ONCE IN A LIFETIME
Priceless, irreplaceable, unique, life changing; these are just a handful of words that merely begin to describe my Huaka'i (journey) in Hawaii during the summer of 2011. Not only did I bring back gifts and mementos for my friends and family, but also once in a lifetime memories and stories to share with everyone. I encountered many thrilling experiences which most of the people who live on the island don’t even get the opportunity to do. It gave me the opportunity to meet new people, and it was a glimpse of what college may be like. I learned a lot of interesting aspects of marine biology. Someone once said, “Wisdom is the daughter of experience.” People learn best by experiencing and trying new things that interest them. On this trip, learning about marine biology was taken to the next level in my book, and I feel like I learned a lot more on this trip than I expected to because I got to be so interactive with the subject.
Most, if not practically all of my favorite memories from this trip were made with Suzie and Erin! It would take me weeks to write about all of the memories I have with those two, but I guess just a few will have to do. My favorite with Erin would have to be the night we were “studying” for finals. Suzie and I are sitting on her bed and Erin is lying on her bed. In a previous conversation, Suzie was saying something about how us three have become such great friends and wouldn’t be able to get rid of each other even if we tried. So, about 10 or 15 minutes after that conversation, Erin sits up and says, “Did you know there is a little crab that lives in the butt of a sea cucumber?” And then she looks straight at Suzie and says, “I’m like the crab and you’re the sea cucumber… You’ll never be able to get rid of me!” And then a creepy little “hehehe” to finish it off. Suzie and I were laughing so hard and I started crying I was laughing so much. Erin, still sitting on her bed, barely even smiling, just looked at us like we are a couple of freaks! Apparently she was being dead serious about that crab comment!
My favorite memory with Suzie is not very appropriate to put on the blog. So, my second favorite memory with Suzie would have to be the night we first really became friends. We were playing pool and everything seemed to be moving along as usual. I was down to two or three balls and Suzie had at least 5 or 6 left. I sunk into a slump and couldn’t make anything to save my life for probably 7 or 8 shots, but I began to notice even though Suzie hadn’t really made too many, they were somehow magically disappearing from the table. So I asked Suzie, “So tell me how you’ve become so great at pool that you can make your balls disappear without actually making any shots?” Suzie replied, “I have no clue what you are talking about,” and while she was saying this, she just nonchalantly pushes the closest ball into one of the pockets and then just looks at me. Of course, this stare down didn’t last for more than 5 seconds and we both just started laughing our heads off! We started playing our second game, and I didn’t know if we were just a bit too slap happy or if it was just our normal selves but we could not look at each other for more than 10 seconds without one if not both of us busting out laughing. We were a little bit too slap happy because anything, I mean anything anyone said, we found it hilarious and started laughing so hard we could barely even shoot! Suzie started playing the second game exactly like the first, only this time she didn’t really try to hide it. I of course didn’t care because I was still winning, so I let her do it. After about 20 minutes I realized she was down to the 8 ball, and I still had 3 or 4 balls left! Suzie sank the 8 ball on her next shot. She shouts, “I WIN!!” I just shook my head in disbelief and looked at her and said, “Let’s just go to lunch.”
The story of how I became known as Goat Girl is pretty interesting, maybe a little concerning. We are on our hike back up from Pololu Valley. It’s Madeline, Suzie, and I bringing up the rear of the group, followed by Lynch and Hartman. So Madeline and Suzie were talking and Madeline said, “After this hike, I think we should be considered honorary mountain goats!” I was a little ways ahead of them but still close enough to hear what Madeline said. So I stopped and pondered for a minute. Then I turned around and said, “Oh jeez, I almost made myself sound really stupid.” Suzie asked, “Why?!” I replied, “Because I almost just said “Neigh!”” Suzie was laughing so hard she almost fell backward! I, of course, was crying from so much laughter! And I don’t think I’ve ever seen Madeline laugh so much in her life! Lynch and Hartman finally caught up to us and asked if we were alright. Suzie and I both said, “You don’t wanna know…” and continued laughing for another good 5 minutes before we could stop. Another one of my favorite memories was when I saw my first shooting star, which happened to be during my first star gazing experience. It was Lynch, Hartman, Suzie, Erin, Hannah, Laura, India, and I and we went out star gazing after we had come back from learning to hula. I bet you could see millions of stars! It was amazing! So, there we all are just laying on our towels/sweatshirts, staring up at the sky, making small talk just so it wasn’t awkward silence the whole time. Truthfully, I was only half listening to what ever was being said. I’m in the middle of saying something to Lynch and all of a sudden a bright, glistening streak just shoots across the sky! Everyone was screaming, “AAHH!!!” “Oh my gosh!” “Did you see that?!” I believe the first words to come out of my mouth were, “OH… MEN… DAH!” (Suzie and Erin, you should get that little joke if you guys read this.)
All of the new and interesting experiences I got to do were amazing! My most amazing snorkeling experience, hands down, would have to be at Crystal Cove. The crystal clear waters made it amazingly easy to see all the different varieties of fish and coral. I also took my first dive down under there too! It’s crazy how much colder the water is not even 10 ft below the surface. The calm waters made it a lot easier to swim around more and to stay in one spot if you were looking down at something. I never really thought about how much life there is in that small of an area. I knew the ocean is teaming with all different types of life but I never really tried to picture how many animals really live under the sea. It was also very neat to see all the different flowers, trees, plants, and the occasional waterfall on all the hikes. Each hike was so much different from the one before it. And each one had its own special quality.
For anyone in the near future who decides to go on a trip like this, bring a camera, lots of batteries (I probably had to change mine at least 8 or 9 times), and a journal! I was so glad I wrote down what I did each day. I mean, sure I’ll always try to remember how much fun I had and all the neat things I got to do, but memories eventually begin to fade and lose their detail that make the moments come alive when you’re retelling a story. Now, I can look back at all my journals and my pictures and I’ll never forget all of the little details that go along with each picture or each journal entry.
Looking back on the trip, I can’t think of anything I regret or would want to change. I made lots of new friends and got to experience things I never even dreamed I’d be able to one day; I got a “preview” of what college may be like and just had the time of my life! And for those of you who get to read this and are interested in going on a trip like this, go for it! It really is a once in a lifetime experience! “Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience” (Paulo Coelho).
