Woken up at 6:00am, the loud speaker blared a rock and roll tune of “Living In America” as we pulled into the Aloha Tower Port. We were up early to have our face to face inspection with customs and then the day was ours. Bathing suits, tanning lotion, fully charged cell phones (yesss service!)- we got off the ship and onto “The Bus” to get to downtown Honolulu and Waikiki beach. First stop: Starbucks of course and the ABC store- famous in Hawaii and literally on every corner- to get some chocolate covered macadamia nuts (a Hawaiian necessity) and floaties for the water.
The 21+ kids started their morning off at a little tiki lounge restaurant with Mai Tais while myself and 3 others slurped iced coffee. Beach Boy’s greatest hits hummed in the background but we could still hear the crashing waves near by. After breakfast, we anxiously hurried across the street to claim prime real estate on the waterfront. I enjoyed making a myriad of phone calls- everyone started off with “wow I haven’t seen your name on my caller ID in so long!” and just hearing their voices made the perfect day even better.
We laid out, played in the waves, and left the beach by late afternoon with a new golden glow (some a pinkish/red…). Three of my friends decided getting a tattoo would be their next best move. With a local guiding us through the peaceful streets, we came into your standard tattoo parlor and the artist greeted his new clients. While the three of them got inked, Abby and I strolled the streets cracking open oysters searching for pearls, stopping in all the cute beach shops and pretending we could actually afford all the styles and tried to actually wrap our heads around the idea of being back in America. After not being in the US for over 3 months, we still considered everything and everyone foreign. Classic comments such as “oh they speak our language” and “what’s that in US currency?” revealed our embarrassing naïve side. We actually turned down cabs because their high prices couldn’t be bargained (once you get $1 rides in Vietnam- a $10 journey to downtown just doesn’t seem right). For our first US port, Hawaii was quite the exception to the rule. Everyone walks around in bathing suits and no shoes- the stunning heat soaks out all the stress and people are left in complete harmony and peace. Jamming Bob Marley live music promoted on the streets and beautiful, bright hibiscus flowers resting along the sidewalks- I see why people pack it all up and move to such an oasis.
We rode the overcrowded bus back to the ship, showered and took that expensive cab ride to La Cucaracha, an authentic Mexican restaurant that finally filled our dreams of chips, queso and guacamole. The 10 of us took over the back of the room and had to explain why we were so excited to see, smell Mexican cuisine. Not another word was said as the waitress delivered bottomless baskets of chips and margaritas to our starving group. I felt the curse (again) of being under 21- for the last 3 months there have been no restrictions but now we sat at the end of the table secluded from the rest of our friends.
Our dinner concluded and I felt as though I had grown a small nino inside of me but we needed that- comfort food and food that was especially made for us and not 800 passengers. The evening poured into the streets of Waikiki with many tourists and SASers to be found. Some ventured off into local bars while others took walks along the beach and even swam in the Pacific. Our night ended just as family and friends from the mainland called to greet us good morning. Again with these time differences…
Our second and last day in Hawaii started off a little slower but we were off the ship by 10am. A few friends went off hiking but Abby, Anna and I met Gaylen by the bus as she returned from a morning of skydiving over the ocean. We did a similar routine of Starbucks and hit up the beachfront to work on our tans- again. We had lunch at the fabulous Cheeseburger In Paradise- even had yet another hot dog- and did some window shopping along the main drag. By 5pm, we were burned and drained. With an hour till dock time, we boarded the ship and made those last minute phone calls. We had dinner on the ship and went onto deck 7 to watch the sunset. The boys were all in the pool and thought it would be a great idea to throw us all in even though we were fully clothed, had cameras, phones and were grabbing onto dear life as they yanked us and individually dropped us in the pool. Well, fortunately I escaped by running in circles and slipping down the stairs but still got a little wet from the enormous puddles and everyone else that was soaking. The crew was quick to yell at us and began writing the boys up but it was still a great way to end our little Hawaiian vacation.
It was different and unusual to be back in America and have all the privileges and commodities that we left behind so long ago. Having a cell phone was nice but whenever we were on the ship, everyone was on the phone. In line for breakfast, outside at dinner, in the hallways, and all around port- I forgot how nice it is to just be secluded and not have my phone on me at all times. Yet it was so awesome to finally talk to my friends and family. I guess you can’t have it all.
We’ve got 8 days to Guatemala (people seem to forget we are going there) and only 15 days left. I honestly cannot believe it. I can’t believe that after this week I’ll be done with classes and basically school but then just after that I’m done with the program. I’ll be making these last 2 weeks the best and spending every moment soaking up time on the ship with my friends, the beauty surrounding us on the Pacific and of course the shining sun that I truly can never get enough of.
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