We spent our untraditional Thanksgiving in Hawaii. Family was exempt, home was distant, and typical customs were nonexistent. Ship dinner on the previous night included all the expected Thanksgiving foods so that piece of the puzzle had already been taken care of. Plans were not made, as with most other ports, and nationalism ran high. It had been over three months since stepping foot on American soil so the idea of an understandable language, currency, and culture was exciting. This day was clearly going to be more like the Fourth of July, rather than Thanksgiving.
We got out of port around 8:15am, easily snagging taxis. I will never take a common language for granted after this trip. Speaking to the cab driver in uninhibited English was refreshing, and almost a foreign idea in itself. We made our way to Walmart and immediately felt at home. After circumnavigating the world, making stops in so many impoverished areas, and taking classes that correspond to similar ideas, I expected to be more active in noticing labor differences, Made In China stickers, and overall cleanliness. Instead, it was a pretty typical super store-shopping trip, complete with two hundred SAS kids who had the same idea. The candy, alcohol, and beach toy aisles were raided and, for a second, I wondered if it was possible that everything was forgotten as we fell right back into our old ways. Perhaps Big Brother was successful in conditioning us to think that America is the only way. Or perhaps twenty years will always overcome three months, no matter the devastating, life changing experiences that those three months held. I wrote the notion off at the time, but today I have realized this was one more concept that is truly relative, as with most other things on this trip. The idea of change is relative- what was the starting point of this modification and in what direction, at what speed, did it occur? I expected to view everything in a different light, but perhaps, it will not be drastic- perhaps it will just be better in the sense that it will enhance the direction from which these once-everyday scenes are viewed.
After our Wal Mart invasion, we called the same taxi driver to take us to a black sand beach about twenty minutes away. We were with a huge group so the caravan of taxis was a clear sign that this beach of local Thanksgiving-celebrating families was about to be impacted. The far right side of the beach housed a cove that was perfect for us- beautiful and easy to access, but still protecting the families and other locals from our potentially invasive activities. There were around fifty of us there, with bags of snacks and jugs of spiked guava juice. It was an interesting scene and one that I’m happy was hidden from the general public. I had bought a water gun and a blowup pink inter-tube so my day centered on these thoroughly amusing beach toys. Throughout the day, many comments were made about picking up little pieces of trash and not leaving anything on the beach. I truly think that the attitude and outcome would have been completely different previous to the trip, before seeing other country’s, in specific India’s, rubbish situation. This was a small sign that this trip did more than show us all a good time. I climbed around the black rocks, using the phone that worked for the first time, calling relatives and friends. There were four turtles in the shallow area, sheltered by the high rocks, which were cool because they were so Hawaii-typical and so close and easily seen. I swam out and floated on the inter tube with two other friends for a while and had a water fight that reminded me a lot of the 4th of July. Spending a day with these people that have become so close and that would soon be on the other side of the country was fun in itself. It was great that we were in Hawaii but I’m aware that Hawaii, Costa Rica, and Honduras are not about the locations- they’re about the people. These people that we’ve traveled with, had life changing experiences with, gotten injured and sick with, and lived with will now be a five-hour flight away. This idea is sad and quite bizarre because of how close we’ve gotten over the past few months.
After the beach, we went to the downtown area, which was full of closed shops because of the holiday, and a small Farmer’s market. We sampled some of the fruits and talked with a girl working at a jewelry stand for a while. I’ve noticed how this trip has caused most of us to randomly talk to strangers a lot more. If the language barrier is surmountable, cab drivers, merchants, and locals in general undoubtedly provide the best experiences. We walked two miles to Ken’s Pancake House, which was the only place open for Thanksgiving meals. My friends all ordered pancakes, breakfast burritos, and hamburgers, but this seemed like blasphemy to me, so I ordered a Thanksgiving dinner. We then took a cab to the Rainbow Waterfall and hiked all around it, getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. Keep in mind that this entire time, including the diner and waterfall hike, I had the pink inter tube around me- pictures are a bit strange but it was a conversation starter throughout the day. A few of the guys swam at the top of the waterfall but it was freezing cold and we were cutting it close, so they made it quick and we headed back to the port in time for on-ship time.
It was a fast 10 hours but a very fun, unconventional way to spend Thanksgiving with great friends in a beautiful place. Nothing that usually reminds me of the holiday was present but, after these past months, I have never been more thankful on a Thanksgiving.
We got out of port around 8:15am, easily snagging taxis. I will never take a common language for granted after this trip. Speaking to the cab driver in uninhibited English was refreshing, and almost a foreign idea in itself. We made our way to Walmart and immediately felt at home. After circumnavigating the world, making stops in so many impoverished areas, and taking classes that correspond to similar ideas, I expected to be more active in noticing labor differences, Made In China stickers, and overall cleanliness. Instead, it was a pretty typical super store-shopping trip, complete with two hundred SAS kids who had the same idea. The candy, alcohol, and beach toy aisles were raided and, for a second, I wondered if it was possible that everything was forgotten as we fell right back into our old ways. Perhaps Big Brother was successful in conditioning us to think that America is the only way. Or perhaps twenty years will always overcome three months, no matter the devastating, life changing experiences that those three months held. I wrote the notion off at the time, but today I have realized this was one more concept that is truly relative, as with most other things on this trip. The idea of change is relative- what was the starting point of this modification and in what direction, at what speed, did it occur? I expected to view everything in a different light, but perhaps, it will not be drastic- perhaps it will just be better in the sense that it will enhance the direction from which these once-everyday scenes are viewed.
After our Wal Mart invasion, we called the same taxi driver to take us to a black sand beach about twenty minutes away. We were with a huge group so the caravan of taxis was a clear sign that this beach of local Thanksgiving-celebrating families was about to be impacted. The far right side of the beach housed a cove that was perfect for us- beautiful and easy to access, but still protecting the families and other locals from our potentially invasive activities. There were around fifty of us there, with bags of snacks and jugs of spiked guava juice. It was an interesting scene and one that I’m happy was hidden from the general public. I had bought a water gun and a blowup pink inter-tube so my day centered on these thoroughly amusing beach toys. Throughout the day, many comments were made about picking up little pieces of trash and not leaving anything on the beach. I truly think that the attitude and outcome would have been completely different previous to the trip, before seeing other country’s, in specific India’s, rubbish situation. This was a small sign that this trip did more than show us all a good time. I climbed around the black rocks, using the phone that worked for the first time, calling relatives and friends. There were four turtles in the shallow area, sheltered by the high rocks, which were cool because they were so Hawaii-typical and so close and easily seen. I swam out and floated on the inter tube with two other friends for a while and had a water fight that reminded me a lot of the 4th of July. Spending a day with these people that have become so close and that would soon be on the other side of the country was fun in itself. It was great that we were in Hawaii but I’m aware that Hawaii, Costa Rica, and Honduras are not about the locations- they’re about the people. These people that we’ve traveled with, had life changing experiences with, gotten injured and sick with, and lived with will now be a five-hour flight away. This idea is sad and quite bizarre because of how close we’ve gotten over the past few months.
After the beach, we went to the downtown area, which was full of closed shops because of the holiday, and a small Farmer’s market. We sampled some of the fruits and talked with a girl working at a jewelry stand for a while. I’ve noticed how this trip has caused most of us to randomly talk to strangers a lot more. If the language barrier is surmountable, cab drivers, merchants, and locals in general undoubtedly provide the best experiences. We walked two miles to Ken’s Pancake House, which was the only place open for Thanksgiving meals. My friends all ordered pancakes, breakfast burritos, and hamburgers, but this seemed like blasphemy to me, so I ordered a Thanksgiving dinner. We then took a cab to the Rainbow Waterfall and hiked all around it, getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. Keep in mind that this entire time, including the diner and waterfall hike, I had the pink inter tube around me- pictures are a bit strange but it was a conversation starter throughout the day. A few of the guys swam at the top of the waterfall but it was freezing cold and we were cutting it close, so they made it quick and we headed back to the port in time for on-ship time.
It was a fast 10 hours but a very fun, unconventional way to spend Thanksgiving with great friends in a beautiful place. Nothing that usually reminds me of the holiday was present but, after these past months, I have never been more thankful on a Thanksgiving.
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