Aloha,
So I spent three weeks in Oahu, Hawaii from December 17th to January 5th. I'll post about my teaching experiences on my other blog but let me indulge on here and dibble dabble on my own island living experience.
Stories:
#1: Wastin away again in Margaritaville: As we were finishing up our first big 45 hour week with the kids; myself and two of my friends decided it was time to experience Waikiki and the beach.I spent six days on this island without seeing a beach. I was antsy to say the least. However, I lived on an airforce base and the president was flying to Honolulu that night on airforce one, of course. We didn't know what time, it's all very hush hush but once he lands the whole base is on lock down and nobody can come in or out. We wanted to go out so we were going against the clock. Dressing as fast as possible, running down 9 flights of stairs, people yelling at us from balconies saying that we were never going to make it. But WE DID! WE GOT OUT! This was the start of one of my funnest nights during the trip. We sat on the beach, talked, laughed, told stories, i jumped in the water in my dress, and then we walked. We saw this hawaiian band playing. Beau insisted on them playing Margritaville. As for me, I was high on life, I was near the beach, listening to great music and enjoying the company of my new friends. So I thought what the hell and made beau dance with me to the song. I definitely tripped and fell on the bands equipment. I didn't let that stop me, we continued dancing, but my friends who witnessed this especially Sam, didn't let me live it down.
#2: I work out? For christmas eve and christmas I hung out with ryan,jen,sami,and abby for the most part. We had dinner at the infamous dukes (where I tried Hula pie..for free!) and hard rock cafe (which is a first for me). It was a very relaxing weekend. Went up to northshore and sandy beach to swim. Went on a hike by the 50 first dates lighthouse where we could see miles away in each direction (it was beautiful and green everywhere), walked along cliffs by the ocean, snorkled at hanuama bay, and drove around. Each time we drove the same rhianna song would come on and so would "i'm sexy and I know it". I will always think of hawaii whenever I am fortunate or unfortunate to be graced by these songs. We also saw this hilarious street performer. "This is not easy...This is sexy!".
#3 Western Friday: The last hoorah for the 20 or so of us all together was at the country bar on base. Tried to line dance..for the second time in my life. I remember thinking about life while I was dancing. I'm not a country girl in the least bit but I couldn't help but laugh, smile, and keep on dancing. Isn't that what life is about anyways? You keep on dancing and most importantly smile and enjoy it, even if it isn't your favorite or normal tune. I couldn't help but think about all the tunes I've danced to either, from german ballads on german tables to irish pubs with new friends to rome beds with my bestfriends to margaritaville the pervious week and now this. I realized I haven't just done a lot of dancing, I've done a lot of living!
#4 Aloha 2012 The morning of December 31st started at 6:00am for me, after not getting back from line dancing until 2:00am. As I lay in my heavenly cloud-like bed in my own hotel room, I thought "It's 6:00am on a saturday, I have to pack my 50 lbs worth of things, walk them down a mile of Waikiki to a hostel with a sub par bed, noise, and no air-conditioning. Suffice it to say, that may have been one of the hardest times to get out of bed since Edinburgh circa August 24th. But I did it! unfortunately not everyone else who I was going with stuck with this early plan. Molly and I were the only ones down stairs. We ended up hanging out in her room for about an hour until all of us were ready to jam luggage ( 7 peoples' worth) into Robyn's rental car. We were in such a big hurry that I had to leave my things at their hostel which was a mile away from my own. We went to the swap meet and with a little bit of Laura's awesome but bad influence I spent way too much money there on souvenirs and such. We also, ran into this guy "Frankie" who gave us a $40 bargain on a pub crawl later that night with entry/1 drink at each bar included. Sounds pretty good for New Years Eve, I'd say! Sign us up!! After travelling on a bus back to waikiki from Aloha Stadium it's about 3:30 and I had a checklist before meeting my friends for dinner/pubcrawl. 1. drag my luggage to the other new hostel and check in 2. shower and get ready 3. buy a new years eve dress 4. walk back to their hostel.
So #1 With my drawn out directions, I start heading towards the international market where my hostel is. It's just me, foreign streets, my purple suitcase, duffle bag, ipod, and a time crunch. hmm I've been in this scenario before, it took me back to a place in my heart that I love, I was back in traveler Sarah mode and even with lack of sleep and the hawaiian suns rays touching my every being, I felt oddly alive at that moment. I made it to my hostel, I'm becoming more direction saavy. This started to happen during my second summer due to the lack of travelling with the most brilliant bird in the world (Brigette)! Anyways once I get to hostel I chat with a gay russian receptionist about him turning 21 that night. He was hilarious!
#2 Got to my room, showered, did all the girl things. etc.
#3 Bought a white lacy dress and gold necklace from the BIGGEST forever 21 in the world. It was Amazing! and I'm lucky that my money didn't run out right then and there.
#4 On the road again! back to my friends hostel aka Waikiki beachside hostel.
It's about 7:00pm this time and all of us have high spirits of the night and are lookin our darn best. Drinking bacardi and sprite in red plastic cups to start off our night.
So we go downstairs and there's this live band who have that very hawaiian sort of sound. They played Tom Petty songs and Sublime and Oasis. "Life's too short so love the one you got!". Even got to hear/sing Last dance with Mary Jane with my fellow Tom Petty lover Molly. We had amazing FREE dinner which consisted of stringbeans, mashed potatoes, and potroast. They even gave us those fun new years blowers and happy new years hats and crowns. We took photos with hula dressed men. Then we were off to the PubCrawl...
I'll leave you with that cliff hanger.
But I'll give you a few spoilers: there were stolen leis, homeless dogs, and aussies that came from that night. And after a little bit of drama we only had to pay $20 for that pubcrawl which consisted of about 4 drinks for me and not paying one cover. I'd say worth it..especially in the "Hi".
Stay Tuned to Find out More!
Aloha!
