First Week

This week was my first week of classes. They went relatively well. One worth mentioning is Ceramics, where I will be required to submit around 15 projects (as someone who has never done any sort of 3-D art, this makes me very nervous, but also excited to learn something new). The week went pretty smoothly–I made it to each class on time, managed to figure out the public transportation system, and signed up for a few clubs. Me and the girls I’ve been hanging out with went on a few little adventures this week, although it is hard to do things Monday through Friday due to classes.

The Sunday before classes started, we went to Waikiki Beach for the first time. It was so busy with tons of tourists. And the beach was packed as well. But it was still nice to be on the sand and sunbathe. After that, we walked around town for a bit to check things out. We ended up getting ice cream at a 50’s diner called Rock Island Cafe.

During one of the weekday nights (I believe it was Thursday), we took a stroll around the area, and I ended up buying one of the best shaved ices I’ve had. It was strawberry and mango with ice cream on the bottom.

On Friday night, we went back to Waikiki, hoping to see the fireworks later that night. On the way there (as well as earlier that morning) we saw rainbows. We went in the ocean for a bit, and hopped up on the rock barrier (this stopped the waves). We watched the sunset at the beach, and ate at a burger place called Teddy’s Bigger Burgers. It was beginning to rain and we were pretty cold, so we decided we’d see the fireworks another night.

We wrapped up the week on a bang. Saturday, we started the day off at 5:30 AM, and journeyed to Diamond Head Crater. This crater is basically one of the biggest tourist attractions on the island–it is right near Waikiki, it isn’t too hard of a hike, and it has amazing views. Even that early in the morning, we ventured up the crater with hundreds of selfie-stick-wielding tourists. Our goal was to get there at sunrise, and we didn’t quite get to the hike in time due to confusion regarding the buses, and it was a little overcast as well. This put a damper on our spirits (along with the grueling steps leading to the top). But, it was so worth it. As we reached the highest point, the sun was beginning to peak through, casting golden rays onto the clear blue water. It was breath-taking. We took about a million pictures and made our way back down.

Right near the entrance leading to the hike was a farmers market that we decided to peek at. This too was extremely crowded, but again, it was worth walking through. I picked up some apple bananas, something that I have been searching for since arriving at the island. I remember eating these while vacationing in Hawaii previously, and they were amazing (smaller and sweeter than regular bananas). I also bought a bundle of yellow cherry tomatoes that were so sweet I couldn’t pass them up. Finally came the abundance of pineapple products. I sampled a pineapple/passion fruit juice that I couldn’t resist purchasing, as well as a halved pineapple with juice and a little umbrella straw (so tourist-y, but I don’t care). We ate our snacks and took a bus home.

A couple of hours later, we finally figured out which beach we wanted to go to that day. It had to be something somewhat nearby, due to the fact that storms could possibly have hit at any moment. So we landed on Makapu’u Beach.

Although it took figuring out the routes of three buses, we made it eventually. It was chilly, but we just had to go in the waves. They were big and strong, something much different than the still water in Waikiki. Makapu’u Beach was such a different atmosphere. There was hardly anyone there besides a few local boys playing games in the sand, and some guys riding the waves. There was even a few chickens roaming around the sand. It was such a beautiful location, seemingly hidden in plain sight. At this beach was the most fun I’ve had so far in Hawaii.