Click here for current times in Honolulu, Hawai'i, and the East Coast of the U.S.
Click here for weather in Honolulu, Hawai'i
(note: this is one of my pre-scheduled posts set to appear at 5:00am EST each morning I am in a port city. I will post follow-up information about each trip once I am able to get back on the computer.)
The ship is scheduled to arrive at 0600 in Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA.
We will be in Hawai'i for only 1 day.
Today I'm going to go to the Global Nomads Group broadcast that they are doing from the ship from 8:30 am until 9:30 am. Archbishop Tutu has agreed to participate in this program so it should be interesting to watch him participate in the broadcast.
After the broadcast, I am going to rent a car for the day because it apparently will be well worth it to spend $35 or so on a car rental instead of getting taxis to go places. Students aren't allowed to rent cars in any of the ports so I guess that's another nice thing about being a faculty member on this trip. Also nice is the fact that if you are over 25 you don't need to pay extra to rent a car in the U.S.
Prior to leaving for the Semester at Sea voyage, I ordered a "Go Oahu" card for $59 (a one-day card) from the website www.gooahucard.com. Having the card will allow me to have admission to lots of attractions and tours on the island. I will probably try to hit most of the main attractions that I have access to with this card today.
I am going to be going skydiving too I think (unless I completely chicken out - no payment has been made yet!). The reservation has been made for 1:30 pm at a place called Skydive Hawaii. One of the students in my classes said she wanted to go so we booked the reservation a few days ago. She has since gotten several of her friends to go as well so I think she added them to our reservation. I'm nervous, but you have to figure that now is the best time in my life to do something like this - no young children yet, no spouse. It's a scary thing to do, but you have to figure that it's probably no more dangerous than driving a car. Besides, if it's your time to go, it's your time to go...you might as well be doing something fun and making the most out of life. That's my thinking at least. Since it will obviously be a tandem jump, I have to figure I'll be strapped to someone who knows what he/she is doing...so all I have to do is enjoy the experience. Everyone who has done skydiving in South Africa said it is well worth it, so I guess this is my chance to try it. I know it will only be a one-time thing for me, so I'm getting it out of the way on this trip and then I can say I experienced it!
Other things I need to do today are to try to find a Best Buy or Circuit City type of place so I can buy another memory card for my camera (I've already gone through one 2 GB card and am almost at the end of my second 2 GB card. I also need to find a post office so I can mail back the following:
- my receipts for the expenses of shipping teaching materials to and from the ship to the Institute for Shipboard Education (Faculty get reimbursed up to $200 for this.)
- my extra foreign currency (no coins) to the Foreign Currency Exchange Corp.
- two boxes of books and DVDS that I used to teach my classes - I'll ship these back home via Media Mail since I don't care when they get back to me (though we really aren't supposed to take any boxes off the ship because I guess that is the deal with customs that we don't do that until San Diego...so if I do try to mail anything back it has to be something small enough that I can put in a backpack so that I'm not carrying boxes off the ship - maybe I'll just fill up a backpack with books once or twice and just go buy some boxes at an Office Max or Staples)
I may also go to a beach. Emily (the nurse) said she is thinking about renting a surfboard for the day and that she has heard that Hawai'i is a good place for beginners to learn how to surf. Maybe I'll meet up with her at some point. I'm not sure yet.
I also just got word that Lesley (the resident director from Hawai'i) is going to make a big group reservation at a restaurant called Duke's so some people might meet up there at 7:00 pm for dinner.
Some links relating to today's trips...
The ship is scheduled to depart at 2400 from Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA.
NEXT DESTINATION: San Diego, California, USA, on Monday, May 14, 2007, at 0800.
Click here for current times in San Diego, California, and the East Coast of the U.S.
Click here for weather in San Diego, California
Update:
More coming soon. Short version:
view of the port in Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA from the ship
Attended the Global Nomads Group broadcast conducted on the ship with Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu waiting to speak to students in classrooms in the U.S. via video conference during a Global Nomads Group broadcast in Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA
Archbishop Desmond Tutu speaking with classrooms in the U.S. via video conference during a Global Nomads Group broadcast in Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA
Global Nomads Group video from the video conference in Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA
(click here for bigger version of the video)
Global Nomads Group video from the video conference in Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA
(click here for bigger version of the video)
Global Nomads Group video from the video conference in Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA
(click here for bigger version of the video)
Went skydiving. Still alive. Took up most of the day, lots of waiting at the place because there were lots of Semester at Sea students there (around 30 or more). Not really scared at all even though I was the last of the four people in my plane to jump, so I got to see all the others get sucked/jump out of the plane before me. 40 seconds of falling, all through a cloud. Good view once in parachute mode though. I took video with my still camera that was looped around my wrist while going down.
video of my pre-skydiving experience in Hawai'i
(click here for bigger version of the video)
skydiving video - part 1
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skydiving video - part 2
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skydiving video - part 3
(click here for bigger version of the video)
Photos are now posted, but I still need to get some more photos of me that are on other people's cameras. After skydiving went to Waikiki beach area and walked around then met up with friends from the ship.
Waikiki, Hawai'i, USA
video in Waikiki, Hawaii, USA
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shopping area in Waikiki, Hawai'i, USA
some longer video I took in Waikiki and Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA
(click here for bigger version of the video)
Didn't rent a car after all and didn't use the Go Oahu card at all. Hopefully I can resell it on ebay since I haven't used it. Will write more detail when more time.
