Well it's Day 1 in Hawaii. I'm staying at Hawaii Mission Academy with about 40 other SM's going to the same place. They all seem like pretty fun people, at least so far haha. I feel like I should give some type of disclaimer right about now so here goes. If you know me, I crack cheesy jokes and I've never written a blog. Therefore, the contents of this blog will probably be hard to follow or just plain… cheesy. Also, until I get my camera or steal photos from other people, there really won't be any photos either. Anyways!
It’s kind of difficult to really pinpoint where my day "started" because I took almost all night to pack my bags so I really didn’t have a "wake-up" point. After finally getting everything squared away for the mission trip around 4 AM, I showered and rushed out of the house with my mom and dad. After an all-too short car-ride, we arrived at the airport where we got checked in. Saying good-bye was pretty hard because I wouldn’t be able to see them for the next 10 months which will be the most time I've spent away from home in my 22 years of life.
On the way in, I met up with Michael Cain and Brittany Webster who were also going on mission trips as well this coming year. I found it kind of comforting that there would be people that I would already know when going on my mission trip. The first flight from Orlando to San Diego was pretty uneventful except for them playing an episode of Hawaii 5-0 which I found pretty funny considering that I was going to Hawaii first (I know I'm easily amused). Unfortunately, the elderly woman sitting beside me did not want to relinquish the armrest and kept her arm over on my side of the seat.
On the way in, I met up with Michael Cain and Brittany Webster who were also going on mission trips as well this coming year. I found it kind of comforting that there would be people that I would already know when going on my mission trip. The first flight from Orlando to San Diego was pretty uneventful except for them playing an episode of Hawaii 5-0 which I found pretty funny considering that I was going to Hawaii first (I know I'm easily amused). Unfortunately, the elderly woman sitting beside me did not want to relinquish the armrest and kept her arm over on my side of the seat.
When we got to San Diego, the three of us searched for food. Since I didn’t want to pay for a $17 steak and cheese dish, I opted to walk down the terminal (Later, I joked about the irony of the word choice for "terminal") for a $9 cheeseburger. When we got to the connecting flight's terminal, we met up with some more SM's who had flown in from Washington. We all boarded without a hitch and flew to Honolulu.
When we got there, I was actually kind of disappointed that there weren't Hawaiian people there to give me a lei as I got off the plane but I was surprised when Gale Moore (our SM coordinator from Southern) found us and gave us real leis made from real flowers! Pictures to probably come later! The weather there in Hawaii is every bit as awesome as other people make it out to be. Whenever it felt like it was just a tad bit too hot, there would always be a little breeze to kind of balance things out. We quickly loaded up on a yellow school-bus and arrived at Hawaii Mission Academy a short while afterwards.
While at HMA, I was given a crash course on how to be an effective teacher, missionary, and also what to expect when going to the islands. I realized that in order to really understand someone, you really must understand why their culture makes them who they are which wont only help me as a missionary reach people out in other countries but even the USA as well.
There were a lot of meetings but we did get some time to hang out on the island. During the 2 full days that we were on the island, we had the opportunity to go to either the beach or on a mountain-ish hike up a man-made trail that gave a beautiful view of the sunrise or even just hang out in a hammock. (Again! Pictures to probably come later!) We also had some time to go shopping at the market. While there, I got to see a Hawaiian hula dance. Those hula dancers really knew how to shake haha. One of them managed to dance on 1 leg and even squatted down a bit too. I wanted to get some souvenirs but didn’t because I wouldn’t be able to get them to the people I wanted to give them to for about a year. I don't think they'll mind given that some of them were postcards of well, we'll say less than attractive people in minimal clothing smiling with what's left of their teeth.
The time in Hawaii seemed a bit too short but since we couldn't all just stay we had to leave to our own individual islands...
*fun story* I met a guy named Carl Dupper (he's pretty amazing at playing the accordian - video to come later). He also brought a hammock and wanted to sleep outside so he set it up between these 2 palm trees and went to bed. In the morning, I found his hammock strung right outside our room. Apparently, the lights are kept on all night and even worse, the sprinklers came on at 3 am and gave him a nasty wake up call!
*fun story* I met a guy named Carl Dupper (he's pretty amazing at playing the accordian - video to come later). He also brought a hammock and wanted to sleep outside so he set it up between these 2 palm trees and went to bed. In the morning, I found his hammock strung right outside our room. Apparently, the lights are kept on all night and even worse, the sprinklers came on at 3 am and gave him a nasty wake up call!
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