Hawai'i & The Final Days

Hawaii was a great last stop on our journey. In many ways it seemed
like a baby step back into America, but in other ways it seemed just
as foreign as some of the other countries. I found myself so curious
about the ways that Americans behaved, and continued to view the
passersby through a very observant lens. After the ship was cleared,
Annie and I set off to see the Pearl Harbor memorial from our ship's
location in Honolulu. We joined some other SASers and took a cab to
the memorial. It was really interesting to go to the museum, and I'm
glad I sacrificed a few hours of beach time to see an important piece
of American history. At the museum I think I learned more about Pearl
Harbor than I had throughout all of the years of history classes. The
coolest part was going out to the Arizona Memorial and seeing the oil
tears rising from the wreckage, and the colorful little fish swimming
around. After Pearl Harbor we went to Waikiki Beach to get some sun
in, but stopped at Duke's for lunch. It was so nice to have American
food again. I had a huge plate of nachos. After a few hours of lying
on the beach, one of Lauren's friends from DU who is a Hawaii native
came and picked us up for dinner. Then we went back to the boat to
change and spent the evening hanging out with Andy and a few of his
Hawaiian friends.

The next day I had to wake up early to go skydiving! I spent most of
the morning hanging around the skydiving building and only a few
moments actually skydiving. I think it was one of the best ways to
finish out Semester at Sea. We drove to the North Shore of Oahu, and
the weather could not have been more beautiful, though it would have
been really cool to go through a cloud while freefalling, though there
weren't any. I was strapped tightly to the licensed skydive master, so
I felt much safer. I didn't have to worry about anything except not
chickening out at the last moment. The small plane we flew up in was
maybe the scariest part of the whole experience. The view, however,
was fantastic. As we circled repeatedly gaining altitude until we were
up to 14,000 feet, the panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean, pristine
beaches and lush forests was breathtaking, although that could have
been the altitude as well! The hardest part was watching the first
diver, an older man who was licensed, so not going tandem, jump out of
the plane and just float, or rather, fall away from the plane. Then I
sat on the edge of the plane with my hands crossed across my chest, we
leaned forward and soon we were tumbling into the air! I hadn't
expected to turn somersaults in the air, but we definitely did a few
before the mini stabilizer parachute went up. The following minutes of
falling and then floating once the parachute went up were absolutely
amazing except the harness felt like it was going to pull my legs off.
Landing was no big deal and soon enough the whole thing was over! I
was so glad that I paid extra to get photos and a DVD of my skydive,
so I will always be able to relive it!

After I went back to the boat, I rode the bus to Waikiki to meet
Lauren and Andy. Then we headed to Diamondhead, a volcanic tuff cone
where we took a hike up to the top to take in the view. After we
returned to the bottom we enjoyed a Hawaiian Shaved Ice before heading
back to the boat.

Overnight the boat sailed to the big island of Hawai'i. We were ported
in Hilo, but there was nothing impressive about it. I immediately set
off, with Zach, Zach and Kyle to rent a car then headed to a sports
bar where Lauren was watching the Broncos play. We had a delicious
Mexican lunch next door before heading to the other side of the
island. On our way through the island we stopped at the Hawaii
Volcanoes National Park, but it was overcast with low fog, so the
visibility was very poor. We walked around the park for a while,
checking out lava tubes and a steaming lava field, before heading on
our way to Kona on the other side of the island. We took another stop
at a black sand beach called Punalu'u and wandered around. Here we
befriended local Hawaiians who were having a picnic and joined in a
game of throwing javelin-esque sticks at another stationary stick,
trying to pierce the standing stick. When we finally got to Kona we
checked into our hotel, where we had a one-bedroom apartment. Lauren
and I settled into the bedroom, changing into our suits and heading to
the beach. We caught the sunset and watched surfers enjoying the
fading daylight's waves. Next we went to dinner at the Kona Brewery
which was delicious, and I had nachos… again! From there we met up
with a bunch of other SASers in Kona and enjoyed our last night on land!

The next morning I had a delicious acai bowl for breakfast and we
headed back to the boat, this time taking the route that went over
Mauna Kea. The road was super bumpy, but I still managed to fall
asleep on Zach's shoulder a time or two. When we got back to Hilo we
returned the rental car and went back to the boat.

That night, before we left Hilo, we were called into the Union. Here
we were told that a large swell was approaching the Hawaiian islands
and we would be going back to Honolulu instead of beginning our
journey to San Diego. The details weren't clear yet but it was so
exciting to get another day, except for the looming finals that would
start in two days.

Back in Honolulu, Casey, Stephen, Brad and I ventured out for a good
breakfast and ended up at The Original Pancake House, which started in
Portland! I had amazing macadamia nut pancakes, and tropical juice.
The rest of the day I spent studying, knowing I couldn't afford to
spend a day unproductive at the beach with finals the next day. We did
go out for dinner, to Duke's in Waikiki. The next day we didn't set
sail until nearly 3:00PM so I actually took some of my finals while we
were still in Hawaii.

The rest of the voyage was bittersweet and busy, filled with long
nights of studying until finals were over, which were then replaced
with long nights of spending all my fleeting moments with the friends
I had made. It was so sad to be packing up, and all of my treasures
refused to fit into their allotted spaces. The last fun event on the
ship was the Ambassador's Ball, which included a very nice dinner and
a fun dance!

I will never forget the places I went, the friends I made, the social
issues I saw face to face, the poverty and injustice faced by many of
the citizens of the countries I visited, and the many things I learned
about myself along the voyage. Semester at Sea was the most incredible
experience in my life to date, and I am eternally grateful for the
opportunity to experience the world in such a wonderful way.

Stephanie@Sea

"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and
avoid the poeple, you might better stay at home"
-James Michener