First Port!

September 3, 2006
Aloha! Yesterday was our first stop in port, and it was absolutely perfect. We docked really early and a lot of people got up at 5:30 to go out and watch the sunset but I slept in until 7:30 so that I wasn’t too tired all day. We all had to go through a customs process because we were coming from mexico so we were called up by our halls and had to bring our ID and get our passports from the faculty lounge (the ship holds on to them while we don’t need them so nobody loses theirs). We just walked through and had our ID and passports checked by a customs official and then we all waited in the hallways for every person to be cleared before we could get off. We finals got off the ship around 9:30am and I headed out with Corrine (from Walnut Creek) and her roommate Natanya to go shopping at the big mall in Honolulu before heading down to Waikiki. We went to Duke’s for lunch after walking about 2 miles down there in the hot sun and we were exhausted. We kept running into semester at sea kids everywhere, and it seems like everyone pretty much knows each other or at least recognized each other after being on the ship together for a week. We laid out on the beach and swam a little bit, a lot of people went snorkeling, hiking, sky diving, and some even went shark cage diving. But I didn’t really want to risk my life in the first port of the trip so I stuck to the beach J And don’t worry dad, I never turned by back to the ocean!
There is a statue of an old surfer on the sidewalk in Waikiki and I guess there is the same statue in Santa Cruz so all the bay area people took a picture in front of it which was fun. I’ll post pictures soon once I figure it all out. We went to dinner in the international marketplace with a few guys who go to Stanford then had to catch cabs on our way back to get to the dock before 8pm because on ship time was 9 and there is always a line to get back in and swipe your card after going through customs. They pat you down pretty seriously and check all of your stuff. A lot of people got in trouble for trying to sneak alcohol on board and the “sheriff” of the ship wasn’t too happy about that. No mom, I didn’t break any rules or try to J I’m not getting myself kicked off of a trip like this! I was trying to think of any other exciting things to tell everyone and I realized I don’t think I mentioned the Spa! It’s amazing. It’s on the 7th deck and it’s like a LaBelle on board. They have manis/pedis, massages, facials, saunas, spray tanning and more. I figure after a tough exam I might treat myself to a pedicure…or relieve some stress with a massage. I just had my two morning classes (abnormal pscyh and global studies) and now I’m going to head to the 7th deck for some sun and reading.
I’ll write again soon, but the next week is pretty much just classes and trying to entertain ourselves before we finally make it to Japan. Thanks for the emails and comments…good to hear from anyone!