Day 92 – Hawaii Thanksgiving

Nov 27th (Thanksgiving)

Morning Sunrise
I woke up to the head kitchen staff calling to tell “Princess Carolyn” that she has a surprise in the dining hall tonight. (I was too delirious to ask what in the world he was talking about.) A little annoyed he woke me up at 6:35AM to tell me that, I flipped open my window to see the most amazing sun rise over the ocean as we pulled into Honolulu. I immediately called (and woke up) Britney and told her to take a picture, since she L-O-V-E-S sunrise-sunset pictures off the boat. The sunset was absolutely mesmerizing.

Thinking of Home
A few seconds after I pulled myself out of my morning daze and realized that we had just officially entered US TERRIRORY!! That means my cell phone would work! I dashed to our safe box, pulled out my cell phone and immediately dialed home to have a wonderful conversation with Mom, Dad, Jenny, Catherine and Sidney (who sniffed the phone). For the rest of the morning (around breakfast, getting ready and the immigration process), I got to catch up with some people from home and Vandy. I just like to add that about 95% of you answered the phone with “Why/How the hell are you calling me right now?” For the rest of you who I didn’t get a chance to talk to, I’m sorry. My cell phone actually died that morning because I didn’t bring a charger (thinking I would only use it in the Miami Airport). Regardless, it was so wonderful catching up on things even if it made me miss home a little more. I know a bunch of SAS kids would agree that after three months of non-stop traveling, of not one good night’s rest and of being out of touch we are ready to come home! (Especially since we are in the middle of studying for finals.)

The Day with Alan
After the ship was cleared by immigration, Sara, Goldie, Dan, Jonah, Marg and I disembarked to try and find Goldie’s Dad in the crowd that was forming off the boat. Since Alan is a UPS pilot and was lucky enough to trade flights to get out here, he met us at the harbor with his rent-a-car. Goldie and Alan’s reunion was absolutely adorable and almost made Sara and I cry with happiness. All of us were so excited to spend Thanksgiving with an adopted Dad. After we dropped our things off in his hotel room, Alan took us to the supermarket for study snacks to bring back to the boat. Alan caught on quickly that things do not move fast in our group. So, we eventually made it back to the hotel to drop off the food, got in our bathing suits and headed to Alan’s favorite surf shop to rent boards. As a pilot, Alan has spent a lot of time in cities all over the world and is well acquainted with the shops, streets and even store owners in the area. With our boards in hand, we lugged the monsters to the beach and prepared to “catch some waves.” Being the palest of the group, Alan let me don his rash guard to avoid the sun. I looked like a real professional or a huge tourist… I couldn’t decide. Seeing as Goldie surfs at home with her own sponsor in competitions, she gave us an instructional lesson on the beach. Queen’s Bay was crowded with tourists for Thanksgiving, so the water was packed newbies learning to surf. At least, we weren’t going to look like the only idiots. The waves were decent, but they came in random bouts. Scattered between my few hundred attempts, I actually did manage to get up a few times! At one point, while I was remounting my board after a wipe out, Goldie cruised by smiling and showing her white ass in pride. I think mooning is Californian for “sucka.” About two hours later, we were thoroughly exhausted and ready for our big Thanksgiving meal.

Thanksgiving Meal
Alan took us to La Cucaracha for a late lunch and Thanksgiving feast. I got chicken fajitas and a super sized Shirley Temple. It came out as an enormous serving of sizzling chicken, onions, green peppers and cheese with beans, rice and guacamole on the side. We were all stuffed after the spicy meal, just as any Thanksgiving meal requires. To walk off our food babies, we walked along the beach and out to a long pier that had waves crashing against it on both sides. Before we left we caught the most spectacular yellow, orange and red sunset set against sailboats cruising through the water. For dessert, we had Haagen Dazs ice cream, while Alan and Jonah enjoyed milk shakes. Since I had worked at one my senior year of high school, I helped Sara pick out the best flavor combination I had discovered in my months of intense “field study” –‘Belgium chocolate chocolate’ and coffee. I went with something new. But, while sitting outside and chatting about things, we all couldn’t help but feel that impending drudgery of having to get back on the boat soon. Hawaii was so beautiful, and we obviously wanted to post-pone finals as long as possible. Eventually, we made it back to the hotel to watch some football on TV (I ended up falling asleep. Woops.), gathering our things and making it back to the harbor. We all thanked Alan for everything he had done to make our Thanksgiving special and said our “good byes.”

Back on the Boat
Once back on the boat, Sara, Goldie, Dan and I headed to the sixth floor dining hall to see what my surprise was from the phone call I got this morning. We hypothesized it was a birthday cake they were mistakenly delivering too early or a stripper. Well, it turned out to be neither. The waiter came out with a huge chocolate cake that read “Welcome Back to the USA” in dark chocolate frosting. Apparently, my parents had ordered the cake to be delivered as a surprise to welcome me closer to home. I was really thrown for a loop. Everyone else was pretty surprised too and sang their own version of “Welcome Back” using “Happy Birthday” lyrics. The cake was way too big, so I passed out pieces to everyone I knew and a bunch I didn’t really know but who eagerly wanted cake. A lot of people wished me ‘Happy Birthday’ since that is usually the only reason a person gets a cake on the ship. Awkwardly, I explained it wasn’t my birthday. Regardless, everyone was really excited and really enjoyed it.

Highs and Lows
My “high” was seeing not one person inside the boat that night because everyone stayed up to talk to people on their cell phones while we still had service. My “low” was not being able to mail my postcards.