Hilo and Honolulu!

Am I really getting college credit for this? Hawaii is amazing, especially Hilo!

Hilo is located on the big island. I have never met nicer people than the people of Hilo. It is normal for people to wave at you when they are driving, any other city would find that weird. People would always stop and ask if you need a ride, and it would be perfectly safe! We accomplished so much on the first day. We saw Akaka falls, which was an extremely tall and beautiful falls. Then we went to the Aluaha Nuts factory, and then we went to a black sand beach. I went back to the ship to prepare for the luau and decided to call some people from back home. While on the phone and looking out of my cabin window, I could see sperm whales jumping in the distance! There were so many sperm whales because we were in Hawaii during sperm whale birthing season. I was in astonishment that this sight was pretty much my back yard! Then we went to a luau, which wasn't anything special. The luau itself and all the dancing and food was amazing, but since it five hours long! It included a tour of the University of Hawaii-Hilo, which is fine but the tour guides thought we were perspective students or something, not really realizing that we were all already in college. After the luau was probably one of the most amazing nights I have every had. We hired a guide to take us to the volcano at night. She took us to this area where there use to be more than 200 houses but they were all destroyed by the lava. It was really eary and makes you really respect the destructive power of nature. Off in the distance was the volcano spouting out lava. It gave off a spectacular red glow which reflected off the clouds and made a really great view. After that, our guide took us to these geothermal springs where we all went swimming. It was so relaxing and the stars covered the sky. The next day we went scuba diving. We entered the ocean through a fresh water river. The sensation is such a weird feeling where the salt and fresh water mix. It will be really cold one second and the next it will be really warm and your vision would get blurry when it mixed. We saw many sea turtles, one which had a fin bit off, we are guessing from a shark.

In Honolulu, my friends and I rented a hotel room on Waikiki beach. We rented surf boards and went surfing all day, I caught five ways! I am now so sore, especially my ribs, from all the paddling you have to do while surfing. We went out to a club at night where many of Semester at Sea students were hanging out. The next day we just chilled on the beach all day. I guess we weren't in Honolulu long enough because we really didn't see much. Hilo was definately better.

In all honesty, I am learning many things while at port. I learned much about culture, Hawaiian history, and I learn about myself. I am getting allot out of this, and we are only at the first port! We left Hawaii now, and the United States, so I won't be seeing any land for about ten days, 11 if you want to get technical (we are going over the international date line so there is no February 2nd on this ship, someone has their birthday on that day, so I guess we miss it?). Japan is going to be amazing!