Aloha, Hawaii

Hilo, Hawaii

This morning started off with Loco Moco for breakfast, a concoction comprised of rice, a beef patty topped with mushroom and gravy, topped off with two eggs. While I’m not much for hamburgers sautéed with mushrooms for my first meal of the day, it proved to be a cultural experience. Then we spent time walking around the famous Hilo Farmers Market where I learned more about Hawaiian produce than I ever thought possible. I’m hoping that all of those fun pearls of wisdom that Katie left me with will someday win me big money on Jeopardy. J We also started off the day with ice cream from a local shop downtown that was closed the night before. If you’ve never had Kona coffee ice cream for a mid-morning snack, you haven’t lived. If there would have been a way to smuggle it back on the ship, I would have. We then spent the remainder of the day touring the various beaches around Hilo, including the closest black sand beach. This beach had literally 30 feet of honest to goodness black sand. It wasn’t quite as glamorous as I’d seen in postcards, but it was still pretty cool to see sand that was once lava. For lunch, we ate our leftovers from the night before (I got pineapple friend rice that actually came in a pineapple!) and had more ice cream. Dragonfruit sorbet anyone? Delish. We then spent a couple hours perusing the shops downtown before parting ways. It was incredibly wonderful to see an old friend and spend some time exploring a new place together.

After getting back on the ship, we watched the US fade from view for the last time before setting sail for Japan. (Well actually we had to stop in Honolulu first to refuel, but we couldn’t get off the ship, so really it was just a tease.) After dinner, I hosted my very first post-port reflection, a time for all members of the shipboard community to come share their thoughts about the port. I think the dialogue went well and some interesting ideas were brought to the table. Of course after AmeriCorps and living and breathing service learning for the past two years, I am always on the lookout for what I can do better and how I can make reflection an integral part of this experience for everyone involved. I think spending the time to reflect for myself will help. For now, the goal is to learn as much as I can while I’m here.