the hotel, he discovered the aquarium in Kihei, so he will skip on Jason and check out the Hawaiian marine life. Jason will keep on surfing anyway.
Jason even imparted some lasting wisdom when he came right back.
“Bro, when you get back to Indo, you gotta learn to swim, my man! Surfing is a whole new joy; it's the way…the way…the wave…”
Now inside the aquarium, watching a stingray lazily swim around with other stingrays, he hears an aquarium staff member approach him.
"Hey there! Interested in the stingrays?"
He glimpses a snorkeler swimming with them, which makes him chuckle because he saw on the hotel's TV stingrays or marine life swimming with snorkelers, narrated by an upbeat, American voice, and transitioned into the snorkelers themselves explaining the bio-diversity of different stingray species. He didn’t realize how many different stingray species existed but was glad the show highlighted their migration patterns. He could sit in his room and watch hours of marine life programs, but that would waste his time in Hawaii.
He snaps out of his reflection. "Yes…um. How…so…how fast does it take for a-ah-a person, yes, a person to swim?"
The staff member smiles dumbly and laughs, partially covering her mouth. "Well, that depends, sir. Are you a quick learner? It can be a little less than a day for some people. My cousin learned to dog-paddle in a day.”
He should learn quickly because he didn't get his current job from learning slowly.
He inhales and shows a kind smile. "Of course. Do…do they teach in the hotels, swimming?"
She rubs her forearm, getting a red glow from her lack of sunscreen. "Well, someone can teach you in 24 hours! Do you want to snorkel with the stingrays? They're sweet creatures, but be careful. That barb will get you! So don’t bother them."
He notices the length of a stingray's barb, more than half his arm, and the snorkeler does seem very close to it.
He laughs and rubs his forearm, indicating her sunburn, but she doesn't take the hint. "Not with the stingrays…not really, no. I’m okay for now."
He then listens to her monologue about stingrays and marine creatures that live in the same habitat as stingrays, which he finds fairly interesting but worries he’ll miss out on viewing the other aquatic animals. Hence, with politeness, he excuses himself and goes to wander.
“If you need anything, let me know! I’m happy to explain everything here! I’m studying marine biology, so…it’s my passion.”
He thanks her but knows he’ll miss the other beaches if he doesn't get driving soon. He eventually needs to learn one thing as well.
How to swim.
