Monday, July 8, 2013
9:49 P.M.
For now on, I’ll try to have two subjects to each post… one from what I am doing on the Big Island, and another from what my friends are doing back in Pohnpei. I didn’t hear anything from Pohnpei today, so I’ll just talk about Hawaii.
Today was a travel day as well, but it was significantly less intense than yesterday. We arrived in Honolulu late last night, and I will admit I was caught off-guard when one of those greeter guys that welcomes you as you exit the umbilical cord/tunnel thingy that connects the airplane to Mother Airport wished me a good morning. He was technically correct though… it was a quarter past 2.
We needed some sleep, so we caught a shuttle to the nearest Best Western and crashed (sleep-wise, that is). Even though I was up doing something until four (I can’t remember what, why, and how), I slept in until 11:30. My mother, bless her soul, woke up at 10:30 or so and spent nearly two hours trying to change our flight that departed Honolulu in less than 24 hours to one that would depart from Kailua-Kona on the Big Island on Sunday the 14th. Because of the “emergency medical evacuation” that I had to abide to, HTH, the study abroad insurance company, paid for my mom’s travel and my flight home. Of course, we had decided that an “emergency vacation” was in order, so my mom worked tirelessly to give us a little extra time in Hawaii before heading back to Seattle.
We left Oahu at around 3 and got to Kailua-Kona at 4. Kailua-Kona is in the rain shadow of Mauna Loa and looks like a desert, especially with the random lava flows surrounding the streets. Frankly, it looks hideous compared to Pohnpei. We got a rental car from Hertz and headed to the resort we were staying at, the Kona Coast Resort, several miles south from the airport, but not before stopping at Costco and Wal-mart.
Although Kailua-Kona was admittedly uglier than I expected, I was overjoyed to see a street called “Henry St.” because I have a little brother Henry who I love and dearly miss. I may not be able to see him for a while longer (even after I get back, he is working at a summer camp), but a street will have to do for now. There is a “Charles St.” in Seattle, so hopefully my brother can seek some sort of solace in knowing that there is a street named after him as well.
Driving by the coast, we saw some gnarly waves which I would definitely like to check out. Tomorrow morning, we’ll figure out all the cool stuff we want to do. It’s 2:18 A.M. and wayyyyy past my bedtime. Goodnight everybody!
Charlie
