Hawaii Day 1 - January 4th 2008

ALOHA!!
I couldn't have asked for a better way to start off 2009! This is like my birthday present, christmas, graduation, everything -- all rolled up in one!
So I got to the airport this morning around 6 am and got on my plane at 7 am. The plane had mechanical problems and i had a connection flight in Seattle! Sooo...my professor, Raja Tanas and I got off that plane and got one that was going to take us to Portland, Oregon and from there we would go to Honolulu. I was moved from a seat in the back to 1E- In the Front!! sweet right?! Yea, my professor was a little upset because he had paid $200 more for his ticket than i had and he sat in the very back - on both flights!! (that was my lucky moment #1)
So then I met a girl on the first plane who was from Hawaii, she's lived here for 3 1/2 years. wanted to keep talking to her ... but she fell asleep! Because our plane got rerouted and stuff and we were going to arrive to Honolulu 5 hours later than planned...we got some free meal vouchers to eat lunch at the Portland airport.
Anyway...got to portland and then got on our flight to Honolulu, Oahu! 6 HOURS! yea, it was long! Met some really nice people on the plane, the lady next to me gave me some cheese to snack on! lol - okay cheese is not that cool, but hey she was nice!
then the guy next to me..wow..I was praying hard because he drank like 6 little bottles of Bacardi stuff... yea..(stinky!) but I was able to talk to him a little bit about Jesus! And hey, go figure, he used to go to church. That was a good conversation!
I watched Nights in Rodanthe on the plane and E True Hollywood Story - Celine Dion (did you know she had 13 siblings! wow!) Anyway...
Now to the good stuff...
HAWAII!
got off the plane..Smelled the air and it put the biggest smile on my face! My parents called me as soon as i got off the plane. It was AWESOME! I had to take off my little jacket. Absolutely Perfect temperature!
got our luggage and this lady said, "do you want my cart!" - (lucky moment #2!)...got on a shuttle really fast, went to get the rented car, got lost for a little bit looking for my hotel! (we actually passed it like 5 times and never saw it! it was fancy smanshy and i didn't think it was mine! ) RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE BEACH! (lucky moment #3!!!!) No joke, i can walk across the street, and its sand and then ocean! I will post pictures of that tomorrow because it was too dark for pictures of the beach already!

So I got to my hotel and loved it instantly! i was SO excited. My room is absolutely adorable and the hotel is beautiful! And they have pineapple scented soaps! sweet! there's a little window that doesn't actually get closed up, and you can see out to the other hotels and to the palm trees and the beach! I was so ecstatic and excited and all the fun words that start with E that show how awesome this trip is, that I cried! you have to understand that i felt SO blessed at that moment. This is something that I've always wanted to do and now I'm here and everything is going so smoothly!
So I took a little walk to the shops right next to the hotel while I waited for my professor to let me know if he was going to have time to go out for dinner with some of the other students that were supposed to be here today too...but they didn't get here. Sooo...I resorted to Mcdonalds! it was right next door and the guy at reception desk of the hotel suggested that I not go alone anywhere at night because it might be dangerous...not a lot but a little bit! so mcdonalds was like 3 minutes away! $8 for a meal...a little more than back at home, but not that bad! and guess what..you get PINEAPPLE with your meals! go figure! lol :)
The shops are great! So much stuff!-wish i had an empty suitcase to take a bunch of stuff with me! The cutest dresses and swimsuits and all sorts of artifacts! I'll take pictures of that later!
BIG waterfalls, LOTS of palm trees, SPECTACULAR weather, AND the OCEAN AND SAND! Wow, is all I can say, and obviously I am not speechless because I already wrote a Novel for a blog -that's just how amazing it feels to be here!
and there is definitely more to come!
Mahalo Mom and Dad! - this is the coolest present EVER! love you!!
ALOHA!
LOVE, Val