I couldn't really give this blog entry the title of "Hawaii" since I was only there for 8 hours, compared to 18 days on the Pacific Ocean. But after 9 days of sailing and working, it was a nice break AND Thanksgiving. I think 99% of the ship took the bus to Waikiki beach, just 5 miles away, but I was tipped off by a former librarian who sailed, who told me about Ala Moana beach, just a mile walk from the ship. There wasn't a tourist in sight, and more importantly at this point in the voyage, not a soul from SAS. It didn't quite register that we were actually in the United States, and in fact, when someone asked me where I was from, my answer was "Virginia, in the United States." And he replied, "I'm from New Hampshire, in the United States." So I thought it was interesting, then, that the only restaurant besides KFC that we found open for dinner was a Korean restaurant, where everyone inside was Korean, and we had to point to the pictures on the menu to order. Ah, felt like the good ol' days.......
After Hawaii, we set sail for another 9 days across the Pacific, and we're almost to Costa Rica. Students were writing papers last week and are taking exams this week, so there's lots of library activity. I'm also working on the list of "end of voyage" duties, and trying to sneak a little time outside each day since I've heard it's not 78 degrees at home. More to come from Costa Rica and the Panama Canal......
Pictures: Ala Moana Beach; interesting tree in Hawaii; the infamous dining room's iceberg lettuce (served twice daily!); me on my morning treadmill run; students studying really hard for exams.
