Re: Dude!!

Hey Justin,


How you doin'??

How's the Northern part of the valley treatin' ya?  Sorry I missed you.

I think you have an IPhone, maybe we can Facetime? I do have wifi here.

Oh I just had an idea!

My next blog post will be my email to you.  You being the Creative Genius (2009) behind the title of McLotorcycle Diaries.  

Let's see...where to begin...

Things are super sweet here.  My job is going well.  I'm three shifts deep and I got my first 2 weeks off.  I have tons of plans.  Time off started with a stop in at 

Shaka's 

with my friends on our way to a staff appreciation bar-b-que at Whittington's Beach followed by a night dip in the ocean on the way into Hilo, and then hangin' out at the Hilo Tavern.  Slept at

The Brown House

and we found a great place called Lowe International breakfast on Friday Morning.  It looked kind of sketchy from the outside, but the food was SUPER cheap and actually pretty good.  I got a small ham omelet over rice, a grilled cheeses sandwich and a cup of miso soup for about $7!  When it comes to cheap & awesome breakfast though, nothing beats

Sourdough Pancake and 2 Fried Eggs for $5

Look at the size of that Pancake!!  That's Norm in the back.  This is at the SPACE Farmer's Market in Seaview.  It's about 15 or so miles from where I'm living in Puna.  Something tells me that you will be hearing a lot more about this market from me very soon.  You'd love it, it's all very local stuff.  There is a circus troupe and community that lives right nearby.  Something KERAZY happened to me just before eating the pancake breakfast pictured above on Saturday Morning:

Scene: Farmer's Market

McLean is somewhat feverishly searching for his friends who took his breakfast to the picnic table area for him.  He sees them and begins to walk over there when all of a sudden he hears

Mysterious Bearded Man wearing sunglass & playing the guitar:  "Hey did you go to Catlin Gabel?"

McLean turns to see a mysterious bearded man wearing sunglasses who's been playin' on the guitar for the last 10 minutes or so.  

McLean: Why yes I did!?!

Bearded Man: Me too.

McLean sidles up to the man as his tone suggests discretion.  Mutual recognition dawns and the bearded man goes 1st.

Chris: "It's Chris _______"!!

McLean: "Oh my God it is Chris ______"!...  McLean Eames!!

It turns out Chris is touring with a couple different musicians, many of which are from Portland.  He's got a solo career, but also plays in a group called NIAYH (Now Is All You Have).  After some brief catch up, and Chris inviting McLean to the show that they are playing that evening at the Kava Bar down the road, McLean sighs and says (with amazement):

McLean: "Chris ______"!!

Chris: (leaning in and speaking quietly) I actually have a different last name now.  It's Chris Worth around here.

McLean: "Oh.....Niiiice.   B-)   "

After the crazy reunion my friends and I decided to head to Kehena Beach for a quick dip in the ocean.  I did the same the day before when I go back to my neck of the island.

Justin, I don't know if you click on the links in the blog but you totally should.  They're a part of the viewing and learning experience when I didn't take pictures, or there's something cool to learn - In case you didn't click, I wanted to let you know that Kehena is a nude beach.  My very first!  Turns out naked people don't look any different on the beach.  I think that F-Section pretty much neutralized any big shocks I might have felt about public nudity -  "yep...they're naked...".  But the beach was fun, and the body surfing fast and harrowing!!  There's something really nice about being in the ocean with nothin' on.  It's pretty cool, I recommend it.

Later that night I went to the concert at Uncle Robert's Kava Bar.

It was an awesome show for me to go to!!  The sets started with a band called Nuestro, and then followed up with SaraTone.  Her music in particular reminded me of how cool it was that I was there.  She was singing about how beautiful and magical the Pacific Northwest is, and she was singing about SalmonNation!  I have to put in a plug for her here Justin, you should go check her out:

From her Website:

Viva Cascadia~ in Portalandia
Sun. March 13th @ Lotus Seed $8-12
6 NE Tillamook
Ribner Bro's Peace Pod
SaraTone & Earth Tribe Gospel ***CD RELEASE PARTY***

Here are directions to the venue from St.Paul

I know it's a drive for you, but it would be worth it to ya, trust me.  Or if you know of anybody who will be in town on the 13th and looking to hear some music, let them know!  Good stuff!  I managed to take a little bit of video of Chris's performance

He's got a seriously sweet set of pipes on him, and he seems to be really happy doing it!  Way to BE Chris!!  I highly encourage you all to support this man by at least checking out his website HERE.  I'm pretty sure he's got a free download there for ya so enjoy!

I didn't hear his other band play, so I can't speak to the music yet, but some of the other performers were up there with him, their acronym name is sweet, and like I say, the man can sing!  You can check them out at NIAYH.COM.

3 musical sets and as many cups of Kava later, I headed out to the road to hitchhike back to Pahoa for my work buddy: Alex's birthday party.  All in All, a pretty darn good weekend!


How have you been Justin?  I think I saw on Facebook  that you're not doing the bar trivia anymore?  What happened?  Anything happen with that lady who was maybe following you on the street and then asked for your phone number?  Your new herb garden looks sweet!!  Nom Nom Nom.


Always good to hear from ya bud!  Keep reading the blog, and throwing some comments out there.  I'm taking steps to make it easier, and perhaps even more desirable to leave comments on this blog and for people to be a part of the conversation.  This Means YOU!...Justin.


SInce starting this blog post I have since been recalled into the field early, my shore leave's been called up!  Turns out I'm getting a week and a half off and going back to work Sunday night - not as much time for time off, but nice to even things out a bit on the ol' paycheck situation.

Aloha!


-Mc

P.S.  You might be wondering to your self..."Hey!  Who was that girl in the brown house, and what was that disgusting thing you weren't going to post up last blog??"  Well my friends, thanks to your friend  BRYAN HAYNES, calling in the 1 and only vote from the comments section and winning it for the yea's, I give you

Eve Teeter-Balin

You may remember Eve from Sleeping Bag Wrestling Night.  Which, by the way was 

beautifully resolved by a resident of the brown house

two of which are pictured here

(Notice the cool furniture, and somewhat more flattering picture of Eve.  

Devon clearly has no interest in taking this picture.)

Here's a pretty picture

and 1 more for the fans...

A couple things I can't believe I didn't remember!

SO much filling my days, I suppose a couple of things were bound to slip my mind!

-Made myself my 1st natural piece of jewelry
-Slept
-Saw Something Disgusting!
-Participated in some Epic Sleeping Bag Wrestling (almost brought the house down)


and now for the media:

It's made out of Ti Leaves!  Ti is traditionally believed to be a plant of protection.

This is the sound I fall asleep to every night in Puna.  $2 (or a Ti bracelet) to the first person to guess what the sound is!

As far as the disgusting something...I swear, it's pretty darn disgusting!!  If enough folks are really that interested, I'll throw the video up, but for now...blehhhhhh

And now...For all you sports fans:  Try and pick out who the winner will be before you watch.  Then decide for yourself at the end what the outcome was!

Good Times...Good Times

Also, some artsy photos for you:

I'm getting better at getting the SPLASH! shot.

Much love to you all!!

Much Love and adventure on the Big Island!

Hello all!  Been away from the internet posting world for a couple of weeks, but I had to get settled a bit before I tried to hard to fill in the 'Diaries.  It would have just felt too forced otherwise!

Things have ben great since my last post!  I hear that the weather all over the mainland is bitterly cold as natural gas supplies freeze up, and water pipes burst all over the place.  It's funny to hear people chat about the weather here (as people do EVERYWHERE).  Instead of talking about the weather HERE - because what would we say...

"pretty sunny today eh?

uhhh...yep, same as yesterday.

I hear it's gonna be sunny tomorrow too!

Probably a little voggy*, but yep, heard that too!"

...people talk about how cold it is everywhere else, and how it explains the inordinately high number of tourists cruising around!  It's nice to hear that locals don't necessarily resent the tourism; it's more just...part of the weather report!

*Volcano Fog

Let's see, since my last post I:

(Not necessarily in this order)

-Worked 2 shifts at Pacific Quest
-Celebrated My 29th birthday
-Went and hung out in Hawi (pronounced Hahvee)
-Saw Midnite (reggae band from the Virgin Islands)
-Saw The Vagina Monologues (2nd time!)
-Saw I Love You Phillip Morris
-Got a blister and cut my feet on the lava 3 times (Goodbye Malahini feet!)
-Saw many other movies - some new, some repeats

-Purchased my 1st bottle of Tequila

-Got Drunk

-Got Hungover
-Became familiar with the island and major cities I live near
-Researched a beautiful! house for myself in a place called "Vacationland"
-Saved $$!!
-Helped to raise a new puppy!
-Snorkeled

-Sunbathed

-Contemplated my life and my future

-Made Goals re: aforementioned contemplation  

-Drank coconuts

Now for the Photos:

Birthday Cake

Birthday Beer

I gotta say, my birthday this year was different than LAST YEAR:

MY BIRTHDAY CAKE!! 3 store-bought pastries stacked up.  And yes, that is a lighter I'm blowing out. Had a BBQ with Kofla, Nati, Lane, Sherri, and me.

And Just as AWESOME in it's own way!

My Birthday beer was purchased by this man:

Named Lynx

who made his own machete - with a bone handle if you look carefully!

He showed me the basics of:

Climbing a coconut tree

And cutting yourself out some delicious coconuts!

Me enjoying the fruits of his labor!

(Thanks Lynx!)

 Even-ing out the tan a bit!

The Lanai at my (possible) future house.

Lanai #2

And the Main Room

The house that we stayed at in Hawi.  Yes that is a hot tub on the porch, and what you can't see in this picture is that the Island of Maui is visible just slightly North-out-of-frame-to-the-left. What you CAN see if you look carefully is the puppy Kukui!

The mouth of the Valley of Pololu - one of many valleys on the North part of the island that was, and still is, an ancient Native Hawaiian home.

A "natural" playground on the valley floor - Rope Swing, sitting swing made out of cloth and rope, and a teeter totter made out of a rope and driftwood!  GREAT!

The Beach at Pololu - Dogs are Maya and Lohe; the dogs we were watching - also notice a 2nd sneaky shot of Kukui Nut!

The sushi Kalia and I ate at Sushi Rock after our hike and beach time!  (Notice my fancy new chopsticks!)

And since I've teased y'all a bit I will give you a couple of shots of the Beautiful Puppy in case you are not much of a Facebook-er:

Her name is Kukui Nut.

A picture of her loving her Mom Kalia!

A pretty picture of a Plumeria - A sign of Spring here on the island!  Don't worry Mainland-It's headed your way!! (way more flower pictures available upon request)

Though I didn't think to take a picture of myself whilst contemplating life and my goals, I assure you it is happening!  Things manifest quickly on the island, and being in the mystery of life - and grateful for it - brings happiness swiftly from many surprising places!  Goals seem within reach, and everything feels like a gift!  Just this morning I was on the saddle road - the drive that takes you between the 2 largest mountains in the world: Mauna Kea, and Mauna Loa.  (For those fact grubbers out there, let me point out that even though Everest might be the tallest, these two behemoths start WAAAAYYYY beneath the ocean; hence: biggest mountains in the world!)

Not to mention that Pele - The Hawaiian Goddess who lives at Kilauea (the most active volcano on Earth) is constantly releasing a lot of the earth's energy about 30 miles down the road.  The observation was shared with me that when people show up here, THEIR energy comes up and out.  This has definitely been my experience.  My time off from work has been nearly as instructive as my time in the field with the kids!  I am so grateful for all of it!!

Wish you were here!!

Same Country, Different Continent, Grateful Heart!

Hello to all of you who are returning to this blog, and WELCOME to all of those who are coming to it for the first time!

I had been away for quite some time, but thankfully Blogger has near-infinite patience, and left my profile here waiting for me just the way I left it.

While I don't feel as bad as some other bloggers for not posting, I am very glad to be back!

You might be wondering what the meaning of this post title is and for those of you who don't know I have moved to the big island of Hawai'i to work for what I thus far consider to be a wonderful organization.  I say thus far, because I haven't started work yet, merely spoken to current employees, read up on their philosophies and program model, and visualized myself working there.  Like I say, so far it kicks ass!!

My intention with restarting this blog is to have an opportunity to process the things I see, people I meet, and thoughts I have in a different medium rather than scratching them in a notebook as I try to keep up with my brain or thinking them over and over again silently in aforementioned brain.  And who knows, maybe I'll pick up some work as a freelance travel writer!!

Today was absolutely spectacular, and I still have a CONCERT to go to!!  I was accompanied, and sent off by two beautiful ladies at the airport this morning only to walk up to check in and have the computer impartially tell me that I was too late to check in for my flight!  But the Universe was on the side of me arriving in Hawaii as planned, and a wonderful agent  agreed to check me in and walk my backpack down to the plane herself!  I silently wondered whether it was the flower stuck in my visor or my winning smile that won her over, though I feel confident in retrospect that it was a combination of both things.  My gratitude for the world carried me swiftly through security and landed me in A ROW ALL BY MYSELF on the plane mere minutes before the door was closed.

Then something interesting happened.  A woman and her 2 month-old baby came on the plane right at the last minute.  but this was not the interesting thing.  The really cool part was that when they came to sit right next to me, I was not worried about the baby nor bummed about losing my solitary row; I was GRATEFUL that I had a beautiful baby to look at and a woman to speak Spanish with! (she was from Mexico).

The day continued the same way on into San Francisco (PB & J bagels whilst siting comfortably, talking to friendly strangers, finally getting to be one of those people with a fancy laptop on the plane watching their own movie [even if it was the same movie they were playing on the plane], and then of course the baggage claim at Kona International Airport:

THat's right: totally open air!!  Paradise?? you ask.  YES!! I answer.

In what I have discovered to be True "McLean Style" I decided to strike out on foot for the opposite side of the island:

Hitchhiking on this island is a truly wonderful, and relatively easy experience.  Shortly after this picture was taken I received my first ride offer.  ( I wasn't even out of the airport complex!)  He was going the wrong direction, but shortly after I was picked up by 

Leslie and Bob,

Tim O'Neill Kilty,

Michael,

Peter,

& Stephen Palmier.

Each and every one of my saviors were beautiful people in absolutely different ways.  Unfortunately I only got a chance to take a picture of one of them:

Leslie from San Francisco

Thankfully though, I learned from a very good friend of mine the value of having a notebook close at hand to document the wonderful things that happen to you.  What follows is a brief summation of my field notes from my hitch around the island:

Leslie and Bob: visiting the island, they know the former Rabbi of Temple Beth Israel in PDX and are good friend with a Matt Jacobson who probably worked at the same place that I am going to be working for.  (they didn't know for sure)

Tim: Lived here since Oct.  Does Construction Management on the island - just now starting to let himself play a little bit - actually TURNED AROUND and went out of his way to take me to Waimea!

Michael: Quite the political guy - coined the term "Corporatocracy" to describe the state of our society, has a cool idea for campaign finance reform, just bought a farm recently.  Trying to get away from the hustle and bustle.

Peter: Listens to Football on the radio.  Aware of the trouble that teens experience.  He said re: substance abuse problems: "when you live in paradise and you can't find paradise inside yourself, you try to create it inside your head"  I am hoping to help kids find paradise within themselves

Stephen: Gave me a tour of Hilo from the back of his pick up!  Thank you Stephen!  I know where to get good Thai Food!

The sign (and thumb) that got me there

And now I am receiving an offer of a place to stay for free from this very nice woman Yamato sitting next to me in the Starbucks!

My friend Kalia is coming to pick me up any minute to take me to the concert so I must depart!

It's great to be back!!!

Oh, and if you were wondering if Hawaii is as chill as you imagine, I'll let this picture do all the talking:

Mahalo Nui!!

La Vie Boehm!!

Well,  I know I've been away for awhile, and those of you that communicate with me outside of this blog have started to express everything from concern to excitement that I really did end up in a drunk tank down here.  I assure I have not, My slowing down on the blogging is due to 2 reasons:

1.  I am having experiences and inner learning that goes beyond the pontification promised in the title banner of this post...there are simply things that I am going to have too much difficulty blogging about.  And:

2. I have slipped into the traveling life that calls me to be here and now (I don't mean internet cafes).  ANd so it has been easier to have new experiences than to relate the ones that happened.

HOWEVER!!

I love all of you, and I DO want to share.  Instead of trying to relate everything, I have put together a dozen or so pictures to sort of "montage" the last 2 weeks.  I figured that if I try to tell you all the awesomeness:

1. I will get bogged down and never finish.  ANd:

2. We'll have no new stories to talk about when I get back and show up on your doorstep unexpectedly!

I hitch hiked from Puerto Madryn to Comodoro Rivadavia.

Picked up by a trucker who said my sign was perfect and he dropped me on the outskirts of Trelew.

Then by a family (two young boys) from Italy who had purchased their VW bus and were driving it all over SA.  We went to a paleontological museum (their 3rd - apparently the kids loved dinosaurs!!) and then I decided (given the slowness of their vehicle) that I needed to move on and got picked up by a very nice guy in a Renault, who took me across the great expanse of the Patagonia scrub to C. Rivadavia.  He didn't wnat any sweets but we talked about EVERYTHING!  (my Castellano is getting good!)

This is Kofla.  (not his real name)  A wonderful, and powerful spirit.  He is an artesanal (makes things with his hands - mostly jewelry) and I fixed his flashlight - he is clearly thrilled!

This is my dad (Pancho - no joke, short for Francisco) and sister (Marú) in C. Rivadavia.  NOW GIVE ME THAT MATÉ!!

Artesanal for a day

I have officially gotten good at cartwheels and hand stands! (Beach in Comodoro)

My mom (Laura) in Comodoro.  This is the day that Kofla, myself and Nati (another beautiful soul who got a little bit of the Kofla and ended up traveling around America with him) left the East Coast to hitch our way over to the West Coast.

This is Manchita.  THe dog who helped me through my Pancho withdrawals.  (we slept together - mom, please don't teach Pancho to read, he might never forgive me)

We turned around and walked away from this beautiful home and city.

Our destination was El Bolson, a hippie community here in Argentina.  THere is a famous artesanal fair every other day there, and it is everything great that you might imagine a hippie community would be!

HEY HEY!!  Who's that?!?!  Familiar Faces!!  Sherri and Lane from Alaska and Puerto Madryn!  YAY!!  We have joined forces of good here in El Bolson!

We went hiking up in the mountains around EL Bolson to camp on Rio Azul.  We stopped here to make lunch.

My hair has gotten so long that I pulled this out of it.  I don't know how long it was there, or how it even got there, and yes, it is as big as it looks.

MY BIRTHDAY CAKE!! (3 store-bought pastries stacked up.  ANd yes, that is a lighter I'm blowing out.  BEST BIRTHDAY CAKE EVER!  We had a BBQ with Kofla, Nati, Lane, Sherri, and me.  Beef, sausages, veggies, roast onion and garlic, and cake!

The fun house mirror effect takes away A LOT of the stunning beauty of the vistas available on all sides of my tent!  AWESOME!

Trout Dinner (a specialty in this area).  It's no baby back ribs, but an awesome birthday dinner nonetheless.

A very very very small taste of the beauty and artistry of this town.  (Picture taken just this morning)

Despite my enjoyment here (as evidenced by all the exclamation points) it's almost time for me to move on.  Tomorrow is Chillan, Chile to visit my former Spanish teacher to debate the pros and cons of the Argentinian accent, and then likely I will race on up to Peru to see what it has to offer.

Thank you all for following along.  As I would say (and have been saying) in Castellano

¡Estoy muy agradecido!  Gracias.

La palabra Castellano del dia:

agradecido - grateful