Kini & Aka

KONA, Hawaii // When we lived in Manhattan we used to make up alter ego names for when we visited the foreign land called Brooklyn. A lot of soul searching, laughter, and alcohol went into naming our friends as we adventured in Brooklyn. I was plain Jane and Adam was Hamper // like the dirty laundry bin but with an accent over the “e” making it pronounced Ham-par // like I said lots of adult beverages to come up with these names.

We thought it only appropriate that Adam and I come up with Hawaiian names for our time while we call the islands home. My mother got me a Hawaiian ring years ago that I am currently wearing as my wedding band with Jennifer translated into Hawaiian // Kinipela. The meaning of the word is “wave" which I find so appropriate as I have recently been fascinated with the waves at the beach and the energy that circulates through our oceans // details on this topic are for another post. We shortened it to Kini as I prefer two syllable names.

Adam translated is Akamu // of the Red Earth. This makes sense as Adam turns red after being in the sun for an hour. We nicknamed him down to Aka. We let our aunty know of the name change and she laughed but she has diligently been calling us by our new names. Its been fun being Kini and Aka here in Kona. It feels right. 

In fact, we went to Waipio Valley lookout today and the ranger thought we were locals. The Maui Built hat I wore and the Kihei south shore shirt Aka was rocking led him to believe we were from Maui. 

Kama’aina discount here we come!