Hilo Photos

A good traveler has no fixed plans and no intent on arriving - Lao Tzu

Hilo

So waking up and seeing land after a week of rough seas is just beautiful.  Everyone was up at 6 on deck watching the sunrise. Which wasn’t the greatest actually; there were clouds in the way. There also may have been a good amount of people on cell phones after being depraved communication for a week.  I’m not admitting to anything.

 

Because the ship had sailed from Mexico we all had to go through immigration before anyone could leave the ship. So by the time we got off the boat it was about 8 in the morning. Believe me we were glad to get off the ship.

 

On the first day in the first port I somehow already have an FDP to go on. An FDP stands for Faculty Lead Practica which each class requires. This one was for my linguistics class to the Ka’ Umeke Ka’eo Hawaiian Language School. We got to the school at about 10 and we greeted with all the kids waiting on the lawn. It was explained to us that we had to request entrance because we were strangers to the community and because we couldn’t speak Hawaiian two of the students would do so on our behalf. The two kids started to chant and sing in Hawaiian and the rest responded and we were allowed to cross over and enter the school property. Then the school did this song were they all sang in Hawaiian, played the drums and ukuleles and danced. Then some of the kids ran up with leis and gave one to everyone with a hug and a kiss. It was one of the coolest unexpected things. The school teaches only in Hawaiian and is part of the revitalization movement in Hawaiian culture.

 

After the FDP and finished and dropped the group of us off at the ship we mostly decided to head to this black sand beach a mile and a half down the road. It wasn’t what I expected of a Hawaiian beach but it was pretty nice. It was also filled with SAS kids. After an hour or so the kids I came with had to go back because of the SAS luau. From there I ran into more people and went to a Hawaiian restaurant and tried the mashed terra plant called poi (that may be misspelled).  The food was really good, though the poi does taste like paste. We all then headed downtown to a Kava bar where it was open mike night and big love Monday.

 

So kava is apparently a root that is supposed to help relax while maintaining mental clarity. It is drunk out of a coconut shell and before you drink you have to clap once, and give some to your roots (the ground) and some to your ancestors (over your shoulder).   It taste earthy but by the time you finish it is the most relaxing thing. We all stayed there for a while, and the guy who were playing for open mike just started to sing “don’t worry about a thing, every little thing’s going to be alright” and prompted a sing along.

 

So after the sing along I changed cars and groups and went to a little beach on Dave’s advice (Dave is the owner of the Kava bar. He was awesome with making sure we could get back to the ship, and gave us his business card if we needed anything. That seems to be the general attitude of Hilo. Most people came back with stories of how the locals here are just helpful and chill about everything.) The beach and the water were so pretty and night.  On the way back to the car we past the Kava place again and ended up getting a free cup of Kava before trying a different beach.

 

Great first day in port.

 

The next day I ended up at the volcanoes, which was great and interesting but the first day tops by far.

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page - St Augustine

Classes

       So the first thing that they tell you during orientation is that things need to be flexible. From planning trips in port, to the programs offered, and especially with the classes. The fact that most of the classrooms use to be cocktail lounges definitely helps this flexibility idea along. I believe the example they gave during orientation was that if a kid looks out the window and sees a pod of whales go by the lesson is just not going to happen. This was confirmed in each class with the professors promising to be the first one at the window if there really was a pod of whales.

        The rocking of the boat also ensures flexibility, in two of my classes yesterday girl fell out of her chair because of the rocking. (There have been 10ft swells over the past few days. Definitely makes sleeping interesting with the drawers all slamming.)

        And you are living in confined quarters with your teachers. Most tell you to call them by their first name, you’ll see them at lunch, might end up playing with their kids... Actually none of the kids I played with were related to my professors. But you get the idea.

        The classes themselves seem interesting, and with the exception of the ship wide global studies course the classes are small. Each class has a component that has to be done in port, to try and connect the two. The professors have been all over the world and have insane back stories.

        Other than that it seems to be a typical college campus. I mean besides the fact that I did my reading on the top deck in the sun. And that it’s sometimes hard to walk in a straight line to your classes.

To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted- Bill Bryson

Day 1
        So I am finally aboard the Explore for a semester around the world. There are about 580 students from 241 universities, 23 life-long learners, and around 30 professors. It’s hard to find time to put things into words. SO for this 1st post I guess I’ll tell about the day.
        Getting to the ship itself is a pretty big adventure.  The bus I was on got stuck at the border because a girl had to pay for something, which was all rather odd.  But we got to see the dogs the border control has and a guy came on and played guitar for us, and then asked for tips which we should have known was coming. Funnily enough when we were stopped 50 miles from the border the same guy showed up on the side of the road. I’m really not sure how he got there but it did make to trip so much better.
        Once you get through registration and the lifeboat drill there is suppose to be an hour before departure from Mexico.  So everyone ends up gathered around the back of the ship ready to say goodbye to land. Then there’s an announcement   that the departure has been delayed due to immigration issues, leaving everyone to stay around the front to make sure they won’t miss the ship leaving when it happens.  So I somehow end up playing dodge ball with a group of college kids and two eight year olds. The eight year olds dominated most of the games that were played. Totally the highlight of this trip so far.  And that’s how day one went as a whole.  Everyone’s still figuring out how to get around the ship and trying to deal with seasickness (rough seas haven’t helped).
        On a side note anyone travel on the future with semester at sea should be aware of the picture in the cabins. If you can manage to pry it off the wall past voyagers leave messages and tips from when they were on, which is a cool find on the first day.