March 7 2011 - City tour, Pineapple Plantation, Haleiwa and Polynesian Cultural Center.

Island of Samoa.

Let's try the coconut water.

Hula Class

Felipe (Brazil) on stage in the island of Tonga.

Marius (Denmark) showing his dancing skills on the island of Tahiti.

Group on the arrival of the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Sunset Beach.

Sunset Beach.

Haleiwa town.

Yummy... Pineapple whip.

Statue of King Kamehameha V, the greatest.

Iolani Palace.

Our Japanese students, Eri and Saaya.

Inside the Capitol Building.

Hawaii

Aloha World

Today was the first day we got to spend on the bus! We had two busses between all 103 of us! The first part of our day was a city tour. We learned a lot from our bus drivers including some Hawaiian words. We stopped at the state capital building and learned a bit about the states history. From there we walked to one of the only two places in the United States. The architecture of the buildings is beautiful and has lots of meaning.

Once we were done with Honolulu we headed to the North Shore and stopped at the Dole pineapple plantation on the way. They have a frozen yogurt called “pineapple whip” that is sooo delicious! Everyone had at least a cone! The whole plantation was interesting but the best part was definitely the whip!

After getting filled up on whip we headed to Haleiwa where we had free time to eat lunch. Some students ate huge hamburgers with pineapple slices on it! We had sushi from a market. It was cheap and good! There were lots of little shops that we could all find some Hawaiian gift in! I especially loved the jewelry! From there we went to Sunset beach. We got off the bus and got to stand on the beach to look out at the beautiful blue water and white waves crashing. Wow, it was so beautiful! We got a great group picture with the gorgeous background!

From there we headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We learned a lot about the Polynesian islands. We got to see a lot of dances they do on the different islands. Each of the 7 cultures had different areas at the PCC that we could visit. My favorite part was learning to hula dance. We all got a lesson and even though it was sprinkling it was so cool to learn the dance! Everyone enjoyed being able to interact at the different locations.

We ate dinner at the PCC and it was a big buffet. The location was beautiful with palm trees, different bushes and even flame torches around us. Once we were full from another big meal we went to a show called “Ha, Breath of Life”. The show was really cool. I didn’t expect a show so big with lots of effects and special production. They basically showed all the cultural dances from the different Polynesian islands through a story of a man’s life. The dances were very detailed and the costumes and everything were very bright!

Today we learned a lot about the Hawaiian culture and history. It wasn’t boring at all because we got to be apart of it! I am excited for the rest of the week, especially snorkeling!

Goodnight world! (Shout out to my friends and family back home in Germany!)

Lena- Germany