The Belo USA trip to Hawaii has truly been and educational /travel experience that I will never forget and I feel privileged to have been a part of it. One aspect of this trip that deserves comment is how well organized it was and how smoothly it ran. We were a group of 62 individuals- with 62 different personalities with a broad range of opinions interests and tastes. Collectively we represented 23 different countries and more than a dozen states in the USA. Despite that, we operated as one tight unit- like a family- and never missed a beat. Raphael- you are remarkable!
It is hard to believe that we are only here a week. It seems as if we have been in Hawaii for so much longer than that. We have covered so much territory and experienced so many different aspects of Hawaiian life and culture in such a short amount of time. Each and every day has been so action packed incorporating cultural, historical and leisure activities- like surfing, snorkeling, kayaking, and hiking atop a volcano not to mention learning a whole new Hawaiian vocabulary.
It would be difficult for me to identify one activity, event or day as my favorite as they were all so unique but I can honestly say that I will never forget the visit to Pearl Harbor this morning. The memorial itself was fascinating, moving and extremely emotional for me. That I expected. What touched me so tremendously was the dignity and respect shown by each and every student in our group. I watched with pride as our exchanged students removed their caps in a show of respect, watched the film so intently, read the plaques and conducted themselves with the respect befitting this national memorial.
This trip was as close to perfect as it gets. We all learned so much, experienced so many “once in a lifetime’ thing’s, laughed all day long and made lifetime friends and memories. Thank you Belo USA for organizing this wonderful trip and for being such a valuable part of international educational exchange.
Michael Shanley
Alohaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa kakahiakaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!
We are just got back from a looooooong trip. We guess that today has been one of the busiest but most exciting day ever!!!!
Some of us went surfing and running this morning... some just to enjoy the amazing Hawaiian life or just to be faithful to the track coach!!
After the normal breakfast with ocean panorama, everybody went on the bus, going around Honolulu, the State Capital. Here is enclosed the history of Hawaii. The Capital building is a metaphor of Hawaii: There are 8 islands in Hawaii and so there were 8 columns in the front of building. All around there is water symbolizing the Pacific Ocean and the building is opened at the top in order to remind the volcanoes in Hawaii. After funny pictures with the statue of the king Kamehameha we went to the most famous pineapple plantation in the whole world. A typical pineapple ice cream is necessary... we need energy for the next chapter of the trip: North store!!!! It is considered the heaven for surfers.
First we went to the surfer village Haleiwa. There most of the students enjoyed the big burgers of the local place. The burgers were soooooooooooooooooo good! Some waited also a long time in the line to get the best shave ice of the whole island. After shopping and sightseeing we went to Sunset beach. This place is considered the real heaven for surfers. The waves were huge! We thought we could take pictures close to the water because we are faster than the waves but everybody got wet even if we were not supposed to. (The bus had just been cleaned).
The last part of the day we spent our time at the Polynesian Culture Center where we learned a lot about the people that have written the history of Hawaii. A lot of guys (and we mean males) enjoyed the Tahiti show with its typical shaking hips dance and the girls instead enjoyed the muscles of the Samoa guy playing with the fire. Matej was called up on stage to volunteer to try the coconut milk. Yumyum.
At 6 o’clock we had buffet for dinner and a few chocolate chip cookies before going to a special cultural show. The setting was beautiful and we got to see parts of all the Polynesian islands. After the show ended around 9 we made our way back to the hotel.
Now everybody has gone to bed dreaming about the day just spent and getting ready for a new day in paradise filled with hiking, catamaran tour, shopping and maybe some more surfing for some people.
Ruut Hanhikorpi - Finland
Raphael Schmid - Switzerland
Stefano Riva - Italy
Josefin Axen - Sweden
Aloha kakaiaka!
After another delicious breakfast with an amazing view over Waikiki Beach, we rode to Pali Lookout in our bus. On the way, our awesome Samoan bus driver, Junior, told us interesting stories about Hawaii and its history. Fortunately the rain stopped just before we arrived there (it is one of the wettest places on the island). While we were there, we were able to take pictures of the beautiful scenery and we also chased wild chickens!
It was pretty cloudy so we crossed our fingers for the sun to come out again. From there, we drove to Kailua- a beautiful beach town on the east side of the island. Most of us kayaked for a few hours, but some of us stayed on the beach and had a great time playing volleyball, swimming and relaxing.
Kailua had a great restaurant called Muzz's, where some of us ate lunch and took it easy. The kayakers didn't have a relaxing time at all- we had the workout of our lives! But it was worth the hard work hen we saw the beautiful island and the beach there. After kayaking the waves and wind (some of us fell in the water and saw sea turtles), we safely landed on the island, where there is a bird sanctuary. Sandwiches for lunch… and a lot of sand and sunscreen. We all enjoyed the white sand and turquoise water, and were rewarded with red skin.
After a rainy bus ride and hot showers, we had a great dinner at the "lua’u" (Hawaiian for "a diverse buffet" or "smorgasbord"). Excited but exhausted, we're looking forward to another amazing day in Hawaii!
ALOHA
Niki Sitkovich (Austria)
Sarah Michalowski (Germany)
Katya Marti (Switzerland)
