So close

Finally!!....After 8 long days at sea I’m sure you can imagine how excited I am to see land! And it’s not just any land, it’s Hawaii! :) I’ve never been there but I feel like so many people on the ship have. We also had an “in-port lecturer” travel with us from Mexico to Hawaii and he’s a native Hawaiian so he’s taught us a lot of neat things about the culture. They definitely prepare you well for port here… all we’ve talked about in my classes is Hawaii and there’s been so many lectures about different topics and even our dinner tonight was Hawaiian. I just can’t wait to get off the boat, have some real food, and lay on the beach :)

So I think finally everyone’s starting to settle in and get adjusted on the ship… but that doesn’t mean it’s any less crazy and hectic! I love everyone here and I think we all realize how lucky we are to be doing this so there’s just never ending energy and excitement…. we all want to live it up! Even though we’ve been on this ship for so long I feel like there hasn’t been any time to be bored, there’s so much going on non-stop plus of course fitting in time to lay out on the deck :)  Today was gorgeous out, I could definitely feel the Hawaiian air. The pool deck was packed with people laying out all day- and still none of us can believe this is where we’re going to school!

We arrive in Hilo on the big island tomorrow at 6am. A bunch of us are sleeping on the deck tonight so we can wake up to a sunrise coming into port! It’ll be strange to see life outside the boat…. We actually saw another ship on the horizon today for the first time which was pretty exciting. Everyone’s planning to go shopping in Hawaii to stock up on stuff- and chocolate of course is top on our list. That’s the only thing I feel way too deprived of. Thennnn I think Allyn and I want to go hiking in Volcanoes National Park, hang out at the beach, snorkel? and the second night everyone has to get back on the ship to sail to Oahu. We’re taking surfing lessons with some people in Honolulu and hopefully going to the Volcom surf competition on the north shore to see some huge waves. But who knows what’ll happen, we really just want to be on land and enjoy the island. And try not to fry.

Well this has definitely been an adventure so far and we haven’t even gotten anywhere yet…. so I can only imagine what is to come. I’ll update this asap once I get back from Hawaii…. wish us good weather!!
-Michele