go confidently in the direction of your dreams

live the life you've imagined. as you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler. - henry david thoreau

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19-20 april 2009
honolulu, hawaii

sunday 19 april 2009

"living in america" abruptly poured from the ship-wide speakers at 0600, rousing everyone from their beds. the explorer arrived at aloha pier, promptly at 0600 and the immigration officials boarded, preparing to process the entire ship in about an hour.

we'd received carefully worded reminders all day on monday, after all the announcements luke mentioned that we should go to bed early. our suspicions of an early wake-up time were confirmed at the pre-port and everyone flinched. waking up 750 students at 0600!? the only way they could ensure our wake-up was to threaten dock time for those who slept in past their sea's immigration time.

i woke up early, a staggering 0545 to ensure that i would be awake. i was able to call home and talked to mom, andrew & rebecca. it was nearing 1200p for them, so it was a great time to chat. it was so strange to be back on a cell phone! i've had an international cell for the duration of the trip, but have a limited, pre-paid balance. to talk with abandon and not worry about the bill (verizon to verizon!), was wonderful!

the aegean sea was called around 0645 or so, and we hurried up to the faculty staff lounge, still in pajamas. the process was simple: get our passports, line up, show an immigration official our passport's photo page and then hand in our passports. as a result, the process went quickly. all of the american passport holders were processed by 715 and the foreign passport holders were finished shortly thereafter.

from our immigration screening we hustled down to breakfast, and were the first few in line. we sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine. cell phones were EVERYWHERE. people were on the phone, texting and playing with their phones at every table, in every corner, etc. it was crazy to see! i will admit that i like having my cell phone and that when i'm home, it is always on me. its a legitimate addiction! this trip has certainly helped to break the addiction, its freeing to not use a phone all the time & it forces everyone to get to know others. my hope is that my electronic addiction will be diminished when i get home. i will still have my phone, computer, ipod, etc. but i can live without them & don't need to use them all the time!

after breakfast we headed back to the ship to get ready for the day. bathing suits and dresses were the uniform, and we packed our purses with cameras, sunscreen and towels. we were ready for our day in the sun!

as i mentioned, we had a surprise planned for rennika. around 830 or so, her name was called over the loudspeaker, causing mckendree and i to hang up our phone calls, grab our cameras and sprint down the halls. unfortunately, we made it out of our room before rennika and she saw us running down the hall, which surely confused her! when we reached the gangway, ren was flustered and was asking what was going on. she was told she had visitors and she was able to walk out to see them. she ran off and immediately began screaming and crying as she saw her sister, mackenzie and roommate, derek. she was so surprised! it was so much fun to watch!

a few more phone calls and the aegean sea was called to leave the ship. ren packed up some of her things to send home with mackenzie and we were off. our destination was the weekend "swap meet" at the aloha stadium. we piled into a minivan and easily communicated with our cab driver.

the 20-25 minute ride, through honolulu (pronounced "hoe-no-lu-lu, as opposed to my version "han-o-lu-lu") cost about $30; more than we've paid for cabs in ages! after many cab rides costing less than $5, we all had sticker shock!

the swap meet was just like any market, and we could easily find souveniers from china, japan and india, as well as the typical hawaiian fare of leis, grass skirts & coconuts/pineapples. i had a good time walking through the stalls and spent the majority of my time on the phone, catching up with friends. i didn't need to buy much, but found some great souvenir t-shirts and dried fruits, which are allowed on the ship since they are factory sealed.

after enjoying the sun and getting some cold drinks, we decided to head back to the waikiki beach area and to mackenzie & derek's hotel room. we took a shuttle bus and got advice from our driver about potentially sleeping on the beach.

mac & derek were staying at the marriott on the 15th floor, so we took advantage of their views, clean bathrooms and stored some of our purchases there. after changing into our bathing suits, we ventured out to the gorgeous beaches, across the street from the hotel.

we had some subway sandwiches on the beach, our first true sandwiches in a long time. every country had their own interpretation of sandwiches, some better than others and a 6" turkey on honey oat bread was exactly what i needed!

a few pit-stops at the surfer shops and a couple of new bathing suits later (the other girls got them, not me!) and we were finally ready to settle down on the beach!

we set up camp and then enjoyed the beach. it was gorgeous and sunny and the perfect temperature. no complaints! i did venture out into the waves, finding the water to be rather shallow, even a ways out. we've had plenty of sun on the ship, but no beach time since mauritius.

i suppose there isnt too much to say about the beach, other than it was similar to the bahamas or what one would find along the florida coastline. in contrast to the mauritian beaches, which were filled with european tourists and were much less crowded, hawaii's waikiki beach was much more commercial and overcrowded. still enjoyable, though!

eventually we packed up and planned to head back to the ship to change/shower and prepare overnight bags to stay at the hotel with mac & derek. several changes in plans and we decided not to head back to the ship and to get ready for dinner in the hotel room.

i was hardly prepared for a night out or an overnight, but made do. mac was generous and shared tank tops, shampoo, makeup and anything else she had with us girls, all equally unprepared.

after some basketball ( i think, whatever the nuggets play..) and relaxing, we ventured out to find a mexican restaurant. the first stop could not accommodate a 10 person table, so we kept looking, foregoing the larger "senor frogs" or "jimmy buffet's margaritaville" and hoping for something smaller. we eventually found "cha cha cha" and waited for a table.

the restaurant had large portions and great guacamole, though was rather dysfunctional. not having any beef, veggie fillings or shrimp. they also kept running out of chips! i had an awesome fajita-style chicken & pepper quesadilla, which was absolutely delicious.

dinner was a great time, and several other semester at sea kids met up with us. its crazy to have cell phones, we can all contact each other and meet up! as opposed to the "meet us at 630, hope to see you then" sort of deal.

we headed out to a bar afterward, duke's, where semester at sea invaded. ren and kelsey ran into older kids from their school, linfield college, who just so happened to be in hawaii for the weekend. (who does that!?). i didn't have my license on me and my international student identification card didn't seem to work in the states, so i was a sober-sailor. see what i mean about being prepared?! oh well, it was fun but i was reminded why we'd done our best to avoid the sas-infiltrated bars in other countries.

we spent the night in mac & derek's room, doing our best to fit 3 people per bed. i need a little more room, so i moved to the floor in the middle of the night, using the extra pillows and coverlets to stay warm.

20 april 2009
monday

we didn't have much of a game-plan for day 2 in hawaii, though i did want to attempt to go to pearl harbor if possible. we woke up around 8 and went to breakfast down the street at a cheeseburger restaurant. i'm not sure why a cheeseburger restaurant would have breakfast, but it was tasty.

after some eggs and toast, we ventured out into waikiki, looking for a forever 21. we'd seen people with bags from our most favorite store, so we knew it was nearby. i'm not sure where the obsession with the store comes from, but i'm sure the cheap prices have a lot to do with it!

we walked down the main street for quite a ways, looking for the mall. we popped into a few stores and were told to take the bus to the mall. we waited for the #8 and were soon on our way to ala moana mall.

a big, airy outdoor mall greeted us and we made a bee-line for forever 21, looking for shoes & dresses for the ambassador's ball. derek was ever-patient with the five of us girls as we tried on clothes and picked through the racks. once we were all satisfied, we made our way back out of the mall and back to waikiki for the beach.

upon arriving at the beach, we met up with all of our closest sas friends. everyone had a great time playing in the water, laying out (with sunscreen!) and snacking. it was so much fun to hang out together and to just enjoy everyone's company.

one of the best things about hawaii: abc stores. the convenience store was on every block and carried a little bit of everything, from sunscreen, to snacks, to clothes, gifts, etc. a one-stop-shop for all the things you didn't know you needed. and on top of all the items they carried, they accepted japanese yen! 

i decided to leave the beach a little early so as to get back to the ship and find some internet. mandi and lindsey ventured back with me and we waited for a bus. no one is in a rush, and neither are the buses. it took nearly 1h to get from the beach to the ship, a walk that would have been about 40 minutes. oh well, we got to sit down?

i then wandered around the aloha towers, where the ship was docked. most of the shops were painfully tourist-oriented and my quest for tights was unsuccessful. i did get some pineapple & coconut ice cream and ran into the other girls as i got in line to board the ship. it was nice to spend some time alone, just wandering and enjoying the relaxed attitude of hawaii.

back on the ship, mckendree and i showered and organized. we'd had so much sunshine, we were getting sleepy. a quick trip upstairs to investigate dinner (mac & cheese!) and we were soon back in bed, ready to lose and hour and to begin our last week of classes.

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overall, hawaii was a great time spent with great friends. short and sweet, and exactly what the ship needed to break up the stretch along the mighty pacific. since we've been back on the ship, the seas have been considerably rocky and it's been overcast. i suppose it's a good thing, though, as everyone needs to get work done! i'd love to go back to hawaii in the future and i'd love to explore the other islands, especially the less-populated ones. anyone up for a trip?

and next up, our last port of call,  guatemala