Through my Eyes - "Punahou School"

Orleanna Price

We were in Hawaii because Nathan was asked to be a pastor, or “chaplain” as the woman on the phone said, at some rich school. Poonaho I think it was called. His appointment to see the campus was at noon, and the girls and I tagged along to visit the school.
Punahou School was amazing. Interesting spelling on the main gate, but it was Hawaii and I didn’t know too much about the culture here. It was the largest campus I have ever seen. It was about the same size as the colleges back home in Georgia! We entered through the main gate and saw the gigantic baseball field on our right. Nathan used to love baseball. He said nothing and didn’t even smile as we exited the vehicle. He kept his cold, determined stare as if he wasn’t allowed to love baseball anymore. He wasn’t allowed to love anything anymore, except his faith.
Nathan walked ahead of us, using the directions the woman on the phone gave him to the chapel. I spotted an enclosed bench area close by, and took the girls there to sit and read their books while we waited for father. The girls were going crazy. Every single building here was almost as big as their old school back home in Georgia. They were huge! The classrooms were the size of apartments with every little thing you could think of stocked inside! There were kids all over the place. The girls kept asking, “This is a school? Why aren’t they in class? Why aren’t they learning mama?”
I didn’t know, but they sure looked like they were enjoying life. I wasn’t close enough to hear anything they were saying, because we didn’t want to get too close. From a distance though, I could see that kids were playing cards in groups, talking amongst themselves, laughing and joking around, and I even saw a young couple caressing and smooching behind a wall! Imagine being intimate at school! What would their mothers say? The girls felt like strangers, when really they didn’t look too much different from the students here. A lot of them were of Asian heritage, but many white students also attended the school. There were even students with skin in between a black and a white—more of a brown. Who knows what heritage they are?
The building on our left looked like a castle with a buff and blue crown on top. The most amazing thing about the school was that it didn’t seem like a school. It wasn’t a concrete building with doors and windows and desks. It was so green and grassy with trees everywhere and birds chirping. Everyone was so happy and cheerful. School was fun here.
A light drizzle began to fall, so I led my girls back to the car. I glanced back at Punahou School once more before getting inside the vehicle, and prayed in my head that it wouldn’t be my last.