This Past Weekend
Hey everyone!
As promised, I wanted to make a post dedicated to everything that took place over the last weekend. I wanted to get this done as soon as possible, so while posting this on Sunday would have been ideal it simply was not an option. Thankfully I found some time and am able to share with you everything I did!
Firstly, Friday was the Korean club's fundraising night at a place called "Honey". Surprisingly, the other girls were interested in going, which mean that the 4 of us were able to go together! We ended up getting ready and leaving shortly after 10 to arrive close to 11 pm. Honey, the club, ended up being very fun and the girls now want to go back. They're talking about going again this upcoming Friday but I'm not sure if it's going to happen.
Saturday the girls and I got together for a bit in the morning before some of them would leave to go to the "Rock the Troops". While we were all hanging out people from my floor actually came by and invited us to go with them to a place called "Pounders Beach". If you're at all familiar with Oahu, or maybe you just like looking at cool instagram pictures, than you might recognize this beach as being the home of the ocean trampoline. If you don't know what I'm talking about go look it up-- it's seriously so cool. One of my friends agreed to go, and the other two had to stay behind as they had already committed to going to the Rock the Troops. Needless to say they weren't too happy with us leaving. However, my friend and I went and soon ended up at the beach- all the way in the northern part of the island! What makes this even better is that one of them had a car and was able to drive, meaning we weren't stuck on the bus for multiple hours that morning.
After arriving we quickly swam out before realizing one huge problem: the trampoline was broken! Go figure, the trampoline that looked so cool in pictures, just so happened to be broken, and recently at that. We asked some people that were sitting on it what had happened and they were quick to say it was "some local guy". Whether or not they were telling the truth is still a mystery, but the fact is as soon as we all jumped off they immediately started jumping again, leaving me to believe it might not have been a local guy that broke it. But again, we'll never know.
Once we got back on shore we all thought it would be best if we went along and drove to a different beach. After all, it was only a little past noon and we had the whole day to do whatever. After driving around for probably a good 20 minutes we agreed upon Waimea, someplace that we were all at least familiar with. As luck would have it, the weather was great and the water was a very pretty blue, something that was not the case the last time I had been here. Getting a parking space was difficult, but after that the rest of the time was very smooth. We grabbed our bags and picked a nice spot right between the water and the grass and immediately went swimming. Not long after, it became obvious that a good half of the people at the beach were also the ones jumping off the huge rock. If you don't remember, the last time I was here we weren't allowed to jump off the rock due to "poor weather conditions". While I thought it wouldn't be too much of a jump, I didn't realize how wrong I was until I climbed to the very top. At about 20 feet, the rock is very jagged and wet. It's not as hard a rock to jump off like the one at Nanakuli, but the height difference is very evident. The guys we were with were quick to jump off, of course after making sure Bella and I knew what we were doing. This left the two of us alone on top of this huge rock, and we both knew there was no way we could walk down this thing. Taking a deep breath, I decided to go for it, and I soon found myself hitting the water.
What's interesting about this jump is how I completely underestimated the height. I thought it would be a quick splash, but about halfway down I realized one thing: I didn't have enough air to last me the whole drop. Now I know how utterly ridiculous I sound, but hear me out! When I first jumped I didn't expect to be in the air for as long as I was. Even at 20 feet it felt much longer than the jump at Nanakuli, and for a split second I had that sinking feeling in my gut where I felt utterly helpless. Of course this was not in a bad way but in more of a, "What am I doing?!" kind of way. However as soon as I landed I knew I wanted to go again. I probably went up at least five more times which, for me, was a lot. Even better, I was able to get a video of myself jumping off! So here's a little video of me jumping off for the last time, curtsey of the guys who took us:
After that the four of us relaxed for a little bit before one of the guys asked us what we wanted to do next: "Hang out here for a little longer or go hiking and watch the sun set?" Now if you know me you know I absolutely love hiking. Immediately I said yes to hiking, and thankfully Bella was equally as interested, which meant we were for sure going hiking.
A short drive away led us to the parking lot of an elementary school. The guys told us they had yet to hike this trail, so we were all in the agreement that this would be nothing if not interesting. Of course, as soon as we started up the side of the mountain we realized just how utterly wet the trail was, making it hard to hike in the Jesus slippers. In fact at one point someone was using a walking stick to help give them leverage against the smooth mud! The hike took a good half hour, at least, and when we finally made it to the overpass, with the help of some Australians, it was clear the struggle was worth it. The little slab of wood we were at overlooked the edge of the Northern part of the island, and for as far as you could see there was nothing but blue water. It was times like this that I'm reminded I live on an island. Can't say I don't mind, though. Here's just a little bit, albeit not the best quality, of what I saw:
It is absolutely breathtaking in person, so I apologize that my pictures aren't good at conveying that.
After that we drove back to campus and parted ways. I won't lie, this was one of the few times I've been in my building (as I'm usually in another freshmen tower) and ever since then I've been urging the others to hang out in my building more often. For a while now I've had this feeling of "I need to be home" in which home is my tower. I feel like I don't know that many people on my floor, but in the past week of being in my building I've talked to so many more people. I love it, but I'm finding it very hard to be in my building and get to know others when my friends would prefer to stay in the other tower. If this past weekend was any indication of what could happen if I stay on my floor then by all means will I be staying in this building more often. My last point I'll make is that throughout the day one of the guys kept saying this, "Just go with the flow and say yes. If it's meant to be it will happen." and I couldn't agree more. The fun I had on Saturday equates nothing to what "fun" I would have had in my room studying for midterms. While I hate not planning things, just going with the flow and saying 'Yes' led me to some pretty amazing places. I can only hope this happens again.
I'm realizing now how long of a post this is becoming, so I will keep the rest short. On Sunday one of our friends' dad was in town and offered to take us wherever we wanted to go. Piling into the car we agreed upon going to the pumpkin patch and taking our "squad pic". What was supposed to be a 20 minute drive turned into an hour thanks to a delay on the Pali Highway, and by the time we arrived the whole patch was absolutely bare! We managed to take some pictures, but like I've said before I refuse to post any without their explicit consent. Also it's an invasion of privacy on my part and I simply won't do that to them. After seeing the dirt the girls and I also walked through part of a sunflower maze. I can't tell you the last time I saw sunflowers. Here's one looking standing tall and looking pretty:
After that we ate at Fatboys (I had a tuna melt!) and returned to campus. This weekend, while busy, was a really fun one. I did study, for those of you curious, and can now kick back and relax. I hope you are able to do the same.
Until next time,
Aislinn
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