Hawaii

Hey everyone. I’m going to write my Hawaii blog and then head up to my penultimate lunch on the ship. Isn’t that weird? I’m on the same time zone as you now. Cool, huh?

Wow, Hawaii seems so long ago now. The first morning I went to the Pearl Harbor museum/memorial, which was good to see. After seeing war museums and memorials all over the world, it’s interesting to see one here at home. I still look at it from an outsiders perspective, and that’s kind of a unique experience.

That afternoon I was going to go to Waikiki beach, but on my way there I ran into some people I knew that were going “Waterfall Hunting.” It was kind of a private tour, but WAY cheaper than what you would expect. So I joined them. It ended up being me, Annie, and Jacky driving around with our very talkative tour guide who brought us to a 3 waterfalls. The first waterfall he pulled up to a path, gave us a map, and said to call him when we got there so he knew we weren’t dead. Hiking up and following the map was a lot of fun. We had to trek through rainforest areas and cross over streams. I loved it! Eventually we got to the waterfall, which was beautiful, and we had an amazing view. The third waterfall was my favorite, though. He parked at a cemetery and then brought us on a hike, pointing out places where LOST was filmed (I took pictures), though rivers, and up hills. Eventually we got to a waterfall with a rock that we could jump off and an area where we could swim. It was a bit chilly, but well worth it. He would only let us do the small jump (9ft?). I wanted to do the big one (25ish ft?) but he wouldn’t let me. Maybe insurance reasons or something, I don’t know. I guess I’ll just have to go back. =-)

The next day I went SCUBA diving. We had two dives in the morning. On the first one we got to explore a sunken ship, which was awesome. And on the second one we just explored the sea life. Saw a GIANT sea turtle. They estimated it at about 500lbs. Can you believe that? I wonder how old he is . . .

After that, Andrew, Kellie, and I headed over to Waikiki Beach where we at yummy food and then rented surfboards. For some reason I thought I would be good at it. My brother and dad can both surf, so maybe I thought it would be genetic or something. The last time I tried was a LONG time ago, so maybe I thought that comparatively I would have to be a lot better now.

Both those assumptions were way wrong.

But I kept trying, and that’s what matters, right?

As this one guy paddled by, I asked him if he had any tips for beginners. “Ya,” he said, “Paddle hard.” So I said I’d try that. He asked if I knew how to stand up, I said no. When I told him it was my first time, he said he would help me catch a wave.

Then he told me to follow him and he paddled over to the area where the bigger waves were. Exactly where the old Hawaiian man who rented us our boards told us not to go because we would get hurt. But I figured that of course that didn’t apply to me, so I followed.

And I was able to stand up a couple times! Granted, Javier was pushing me into the waves, so it definitely wasn’t all me. But I’m still pretty proud of myself.

When my time with the board was up, the paddle in was SOOOOOO LONG!! I thought I was never going to make it. Seriously, my arms were SO DEAD. Is it that hard for everyone that surfs? Or am I just weak? Or maybe part of it is that I pretty much spent the whole time paddling with very few breaks of standing up and surfing in between. But it’s probably just that I’m weak.

Anyways, I eventually got in and turned in my board.

That night we went from Honolulu to Hilo.

In Hilo, a group of girls and I went on a Volcano and Waterfall tour. We wanted to go find the waterfall my dad told me about, but it was just too hard when the free buses weren’t running (it was Sunday) and we weren’t allowed to rent cars. So we ended up going on this tour that brought us to a lot of waterfalls, volcanoes, and a macadamia nut farm. Did you know that 95% of macadamia nut farms in the WORLD are in Hawaii? That’s pretty impressive.

Then that night I went out to dinner.

The next day we spent time at a black sand beach and then just wandering around Hilo. Very low key, very relaxing. It was nice to just be with my friends without worrying about getting to the next thing or being on time to somewhere.

Hawaii was a lot of fun.

Yay!

Okay, lunch. Then packing. Then a “reflections and re-entry” thing where they tell us not to be hurt if nobody cares about our stories. Then the Ambassador Ball dinner. Then hip hop routine. Then Ambassador Ball dance.

Then sleep.

Then wake up to my last full day.

Weird.

I’LL SEE YOU SOON!!!!!!!!

A Picture For You

Here's Hawaii.
=-)

Where's The Statue of Liberty?

Yes, I know that the Statue of Liberty is on the other side of the world, but I still feel like there should be something BIG and GRAND to welcome me back into. . .

AMERICA!

. . . Instead I get a parking lot. That's the view from my window.

But at least it's an American parking lot.

We're in the same country now. Same continent in 10 days.

I love you.