Aloha Hawaii!!

Our arrival in Hawaii was perfect!  Our first port was Hilo, Hawaii.  Hilo is a small, residential town that does not usually have visitors so I was really excited.  Julieanne and I had packed our backpacks the night before so we could wake up, go through immigration (because we came from Mexico), eat breakfast, and GO!  We were the 6^th and 7^th people to get off which was awesome!  We headed straight for the free shuttle that took us to a nearby black sand beach.  Hilo is not known for its beaches; in fact it doesn’t really have any.  Its beaches are mostly composed of small amounts of sand and crushed shells with large amounts of rocks.  The rocks were cool because you could walk out on them.  Some people near us saw sea turtles.  It was cool to see black sand.  And to know it came from volcanoes was even cooler.  I have already been to volcano national park so I decided on not going there any exploring other areas.  We walked back from the beach because we knew of a great, cheap Hilo homemade ice cream place that had “Kona Coffee” flavored ice cream.  We passed several beaches along the way and 2 miles later reached the ice cream place.  The lady that owns the store had a beautiful garden in the back.  I had really wanted to go a Hawaiian garden because I love, LOVE flowers but they’re so expensive to go to!  So I was really excited that she let us wander back there with our ice cream.  It was awesome!  Turns out my camera has a “flower” mode so that worked out.

We caught the shuttle back to the ship from there to grab some lunch so we didn’t have to spend money on food.  Julieanne had to pick up patches for seasickness that she had delivered to a nearby Wal-Mart so we headed that way to get it over with.  I also wanted to grab a waterproof watch and some other things I forgot to bring before leaving America.  Conveniently, next door was Bank of Hawaii where we ordered Chinese Yuan to the Waikiki branch for Julieanne.  We headed back to the ship because we had signed up to go to a lu’au.  I guess they are uncommon for this area of Hawaii so it was even a big deal for the locals, which was cool.  Upon arriving at the lu’au, we were taught how to make tea leaf leis and we had a traditional lu’au feast with the pig roasted in the pit and all.  I attempted to eat Poi but it tasted like glue…

The following day we headed downtown to check out the farmers market.  We bought a papaya because neither of us has ever tried one.  It was 6 for $1 so we tried to buy 1 for $1 but the lady refused and insisted that we take all 6.  So we gave them to a family that was browsing the market.  After some browsing, we ran into friends who directed us to a Kava shop down the street.  Kava is the root of a plant that was used to treat minor wounds in ancient Polynesia.  It is extracted and put into drinks and food for a calming feeling.  We were told the Kava brownies were good so we tried one of those.  Because we were the only ones in the shop, the owner let us see how he extracts the Kava by hand.  He then showed us a traditional Kava ceremony.  He pulled out 3 hollowed out coconut shells and poured a mixture of Kava and water into them.  After some traditional clapping and a brief history we drank from the coconut cups.  It was definitely better than I thought, Julieanne thought otherwise.  We asked him of things to do in the area and told us a few blocks down there is an area where you could see lots of sea turtles.  He let us walk his dog Rufio down to see them.  Rufio seemed to know where he was going and led the way.  After returning the dog, the shop owner gave us walking directions to Rainbow Falls.  In the middle of telling us “Coconut Boy”, as he called him, walked in and told us if you climb the side of the falls, there are natural pools at the top you can swim in and even cliff jumps.  Coconut Boy delivers a fresh coconut to the shop daily.  So we set off for the falls and climbed the side up to the top.  There was several other Semester at Sea kids who were also directed there by locals.  Because it had been a while since Hawaii had rain, the waterfall was not running so you could walk to the very edge of where the waterfall would normally drop off.  The view is unexplainable.  Next to the drop off was a natural pool.  It was about 5 feet deep and so clear you could see every last small rock on the bottom.  We jumped in to cool off and dried off sitting in the sun at the edge of the waterfall.  It was a perfect way to end our time in Hilo.

The following morning we arrived in Honolulu.  We set out for Diamond Head in the morning and had great weather for the hike.  The top of Diamond Head had an old bunker and lookout tower from the war, it was awesome.  After descending and eating shaved ice, we headed over to Waikiki beach.  Our friend who we had hiked with had rented a moped so he shuttled us over one by one.  We ended up running into lots of SAS people which was nice.  We spent the rest of the day exploring Honolulu.

For our last day in Hawaii, we woke up early to rent mopeds.  We hunted until we found the cheapest place.  After a short moped lesson and brief explanation of directions, we set out for the north shore.  A local in Hilo had told us about a huge pipeline surf tournament that was happening on the north shore where all the world’s pro surfers were coming to compete.  The ride up there was incredible.  I have never seen Hawaii so pretty.  After a 2 hour drive, we reached the north shore and sure enough found the pipeline.  The waves were unbelievable, some as high as 3-4 story buildings!  The whole thing was really cool and it was nice because it was all locals that attended it.  We left around 2 because we had to be back in time for the boat…which we made just in time.

We stayed on the observation deck as we sailed away from Hawaii until it vanished in the distance.  Our next leg is the longest one of the whole voyage.  It was described to us as this…”Sailing from Honolulu to Japan is like driving from northern Maine to San Diego at 15 mph”.  At least it leaves us plenty of time to plan for Japan!

In the Beginning...

My apologies in not posting earlier…but everyone knows I’m terrible with keeping in touch.  I keep getting hate e-mails telling me to update my blog so here it is. J It’s only been a week and a half and I feel like so much has happened. So I suppose I’ll start from the beginning…

I saw the Scituate reservoir from the plane, I was not expecting that but it was really cool.  It took me a second to realize it was the reservoir.  I think it looks like a flying eagle.

Despite some rocky turbulence in the sky, everything went smoothly on the way to San Diego.  No lost luggage, which was my biggest concern.  Our hotel room was under construction so they moved us to an awesome villa room.  The place was filled with college kids (obviously all Semester at Sea kids) so it was easy to meet people.  We had lunch on the board walk and met people until dinner when we ordered pizza.

I was on the first shuttle to the ship the following morning, along with all the other work study students.  I met up with a girl I had met the night before who was also on her own.  Our bus got through the border fine but the other bus we were with held us up for an hour.  Julieanne said a man came on their bus and played music for them and sold them churros.  After an hour wait on the side of the road in Mexico, we began our 3 hour drive.  It was beautiful.  The coast was lined with colorful houses and Jesus statues overlooking villages.  I wish I had brought my camera on the bus because the best part was the mountain ranges.  After an awesome drive to Ensenada, we arrived at our ship!  Customs went pretty fast and so did the process of getting on the ship.  Then again, I was one of the first people on so there were no lines.  I had time to unpack my room and grab lunch before I was put to work directing the rest of the students through the check in process.  We had dinner than night on an outdoor deck.  I was surprised how good the food was!  The view of Ensenada was incredible.  The sunset was every shade of orange.  It took over the whole sky and reflected off the ocean making our surroundings completely orange.  After an hour delay with immigration, we were allowed to leave port.  We were warned that there are usually some rocky swells when leaving ports, but there was no warning about swells that awaited us on the open ocean…

I waited for the following day to explore the ship.  It was orientation day so there were no classes and just a few welcome meetings throughout the day.  I’m on the 3^rd deck so I’m pretty far from most things but I’m also paying a lot less so I’m absolutely fine with it.  The 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th decks are all cabins with students and faculty.  The 5^th deck has the main dining room and the crew’s rooms.  It also has Tymitz Square where the field office, student activities, and purser’s desks are.  The 6^th deck has a smaller dining room where you can eat outside, a library, piano lounge, student union, computer lab, and all the classrooms.  And lastly, the 7^th deck has the wellness center (where most people go to exercise) and a pool deck with a snack bar.

Leaving port was really pretty during the sunset and that night we had a meeting telling us the rocky seas would be over soon…but they lied.  For the next week we had completely taped our room.  Our drawers, refrigerator, TV, etc. were taped and if you wanted something on a surface (alarm clock), you had to tape it.  We had everything on the floor because it would go flying off surfaces.  But even on the floor, stuff went flying everywhere.  We were one of the lucky ones to not have our drawers ripped away from the wall and sent across the room or have our TV smashed to the floor so we were thankful for that.  Nobody slept for the whole week because it was impossible to.  Not only would you wake up every 5 seconds to something else flying but if felt like you were sleeping on a see-saw.  Constantly shifting to the foot of the bed…then the head of the bed…then the foot of the bed…then the head of the bed…and again…and again…and again… 

But I will say that sleeping was not the hardest part, nor was controlling the room.  Walking in the halls was very difficult.  It was actually kind of amusing to see everyone slam into one wall and then a second later slam into the other.  It was an interesting way to meet people none the less.  The bookstore was closed most of the time because nothing would stay on the shelves…never mind the library.  For the first few days there were desks in the classrooms but we kept falling over like dominoes every wave so they eventually took them out…at least in my classes.  Walking horizontally was my favorite part.  Sometimes it was rocking such that you physically could not walk forward no matter how hard you tried.  But if you fought it…you couldn’t stop walking when it rocked the other way

We went 300 miles out of the way to try to avoid the storm but it didn’t seem to work.  I will say that despite the rockiness, the swells were beautiful!! I have captured some pictures of them but the camera just doesn’t do it justice.  Lots of people have seen whales and there’s flying fish everywhere.  There’s been a bird that has been following us from Mexico.  I wish him luck getting back.  The water is SO blue!!  I keep trying to explain what New England oceans look like but the contrast is difficult to understand. Hopefully I will be able to post a picture of it at some point.  It’s hard to fathom that I’m in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  I’ve always wondered what it looks like.  We have yet to see any other ships, just us.  I’ve been told it’s really exciting when you do!

My work study is going awesome.  I was assigned to the Health and Wellness Promotion section of Student Life.  I was the only student assigned to this area and I work alongside the coordinator named Rob.  He’s awesome and is on board with his wife and two kids.  I like that there are kids on board because it makes for some diversity.  We basically run events, host groups (vegetarian group, weight management group, etc.), put together bulletin boards, etc.

Classes are amazing.  I haven’t had teachers this good since Cushing.  I’m happy that I picked classes that are relative to my travels.  I am taking a literature class about the sea by a really young, passionate teacher.  We’re reading really good (but old) sailor books that tie into where we are going. I’m also taking a World Religions class with an incredible professor.  I had no idea how knowledgeable they would be.  He has studied under two famous American Rabbis for 2 years which led his curiosity to Christianity so he studied in a Catholic seminary in Rome for a year.  Then he went and lived for 2 years in Japan in a temple which led to his curiosity of Hinduism.  So he went to live in India to study Hinduism which led to his curiosity of Buddhism so he went to live in China to study there.  He has since then taught these religions in America.  Another amazing teacher is my Peoples of Africa teacher.  She is a really sweet old lady who has done it all.  She is an anthropologist who volunteered  for a year teaching in Nigeria, spent another year teaching in Botswana, and a third year living in Tanzania.  After teaching at an American university for years, she retired and joined the Peace Corps for 2 years in South Africa.  I am very fortunate to have such amazing teachers and I look forward to learning from them.

The seas finally calmed down as we approached Hawaii and the sun came out!  The decks were packed in between classes with people reading in the sun and playing cards in their free time.  Some people have an idea of what they are going to do in port but most are leaving it open for anything that comes along.  That is basically what Julieanne and I have done.  Everyone is so sea sick and sick of the sea so Hawaii couldn’t have come at a better time!