"Aia au i waena o ka pāka."

Translation: I am in the middle of the park.

[DawnYoshim]

Typo am think i should get help

[MSwRTR]

Listening to the audio, I'm surprised waena sounds as if spoken with English pronunciation. I kinda expected "wah-eh-nah"; keeping e as in "e hele".
Is this a difference on regional accents like Oʻahu vs Niʻihau?