Week 12: 3/19-3/25

Sunday: Green Sand Beach

I was still so tired from last week that I slept through the night without a problem and slept for another 10 hours. Between yesterday and last night I slept 18 hours. I woke up this morning around 7:30 am so that I could make it to the Green Sand Beach with the Outdoor Edventure club. We drove down to south point but made a quick stop at punaluʻu bake shop to get malasadas. When we were done eating, we headed down to Green Sand beach. We made the 3 mile hike to get there and then spent about 3 hours there. Stefanie and I spent a few minutes taking pictures of the beach. It is just incredible. When you get there you have to go down the side of a cliff but don’t worry it’s not that hard to do but make sure you watch your step. GREEN SANDS IS SOOO COOL! The sand is actually green, it’s not like green green or lime green or anything but has a green tint (man I used the word green a lot in that sentence J). We all swam and had fun jumping and swimming in the waves. It was a lot of fun. When we were done swimming we walked back the three miles in the sun. We were all so hot that we asked to stop and get ice cream at Punaluʻu. I got Mac Nut Ice cream which was so yummy. When we were done, we made the 2-hour drive back to Hilo. My friends and I went and grabbed dinner in the dining hall and then I went back to my room and went to bed.

Monday: STUDYING

Today I spent the day studying. I went to my classes. In my Ohana class, we gave our presentations on one of the Hawaiian royals. My group, Emma, Alexa and I, gave our presentation on Kamehameha the Great. He was the first king of Hawaii and is the one who united all of the Hawaiian Islands. Fun fact, he didn’t actually conquer Kauai like the rest of the islands. The chief of Kauai told him that when he dies he will give Kauai to Kamehameha in order to keep from any more blood to be shed. Along with this he also created a law called the splintered paddle that protects young children, older couples and people who are not carrying weapons to lay down in the ground and not be attacked during time of wars. After that class I went to my aquaculture class and we talked about flow through systems. When my class was done, I grabbed lunch with Michaela and then spent the afternoon doing homework and I took a nap. Then I went and grabbed dinner and went back to my room and studied some more.

Tuesday: Study

In my global change class, we had a guest speaker come and talk to us about Overfishing and the affects that is having on us and the oceans. In my Volcanoes and Earthquakes class we talked about the different faults. In Coral Reef Ecology we reviewed for the exam and talked about good study strategies. When my classes were over I went to the library to study for a little bit and then I ran into Anita outside of the library and studied while she did some work too. Then I went back to my dorm and studied.

Wednesday: Free Lunch and Study

In Ohana class we continued giving our presentations. In Aquaculture we talked about different types of cages. After that I went to the library to study for a little bit until Alexa got out of class. Then the two of us walked to Free lunch together and sat around talking to people for a little bit. Then I went back to the library and studied until I was starving and had to go get dinner. Then after dinner I went back to my room and studied until I needed to sleep.

Thursday: Exam

This week has really just been me getting ready for my exam in coral reef ecology. This is the class I am the most stressed about just because I have a hard time with biology to begin with. I don’t know how I did on the exam but I think, or at least I hope, that I did better on this one. Who knows, we will see. After my class I went back to my room and spend a little bit studying for my Ohana exam tomorrow morning and so I could pack and get ready for spring break! I am soo excited to see my grandparents and get to show them around the island for the next three weeks. It is going to be a ton of FUN!!

Friday: Exam/SPRING BREAK BEGINS!

This morning, I took my Hawaiian ‘Ohana exam that I missed last week while I was doing my site visit to Oregon. It was super easy! I got a 103 on it!! Whooo! I am a pro at all things Hawaiian now…not really but I am learning a lot. I have definitely gotten better at speaking Hawaiian. As soon as I got done with class Emma dropped me off at the airport and I was on my way to Honolulu and to see my grandparents. When I got off the plane I had a hard time finding my grandparents but it really only took a couple minutes. When I saw them I gave them a big hug and we headed straight for our hotel. We were close to the airport which was super nice because we had easy access to downtown Honolulu and to all of the Highways. We dropped my stuff off in the room and then we headed out to Dole Planation. It was so neat. I grew up hearing my dad talk about it all the time and how the fresh pineapple is amazing and tastes so good and that one day you need to go to Hawaii and experience it well…now I have. Dad you were right the pineapple and the Dole Whips were AMAZING! Dole Whips have nothing on normal pineapple ice cream. While we were at Dole we also took the Dole train and went around the plantation and saw some of the pineapple field and the fields of other fruit trees they grow. At the same time, I had the Sweet sixteen game on and I was listening to my boys move on to the Elite 8 in the NCAA tournament. It was a really neat experience! When we got off the train, we walked around the gardens and got to see some of the papaya, banana, and pineapple trees up close along with tons of palm trees and flowers. We stayed at Dole until the planation closed. Then we traveled towards North Shore and drove around the town exploring and then we went to one of the beaches and looked at the waves. THEY ARE SO BIG! It was so neat to see them for myself. When we were done exploring North Shore, we went back to the Hotel and grabbed dinner in the Hotel Restaurant and relaxed the rest of the night so we would be well rested for tomorrow.

Saturday: Pearl Harbor

Today was incredible and absolutely heart wrenching. My grandparents and I spent the day at Pearl Harbor. We got there around 9 am so that we could see as much as possible. We signed up for the Arizona tour and got free tickets. Since we got free tickets, we decided to buy tickets to go see Missouri. Our tour for the Arizona was at 11:15 so we had a little while to explore and looked at some of the monuments around. We walked through the exhibits and the gift shops. When it got close to time we moved to the check in spot and sat down. A couple minutes later, a high school choir from Georgia came over and started to sing America the Beautiful and Amazing Grace. It was so beautiful. It was so touching and it made me cry. It was a great way to honor those who had lost their life protecting the USA. When it was time to go in we all lined up along the path and walked into watch the introduction video about how the attacked happened. When the video was over, we took a quick boat ride to the Arizona. We got to spend about 30 minutes in the Arizona memorial. I never thought I would get the chance to see Pearl Harbor. I just can’t believe that I actually got to go. While on the memorial someone on my boat brought flowers with her so she could throw them over the Arizona. She gave a few to me and my grandmother so we could throw some over board too. It was very touching. When we got off the boat and were back at the main entrance, we grabbed a quick sandwich lunch and had a picnic on a bench looking at the memorial. When we were done, we got on the bus that takes us to Ford Island and the Missouri battleship. While on the Missouri battleship, we were given a tour and told all about the history and the operation of the ship. The Missouri was decommissioned and recommissioned a few times before it made it to its final resting spot in Pearl Harbor. The only other time Missouri was in Pearl Harbor was three years after Pearl Harbor was hit and then she was only there for a couple days at most. Pete and I explored some of the lower parts of the ship and walked around and explored the living quarters. While we were walking around all day I was carrying a picture of one of the graduate students in my lab. She has attempted to go to Pearl Harbor 4 times, but was never able to go so I thought why not take a picture of her so she can have a picture of herself at pearl harbor. It was a fun way and reminded me of when I was a kid and my brothers did the flat Stanley project. I guess you can say I had a flat Blaire with me today J. When we were done exploring we hopped back on the bus and went back to the main entrance. We spent a little more time looking around and then we got back in our car and drove to the hotel where my grandparents took a nap and I decided to write some of my blog and download pictures. When they woke up from there nap we went and ate dinner in the hotel again because we were all so tired from being out in the heat all day and we all went to bed nice and early so we could go on some other amazing and beautiful adventures.

#GreenSandBeach #STUDYING #SPRINGBREAK #PearlHarbor #DolePlantation