ihu

The word "ihu" is the traditional Hawaiian term for nose, but its usage extends far beyond basic anatomy. In everyday local conversation, you will often hear parents telling kids to wipe their ihu when they have a runny nose, or someone complaining about getting hit in the ihu during a rough basketball game. Culturally, the concept of ihu is deeply significant in Hawaii; the traditional Hawaiian greeting, the honi, involves the pressing of the ihu and forehead together to share the "hā" or breath of life. Additionally, the word is used by paddlers to describe the bow or front of an outrigger canoe, showing how Hawaiian vocabulary seamlessly connects the human body to the vessels that navigate the ocean.

The rain was coming down sideways at the Hilo farmers market, and the pop-up tent was acting like one giant kite. "Hold the leg! Hold the leg, stupid!" Clyde yelled, slipping on a squashed papaya while trying to anchor the corner. Arnel was completely tangled in the blue tarp, shouting something in Ilocano that nobody could hear over the wind, while a rogue gust lifted the whole operation two feet off the asphalt.

"Put the weights on the bottom!" Nohea screamed, dropping a box of rambutan to grab the middle pole. But Arnel pulled left when he should have pulled right, snapping the aluminum frame backward. The metal joint swung around and cracked Clyde right in the face.

"Aw, my ihu! You broke my ihu, you lolo!" Clyde howled, dropping the tent leg to clutch his bleeding nose. The tent immediately collapsed on top of all three of them, trapping them under a wet, heavy dome of blue plastic while the rambutan rolled away into the flooded gutter.