In a Spanish conversation class that I’m attending, I learn something new every week. Mostly I learn that even after years of study, I’m never going to become fluent in any language other than English.

And even in that linguistic realm, I sometimes struggle.

Whatever. In class the other day, while discussing our assigned Spanish-language translation of the Portuguese novel “The Alchemist” by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, the subject of love at first sight (“amor a primera vista”) came up. This is something that the novel’s protagonist, the shepherd Santiago, feels for the desert beauty Fatima.

I tried to explain that, in my view, such a love wasn’t actual love so much as obsession. True love, I struggled to say, is something that gestates over time. It occurs when you experience a confluence of compatibility, mutual acceptance and trust with – perhaps the least important requirement – physical attraction.

I’m not sure I made my point all that well, considering how rudimentary my Spanish is. But I’m now writing in my native language, and in the same vein – first reactions versus longer-term reconsideration – I want to address the meh attitude that I’ve voiced toward the Hawaiian island, Maui, that I’ve been writing about for the past couple of posts.

By meh I mean my ranking of six of the Hawaiian islands that lists Maui at No. 5, just ahead of Lanai. It’s a status that I first applied to it based on my initial two experiences but now am gradually rethinking. Anyway, that reappraisal includes some highlights of the last few days of our recent Maui vacation.

Golf: We reserved a tee time at the fancy-sounding Pukalani Country Club, which turned out to be something far more to our liking than what the name would imply. It’s a local course, nothing particularly fancy, certainly not immaculately groomed and only challenging in a couple of instances.

So, we had a good time, especially because we were paired with a good-natured couple, Will and Dana, who were from Toronto. I might have had a better time had the club’s staff members been more, um, friendly. But then I was told it was “Kama’āina day” – Kama’āina being a term that applies to Hawaiian residents, regardless of ethnicity – so I guess even snaring a tee time as a tourist from the Mainland was a something to be thankful for. At least that’s impression everyone from the restaurant server to the guy corralling golf carts gave me.

Haleakalā: After we finished our round in the mid-afternoon, we headed for Maui’s high point, the 10,023-feet-tall summit of the island’s dormant volcano. Here’s what one website says about the place: “The largest dormant volcano in the world, Haleakalā makes up a large part of Maui.” The same site stresses that the volcano “has erupted at least ten times” over the past millennia, but that the last eruption occurred sometime between 1480 and 1600.

So we weren’t worried about making the 30-odd-mile drive. It took us the better part of an hour to get there, though, consisting as it does of a number of switchbacks with nary a guard rail in place to prevent your car from tumbling down any number of sheer slopes.

Navigating the approach isn’t made any easier when other drivers tail-gate you, forcing you either to pull over (and the turnouts are few and far between), drive faster than you consider safe – or grit your teeth and simply bear it. I managed to do a combo of all three.

Once at the top, we were met with heavy cloud cover that allowed only the rare glimpses of blue sky. We also encountered crowds of other visitors, most of whom I imagine were there hoping to see the sunset. We left early, though, fairly confident that the clouds were going to obscure everything and not wanting to face the drive down those sheer slopes in the dark.

Pa'ia (pronounced PIE-ee-uh: This scenic town sits on Maui’s extreme north shore and has the feel of Old Hawaii, as opposed to the island’s more developed resort areas in Kaanapali, Wailea and elsewhere. According to MauiGuidebook.com, the town is “an unassuming hub of the North Shore community” that has “great restaurants, interesting shops and the best natural food store on the island.”

The same site adds this description: “Old-west style building facades painted in a patchwork of pastel colors greet you as you pull into Pa’ia, and at first impression the small T-shaped stretch of quaint shops and restaurants is reminiscent of a funky 60’s California beach town.”

What that description doesn’t mention are the area’s various beaches, most of which are said to be within walking distance of the town center. If you have a car, not to mention if you tend to be more athletic, you could also take a short drive and visit Ho’okipa Beach Park, which is advertised as “the windsurfing capital of the world.”

Because it was already dark when we arrived, we missed much of what Pa’ia has to offer. We did notice that even on a weeknight the various businesses were busy, and that parking places were hard to come by (I eventually found a lot and paid the fee with a phone app).

We were interested to visit the town because the couple we’d played golf with told us about the meals they’d eaten at one of its “great” restaurants: the Peruvian eatery Lima Cocina + Cantina, which sits on the main drag of Baldwin Ave.

Our server, who told us he was from Argentina, was both affable and competent, advising us on what to order and bringing the food (the chicken dish Aji de Gallina for me, some sort of beef dish for Mary Pat) in a timely manner. And we agreed with what our Canadian playing partners had said: The food was tasty and, for Hawaii, relatively cheap. (Oh, and Mary Pat jumped at the chance to order a Honolulu pale ale with the NSFW name of Pussy Grabs Back.)

That left us to drive the 17 miles back to our rented condo in Kihei. Which is how we ended another day in paradise … and one that added another level to my appreciation for the Valley Isle of Maui.

Next up: Driving toward Lahaina and a coastal boardwalk.