Hey everyone,

It feels a little weird coming back online and typing a blog post. I won't lie, I haven't done too much since the last post. Part of this is because I've been busy with school, and another part has to do with the lack of time left in this semester.

It feels weird to say it, but in three weeks I will be going home. Yes, you read that right! In three weeks I will have left Hawaii and be on my way home. However, for this post I want to talk about a something that every out-of-state student (or at least those in Hawaii) absolutely have to do before the semester ends!

About a third of a mile from campus is a storage unit center where students are encouraged to buy a unit for the summer. There are other places, but I will be talking about this one because

1. They provide student discounts
2. I'm most familiar with this company

At this company, they have been quite clear that student discounts, as well as pick up and drop off, are services they provide. I actually just bought my unit today, but have decided to forgo the pickup option. One thing I will advise is to go into this with more than one person. Obviously the more the better, but that isn't always the case. In mine, I had originally agreed to split one with my other friends. However, it's been weeks since we talked initially about renting one and, with literally three weeks left, I couldn't wait any longer and just got a unit myself. I decided that, in my case, less is more, and will be splitting the unit with someone else. However, my biggest fear is that the others won't be happy, but a unit is most definitely something you don't want to put off renting, and so I knew I couldn't wait.

I plan on moving my stuff in finals week and, from there, won't touch it until I fly back in August!

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I also wanted to bring up something that I'm sure many of you have been curious about since my last post. Will I be transferring? Short answer, I'm not sure. My opinion of Manoa hasn't changed since I've made that post and, if anything, I have decided that if next year really is my last year, then I'm going to make sure I take advantage of everything at Manoa. Granted, as a language major, there isn't much to take advantage of. But I mean this in terms of classes. I have decided to sign up for Korean 101, a decision that I really wanted to have made last semester, but unfortunately couldn't make. This is something I really want to do, and can't begin to explain how excited I am. I'll also let you guys in on a secret- from what I have heard (from people both in the department and out) Korean is a very easy and enjoyable class. Compared to Chinese at Manoa, which I won't go into but could make a separate post about, it also has a much higher retention rate. This doesn't matter that much to me, but I think it says a lot about the program if you have a lot of the students returning each year. 

Also worth mentioning is the amount of aid I have received for the next year! While I'm happy, and shocked that the school has been so generous, I have been awarded over $5,000 in scholarships for the next year. I'm happy, because this is something I won't need to pay, but concerned because I know that if I want to transfer that there will be no way I can get a school to match the price I'm paying without it being an equally low tier school. But, regardless, I can't be upset at the fact that I've been given essentially free money. 

I hope that everyone is having a great week. Keep pushing on!

Until next time,

Aislinn

Hey everyone!

The beginning of this week was a pretty mundane one, to say the least. 

I had to work Monday-Thursday, which meant that I was pretty limited on what I was able to go and where I was able to go during the week. However, come Friday I was able to start my weekend and relax.

Work aside, on Friday I ended my day by attending advising from my department. The department head for Manoa's colleges of Languages and Linguistics (where Chinese is located) was able to sit down with me and go over some classes I should look into taking. Compared to my last semester's advising (you can read about that in my October posts) this advising session went a lot better. I left with a pretty good idea of classes I should take and can say that I feel pretty prepared for registration. I still have to go over advising with the Flagship department, but that's scheduled for April 11th.

Afterwords I went back to my room and rested up for a bit. I had invited the girls to go with me to an art festival in Downtown, called "First Friday". It's in Chinatown and the whole point of it is to go and there are countless art galleries for viewing, and musical performances throughout the night. Since it's Chinatown, and since we had never been before, we decided to leave campus around 5:30, which meant we would be arriving no later than 7. 

When we finally got to Chinatown, the sun had already set and we were soon encountering countless groups of people drinking wine and discussing various art pieces. The first few galleries we went into were very small and featuring only one artist. Additionally, I found it very cool that every gallery had cheese, crackers, and wine available for guests to enjoy. One gallery even had classical music playing in the background, which made the experience all the better. 

It was also noticeable that Chinatown was being kept surpassed, for lack of a better word. It's pretty well known that you shouldn't go to Chinatown at night, but it looked like the police were out and about, which meant that your chances of running into trouble were very slim. 

One of my favorite galleries was one located a block away from the Hawaii theater. It was very interactive, and had various pieces that the attendees could alter and write on. One art piece was titled "Scars" and invited all onlookers to describe their scars- physical or not- and write about how it affected them. Across from that was a piece that asked onlookers how they were feeling and what they've learned in their life. It was a very calming but lively gallery that had a great amount of people inside it. There was even a section for keiki to draw and learn about art.

(Keiki is the Hawaiian work for kid!)

Once back on campus, the girls and I went our own ways and I decided to go to bed early. 

Unbeknownst to the others, hours later Bella and I would be hiking Stairway to Heaven. One of the guys on my floor (remember the one who took Bella and I all around the island?) invited us to hike Stairway with him and promised to take us to the very top. I've learned that when you're offered the chance to hike Stairway- say yes! There is no reason not to, and, like I said, don't worry about the guards. 

With just my luck, my building had another fire alarm in the middle of the night, which led to me getting 4 hours of sleep. Of all the nights to get very little time asleep, this was unfortunately the worst one. Stairway is not a hike I would recommend one do with less than 6 hours, because really, at that point things can go wrong. 

We ended up leaving at 3:30 and arrived by the stairs at 4:30. If you read my first post on the stairs, this was a huge improvement! 

The ascent up the stairs was very rough. My first mistake was not drinking any water beforehand. I completely forgot! About a quarter of the way (felt like half, to be honest) up I knew something was wrong when I began slowing down and feeling very dizzy. I've never been dizzy before, but I knew the second I started swaying and my surroundings started moving that something wasn't right. I knew that there was a chance Bella was familiar with this, so I told her how dizzy I got and she immediately told me that I was most likely dehydrated and so she very quickly gave me some of her water, as mine was at the bottom of my bag. For a little bit I felt better, but I knew that I would need to drink more soon or else I would seriously risk hurting myself. 

After what felt like forever, but was probably only half an hour, we finally made it to the first platform. It was still dark, and the city below us looked like sparkling fireflies. The Pali Highway also looks stunning at night, lit up only by the few cars and lamps. We took about a 10 minute break before starting again, and this time I felt much better. 

By this time you're probably all curious as to what these stairs look like, yeah? Here are some pictures that were generously taken of me on the hike.

Shaka's up for a perfect view

When we finally got to the second platform, I can confidently say that we were all feeling great! I was longer exhausted, which is why I would say that Stairway is quite possibly a mental game more than a physical one. Of course, once we got to the second platform the sky was beginning to lighten, which meant we were limited on how much time we had before the sun would rise. 

From the third platform you have about a 15 minute walk to the last platform, which is where the huge antenna is that is pretty much the reason that Stairway was even built. 


I tried to get it in a picture, but it doesn't seem like the double rainbow made it. The left is a photo of the bunker and the right is the gigantic antenna on top of it. You can actually climb up there, but it's quite difficult to do. I had to be helped up and down, and still found myself struggling. 

The three of us stayed on the last platform for quite some time, enjoying the view of the island below us. From the top, one can see Kailua, Chinaman's Hat, the Moke's (formally known as Na Mokulua), Three Peaks, Waikiki (at least what looked to be a city) and Lanikai. To put it in perspective, you're at an altitude of 2,480, which is achieved after climbing the rusting 3,922 stairs. 

The descent is what has most likely what caused me to be so sore the next day. In complete honesty, I just about swung down the entirety of the steps. The walk down can be done primarily using your upper body, which means you could, if you trusted yourself and the stairs, swing down the steps. I did this by grabbing onto the bar and swinging forward every three steps, and only really walked when the stairs became completely vertical (this is only the case once) and when the stairs were damaged (only once). Once at the bottom, you'll most likely find yourself accompanied by others also descending. You could choose to walk by the guard, or you could run through the woods like us, and a few others, did. We ran along the private road, through the bamboo forest, and through the drainage ditch, before we finally made it back to our car. Covered in mud, scratches, and bruises, we all took a few minutes to rest and exchange how proud we were of having successfully hiked the Stairway to Heaven. 

Needless to say, when I returned back to campus I got breakfast (delicious crepes from a restaurant called Aloha Crepes- very affordable, too!) and took about a 3 hour nap where I was in and out of consciousness. I'm not completely sure why I couldn't fully fall asleep, but after a while I knew I couldn't stay in on such a good day, and I met with Bella and Jade for dinner and, afterwords, a trip to Waikiki where we would go to the Hilton and swim in their pool and hot tub. We like the Hilton because the water is warm and there's usually no people, and plus its a pretty big pool. 

The next day I woke up and, literally, fell out of bed. My entire body, from my throat to my calves, felt like they had never been used before and were so sore. I'm glad my roommate wasn't in the room, because I actually shouted at how painful it initially was. At the day progressed the pain subsided, but I'm sure tomorrow will be another story. 

After brunch Bella and I went to Sandy's, which is a locals beach near Makapu'u. You can get to it by taking the 13 from UH and transferring to the 22, which is right across from the zoo. The 22, as we have recently found out, is the Hanauma Bay bus as well. 

Sandy's was nice, and is definitely a college kids beach. There were tons of groups of college students, and very few tourists. In fact, it might have been coincidence, but the lifeguards actually stopped two groups of white people and told them to go to a different beach because it "wasn't safe". I can agree that the swell was pretty dangerous, but Bella and I both found it ironic how they seemed to only stop the white tourists. Also worth noting is how they let us go no problem, but the two of us knew there was no way we were getting in what seemed to be 10 foot waves. We left that to the body boarders and locals who were familiar with the waters. 

Now I'm back on campus and going over some work I need to get done. With only 4 weeks left in the semester, time seems to have picked up, so I'm trying to get as much done as possible with as much time as I have left!

I hope you enjoy the pictures and are having a great week. 

Until next time,

Aislinn

Hey everyone,

Today's post is going to be more of a somber one. I don't know why, but this semester I have done a lot of reflecting and, as a result, have been thinking a lot more about whether or not UH Manoa is the right school for me. I know that last semester I would often talk about how much love I have for this school, and at that time I did, but currently I am not so sure. I do like Hawaii, and I love the beach, but today I spent some time reflecting on a number of things and have decided that there is no better way to voice my opinions than by writing about it online. 

Before I list off my reasons as to why Manoa may not be the school for me, I would like to make it clear that this is not an easy thing to do. The idea of transferring colleges, something that has been on my mind lately, is quite daunting. While thousands of students do it each year, this is not something I ever thought I would so much as consider. However, because transferring is so common (from Manoa especially) I wanted to make this post and hopefully help explain why I'm feeling the way I do. 

April 4th, 2016, when I first got my acceptance to UH Manoa

Reason #1: The "Traditional" College Experience

Manoa is not a school that you will find traditional. If you're looking for a university that is going to give you the experience that you read about and see on tv, Manoa is not that school. And this is not something I knew I wanted until I really thought about it. I've always been very interested in the "College Experience", and I remember sitting in my room watching move-in videos and youtube videos about college during my sophomore year of high school- envisioning what college would be like for me. I wanted a college with variety, a larger school with a lively environment, that also has that small community feel. This was a huge criteria for me, as I ruled out countless schools based on the lack of "community feel" alone. When thinking about other universities, I can't help but think about their community, both on campus and off. 

Hawaii is an island. There is limited space and little room for growth and development. This is another thing I did not consider when coming to Manoa, and something that I did not realize during my first semester. When I look at other colleges I like to read up on their campus (buildings, dorms, etc) and the towns surrounding them. What I've learned is that the colleges with the small town feel but the ever growing campus is something I'm really drawn to. 

And Manoa just does not have that.

Manoa is a nice school for those that appreciate change that happens off campus. Waikiki is always under construction, and since being here I'll be there's been at least a few more hotels opened. But these are things that do not impact the university. When I look at these other colleges, I see towns that have an impact connected to their campus. I see colleges who have agreements with the surrounding area to help students. For example, one city in particular made an agreement with their university to offer student discounts in most (I wont say all because I'm not entirely sure) stores. Additionally, meal swipes can be used at shops and restaurants off campus. This is something that, maybe because of the lack of community or lack of space, Manoa just does not provide. 

Reason #2: Connections at UH Manoa vs Elsewhere

The whole event that set off my consideration at other schools was a Facebook status I saw a few weeks ago. Granted, up until then the idea of transferring just seemed like a "phase". I did not realize that I was unhappy with my university until I went online and saw a post from a former classmate that exclaimed "I am excited to announce that in the fall I will be studying abroad at Oxford University!" To me, this was shocking. Even if you are unfamiliar with college rankings, there is a high chance you at least aware as to how amazing of a school Oxford is. In fact, my freshmen year of high school I did a report on which college I wanted to attend when I was older. It was between Oxford and Cambridge, and I even remember going over it with my advisor before settling on Cambridge. Of course these were both pipe dreams, but the point is I have been aware of their excellence from a young age. (Ironically this was only a few years ago, so not that young.) To me, it wasn't the fact that she would be studying abroad that got to me, but the university itself that she would be studying at. Manoa has no such connection, and this is something I did not realize until this post and the research I did afterwords. I did not realize it, but attending a school with connections is something I take very seriously. I'm not saying Manoa doesn't have connections, but, quite frankly, their connections are not to the Oxford standard. I am also aware that Oxford is in the United Kingdom, and as a Chinese major I'm sure you're wondering why this would matter, since I'm trying to go to China and not England. Ultimately, you're right. If I'm going to study abroad ideally I would like it to be somewhere where I can use my Chinese. Because of this, I went to UH Manoa and looked at their options for studying abroad in China. Simply put, this school has no connections to highly ranked schools. The programs that I got into, out of the one based in China, is not one of the top Chinese colleges, like Oxford is to England. This is something that made me step back and question why a school like Manoa doesn't have greater connections, especially if their East Asian Languages department is one of the largest.

Rankings matter. 

This is something that is going to be drilled into your head. That rankings from Princeton Review and US News Weekly matter. While my family was the opposite, encouraging me to look beyond rankings and more-so at the composition of a program, it is something that I have found to be very important. Rankings should not be the end-all-be-all, but surely they should be something one considers. 

I remember when it came down to UC Davis and UH Manoa. I was torn between a school with high rankings and a school with a good program. My logic for choosing UC Davis was that the rankings were indicative of the student body. I wanted to surround myself with students of a higher caliber and with great potential, something I saw of the student body at UC Davis. For Manoa, I saw a program with a variety of classes located directly between Asia and the Mainland. I remember telling my mom that I wanted to attend a school that is highly ranked, as the value of that diploma would hold more weight than one of a lesser school. I remember even telling her that I wanted to go to a school with higher rankings because that's what draws in an international student body, because somehow the correlation between high ranks and more international students was relevant to me. Now, I don't care so much about the international student body, but that may just be because I am used to it since attending UH Manoa.

We all know how this ends, so I will leave it there.  

But, what you don't know is the research I did on her school. Her school, which I won't name, has connections to highly regarded Chinese universities. Ever heard of Tsinghua University? How about Peking University? If you haven't, google "top Chinese universities"- they're the first two to show up.  That is the kind of connection I want my university to provide me. That is the kind of experience I want abroad. I don't want to say that I just studied abroad, I want to show future employers and those concerned with my resume that, while abroad, I attended an amazing school. Quite frankly, Manoa does not offer me that opportunity. 


Reason #3: Religion

So throughout my posts on this blog I will occasionally mention that I've gone to church on this day, or that I started reading a devotional on that day. I'm going to be honest and vulnerable here, which I believe is going to make this post all the more real. 

In high school I was not religious. I did not care too much about it and did not make it a priority of mine to attend mass. But for some reason, and I couldn't say why, when I came to Manoa I began to want to get more religiously connected. Not enough to make me want to transfer to a Catholic university, but enough to where I've attended mass more times this semester than I have all throughout high school. I've been to churches off campus and on, and somehow they are not satisfying. 

When I read my friends' posts about their college experiences, the ones that seem the happiest are the ones also involved in a church group, or the ones exploring their faith more. I reached out to other people at Manoa, hoping (begging, really) for someone to encourage me to join them at a mass. When no one did, and when I was told that the student masses are not orthodox, something that I prefer, I decided this was not the religious environment for me. 

And this is perfectly okay, because, let's face it, I did not pick Manoa for it's Catholic ministry. If I really wanted a religious environment I could have applied to a number of other schools. However, the longer I think about it and the more I pray about it, the more I'm beginning to realize that I would like to be in an environment that encourages me to grow in my faith. Or, at the very least, has a welcoming Catholic center for students. 

Reason #4: Sororities (Or their sense of community)

This is something of a lesser reason, primarily because it piggy-backs off of reason #1. Sororities are most certainly not something one should base their entire college decision on, but to me, is something that I wish I put more higher on my list. Sororities offer a sense of community and family, usually with dozens of girls all living under one roof. They appear to have each others backs, be philanthropic, and relatively positive and encouraging of their sisters. At UH, while there are sororities, I would like to highlight that they are not the sororities you see on tv. I can't talk about them too much, because I'm not a part of one, but I can share what I do know. 

There are three sororities at UH. One of them is a Hawaiian-Only one, which means I am automatically ruled out of so much as even looking at that one. The others are relatively small. Their presence isn't really noted and they don't have a home. You can't really tell who is in one, either, as there are never groups of girls walking around in their greek letters. While bid day looked fun, that is really the only time I've ever seen the sororities outside and active. This is not to say they aren't, but from my perspective they don't appear as active as some other colleges. And that's not a bad thing, but its something that I want in my experience. 

When I was coming up with my list of criteria for my colleges I knew I wanted a group of friends who have my back and encourage me to do my best. While the friends I have now are great, I feel like the experience of a sorority is something that should be taken advantage of. At Manoa, greek life is not a big part of the campus. This is perfectly okay, it's their own prerogative, but part of mine would be having that sense of family and solidarity that comes with greek life. 

Reason #5: School Spirit

The culture of sports at UH is nothing that I have ever experienced before. There is no March Madness here, no SEC, and no real pride. The tailgates are fun, or rather, the tailgates are fun for the first few minutes before the cops show up and shut everything down. From my experience at football games, the student body goes to the tailgate and then leaves. Very few, handfuls, really, stay for the actual game. When I look at other schools, they appear to have large crowds at their games, with faces painted and colors on display. As with everything, this could be because of a multitude of factors, but I really believe that the school spirit at UH is next to nonexistent. I am not too big of a sports fan, but what I've come to miss is the sense of pride and excitement that would be present when it was game day. I miss the rivalries and the hoards of people all chanting and jumping and screaming for our home team. At Manoa, I would say the only sport that really gets this kind of attention is volleyball, so if you're an avid volleyball fan, Manoa may be the school for you.

Overall when it comes to school spirit, I guess what I'm looking for is the excitement and anticipation again. I know that, culturally, if I wanted a school that was sport-heavy than I should have given more schools in the south more thought, but this is just another lesson I have come to learn.


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I understand that many of my points are things that have little to do with my major. And, in all honesty, shouldn't the major take precedence over everything else? I believe at one point I used to think this, but as I type this post I have also come to realize that college is not black and white. College is a multitude of colors and an array of experiences. College is not something that is only academia, but is a collection of events that involve more than just your classes and major. If these things are important to you and your college experience, than they should be something you place high on your list. 

Earlier I felt guilty about thinking poorly about Manoa. But I read something online that, in describing why transferring colleges was okay, explained that at 18 years old, and having never experienced college before, how are any of us supposed to truly know what we want in a university? This has provided me with some comfort, but for now I will continue to appreciate where I am and work hard in classes. I don't know if I'm going to transfer, but for now I will tell you that there is a school I have in mind. 

I hope this wasn't too negative of a post. Maybe I should post some of the positives of attending UH Manoa in a future post?

Until next time,

Aislinn

Hey guys!

It's Tuesday and has officially been a full day since I've left Kauai and returned to Oahu. Since Bella and I left on Saturday morning, I'll start by recapping the events from Friday night to the present day. 

I've always left packing for trips to the last minute. This trip was no exception, and on Friday evening I found myself packing hours before my flight. After class Eric and I went to Target to grab some travel sized stuff, and when we returned we both left to pack. I finished a little past midnight, and got about 3 hours of sleep before being woken up by Bella asking me where I was. I went to get Eric, but he wasn't feeling good, so Bella and I left to go catch our flight- hoping he would meet us at the airport.

Hours later and we were in Kauai! The flight from Oahu to Kauai is about 40 minutes and we were there before we knew it. When we got to Lihue (the airport) we went to the car rental place, Alamo, to pick up our car. By now it was 8:00 am and this is when things started to look bad. 

Bella and I booked our car on a website called "Car Rental 8". For $33 a day, the website seemed perfect. When we approached Alamo, we were told immediately that there "was no car" and that "we don't rent to people under 25". This was a huge problem, because Bella and I had already paid for the car. I explained the situation to the woman at the counter, telling her that we already paid and that if Alamo doesn't rent to those under 21 than why would they rent to me in the first place? And, unsurprisingly, she responded with a "can't help you." and went about doing her own work- offering no other solutions to the two girls obviously stranded without a car. Thankfully, the two men inside the store in charge of getting cars were more help, offering us various solutions and suggesting some possible alternate companies. I decided to go with a place called "Island Cars" and, thankfully, was able to rent a car for $50 a day. 

Bella and I then walked to the Island Cars and waited as our car was prepared. It came out to be $100 for the weekend, and the car was a forest green Ford Explorer. It was a 4 seater and was quite the car, missing various buttons and had some "possibly broken possibly working" brakes. However, we were desperate for a car and decided we would take it. Unfortunately, because we had been robbed of $140 from Car Rental 8, Bella could only pay for one day of the car, which is understandable but unfortunately put us at leaving Monday morning, instead of Tuesday. 

Once we got the car, I heard from Eric, who told me that, in addition to not feeling well, he had also lost his phone this morning. As a result, he missed his flight and had no choice but to stay behind. He wished us a fun trip and told us he would be out one day. 

After getting the car, our first stop was McDonalds for breakfast. As gross as it was, we knew that before starting our road trip that we would need to eat something. At McDonalds we grabbed our food and then planned out the rest of our day. The first stop on our itinerary was Hanalei, where we would go and see some beaches and hike the Na Pali. 

From Lehue, the drive to Hanalei was arguable one hour long. For those curious, there are two main roads in Kauai- one which goes north and another that goes West. If you're considering planning a road trip throughout the island, you should know that there is no road that goes across the entire island. You will have to backtrack, as unfortunate as that is. However, Bella and I were fine with that and decided that we would spend the night at Haena beach and spend the next day seeing what's south. 

Once in Hanalei, we stopped for a bit to look at some shops and get lunch. Apparently Kauai is known for its red clay, and "red dirt shirts" are very popular. So are the roosters. They are everywhere! Seriously, I know that I've complained about the ones on Oahu but those are nothing compared to Kauai. Never in my life have I seen so many roosters! 

After Hanalei we drove a little more (maybe 30 minutes?) and ended up at Haena Beach park, a quaint little beach that bordered the Na Pali. This beach is also camper-friendly, and where we decided to sleep our first night here. 

The beach was incredible. The sand contrasted to the water, one being golden and the other being a deep blue. There was quite a few people, but none were tourists. It was very refreshing to be where there were no tourists and where there were no huge hoards of groups gawking at everything and snapping excessive amounts of pictures. In fact, nowhere we had been on Kauai was like this. Nowhere on Kauai could you see groups of tourists, massive amounts of Japanese people, or garbage. Truth be told, Kauai was cleaner than Oahu. It had no big buildings, and truly felt like a place uninhabited. 

The view from our tent

Unfortunately, looking back I've realized that I took very few pictures. While that should go to show you how much I enjoyed the trip, I can't help but wish I took more for the sake of the blog. 

Regardless, after setting up our tent (and tanning...and napping...) we decided to walk to the Na Pali Coast trail, where one can hike to the lookout, where you can view the edge of the island. 

There were huge caves on the way to the park. Were these the ones Pirates were filmed at? We'll never know.

Bella and I at the lookout. As you can tell by my hair it was very windy.

Myself on the trail

The hike was half a mile up. The first part, which is only .25 miles, is quite easy to get to. After that, the trail gets pretty rocky, but still bearable. The whole trail itself is about 11 miles long, but given that is was becoming dusk, neither Bella nor I wanted to hike the entire way. As one local told us, the point at which we stopped was, in his opinion, the best (and windiest) part of the trail. From here, we stayed for about an hour and waited for the sun to set. The coast was very foggy, but the waves were incredible. According to the lifeguard back at Haena, the swell on this day was very unpredictable, and could get up to 50 feet. 

Back at the base we decided to call it a night and go to sleep. While it was only 7:30, the two of us were exhausted and needed the sleep. We didn't know it, but we would only get about 4 hours of sleep before forfeiting the tent and opting for sleeping in the car, instead. After moving to the car we slept for a little longer and woke again at 6, where we decided to get breakfast and head south. 

We left Hanalei shortly after and went to McDonalds, where we grabbed breakfast and charged our phones. Here is where we also heard from Eric, who told us he was fortunate enough to find a flight later that afternoon. With a few hours before his arrival, Bella and I went to the Waimea Canyon (aka the Grand Canyon of the Pacific) and Baby Beach, before driving to the airport and picking him up. 

Before the canyon we made a pitstop to Wailua Falls, one of the more touristy things to do on island. While there, Bella and I decided we would hike to the bottom where we could swim. Most people don't do it, but the hike is a relatively short one (20 minutes down, 15 up). The waterfall, from the bottom, is very serene. There's also a third waterfall that can be seen, but I believe you can only see it if you hike to the bottom. 



 Left- view of the waterfall at the bottom
Right- view of the waterfall at the top

For size reference, I'm much smaller than the waterfall. I would say its about a 100 foot (at least) waterfall.

Up next was the canyon. The canyon is, in my opinion, pretty interesting. Maybe it's because we didn't drive up high enough, but from where we were it looked like a very deep ditch. However, there was red dirt everywhere, and many of the people around us seemed fascinated by it. I wouldn't go here for a full day, but if you have a few minutes to spare this is quite the stop.


The beach was next and, to me, was what I like to call "The Cromwell's of Kauai". In other words, this beach was less sand and more water/ coral. Like Cromwell's, the only thing you could really do here is lay out and tan. The water actually goes pretty far up, and many of the homes were feet away from the edge. We stopped here because, apparently, you can see monk seals, and I had really wanted to see one. However, it was just my luck that we didn't see any. 

After leaving the beach the two of us went to Lihue and picked up Eric, who we then took to McDonalds to get something to eat. After lunch (I didn't have any because at this point I was sick of the food) we went to a different beach, Lydgate Park, where we were going to swim but, after feeling how chilling the water is, decided otherwise. 

After the beach the three of us drove back to Princeville where we stopped to see the Lighthouse that was also home to many, many birds. It's called Kilauea Point National Wildlife Sanctuary, and is only open Tuesday - Saturday. Unfortunately this meant we could not go down to the lighthouse, but we were still were able to get a pretty great view from where we were standing. Also, once we left, we were able to get a quick peak at the sunset. 

Bella and I on the car. Photo courtesy of Eric.

Once done we drove back to the Lihue area and got dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant. I can't remember the last time I had Mexican food, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Afterwords we drove back to the Lydgate park and decided to camp here for the night. Unsure if this beach was one that we were allowed to stay at, we opted to sleep inside the car instead of taking out the tent. This turned out to be a good thing, as it was extremely windy and there was quite a few people there for something called Baywatch. 

In the morning we woke up at 4 and had the car returned by 5:00. It was hard leaving the car, but even harder leaving the island. I was torn between staying for an extra day or leaving, but I decided that it would be best to go home. Given that I came back and slept for 10 hours, I would say that I was right in coming home Monday instead of Tuesday. However, knowing what I know now, I would definitely stay for a few more days instead of the weekend. 

I hope you guys are enjoying your spring break!

Until next time,

Aislinn

Hey everyone!

Today I was fortunate enough to hike the famous Stairway to Heaven, otherwise known as the Haiku Stairs. I'm very excited to share with you guys what hiking these illegal stairs were like, so I hope you enjoy this post.

The girls and I left campus this morning at 2 am, hoping to arrive no later than 2:30. The stairs can be accessed in three different points, but the route we would be taking is the one through the neighborhood in Kaneohe. It's recommended that one arrive at the neighborhood at 2:30, as this is the time when the police car leaves and another arrives. The time between shifts is when you're supposed to make a run for it towards the stairs, however this was not the case with us. 

Our uber driver pulled off down the street a little ways away from the cop, to allow us time to hide and wait for the car to leave, but once we got out we quickly realized that the cop would not be leaving anytime soon. Not surprisingly, we also ran into a number of other people determined to hike the stairs, so we decided to join a promising group of about 10. One man told us that the cop was going to be there for a while longer and that our best bet would be to start the hike through a drainage ditch. I've read about this trail online, but I didn't think it was something I would actually find myself doing. The walk down the ditch was somewhat of a challenge, but once we made our way into the jungle we had a much easier time navigating. 

This is when things went wrong. 

Somehow a group of about 7 Argentinian women got in front of us, and naturally they couldn't get a good grip on the ground. This frustrated Bella and I, who knew that if we were behind these girls for too long that we would eventually lose the rest of the group and, with that, the way to the stairs. Just my luck, this ended up happening. 

Before we knew it, we were very far away from the others. Even though they're not obligated to wait for us, what frustrated me the most was how we, who had never hiked this trail before, lost our chance to hike it with those that have experience with the trail. Communicating with these girls was also immensely difficult, as they spoke broken English and had a horrible habit of "shh"ing us for no apparent reason. 

In short, we were lost in the Hawaiian jungle for a good 4 hours. Remember when I said we got to the neighborhood at 2:30? We didn't get out of these woods until 6 am.

The last stretch of just getting to the stairs is the bamboo forest. I've read online that one way around the guard is to run through the forest and hope he doesn't catch you. However, we tried this and quickly found out that this was a pointless strategy and was only wasting our energy. 

When we finally got untangled from the bamboo stock, we ran into a hiker actually leaving the trail. We quickly flagged him down and he told us that the guard "can't stop you guys because you have yet to do anything wrong". 

For those who are unaware, these stairs are illegal and are a form of trespassing. 

So, taking his word for it, and with literally nothing to lose, we walked right past the guard and began to make our way towards the stairs. The guard was sitting in a white car and only peeked his head out the window to yell out, "Just so you guys know this is trespassing." We thanked him, but kept walking. He made no other effort to stop us. 

When we finally reached the stairs to say we were happy is an understatement. We were relieved, overjoyed, and beginning to feel the effects of sleep deprivation. 

It was still a little dark out, but by this time the sun was beginning to rise, so I believe I speak for everyone when I say we knew we were not going to make it to the top for sunrise. 

The beautiful mountains behind us

Once we began climbing, the sun, too, began to rise. I'm really proud of the picture I took of the mountains; it's truly a sight you have to see in person. 

As we made our way to the first plank, there were a couple times when we needed to be extra cautious of the trail. For starters, there was an area where the railing was missing and the steps were mangled up. Another worry were the steps that look fine but are actually very loose, and will swing if you step on them. However there were only a few of these and, quite honestly, with the amount of people that hike these stairs I knew they were not something to worry about. Something you might worry about is what you do when there's a hiker coming down while you're going up. This is a little tricky, because you have two options: 

one: physically remove yourself from the stairs and stand on the outside of the path
two: press yourself as close as you can to the railing and hope to god it doesn't snap

I did both of these, but the worn down, slippery mud next to the stairs made me not do option one more than once.

The photos below are some more I took during the hike. 

Pali highway

Just to give you guys an idea of how steep, and narrow, these stairs are

Occasionally you would come across a cluster of steps covered in overgrowth

The drop below us. Notice how far down the Pali highway is.

After this stretch, where you can see the Pali highway below, we made it to the first platform. It's probably 10x10, and when we arrived there were already 3 people laying down. The steps afterwords, pictured below, were some of the steepest ones we had seen. Needless to say, our exhaustion won over and we didn't go farther than this. However, for those that will, after this platform there are about 3 more. 

Hey everyone!

I finally made it to China Walls!!

I am so excited to share with you guys the pictures I took, but more importantly the experience I had at China Walls.

For the longest time I have been nearly begging my friends to go with me to China Walls. On this day Eric and I went a little after our classes ended on Friday. Located near Hanauma Bay, the Walls are some interesting rocks that are a popular cliff jumping spot for residents and tourists alike. I chose to jump off of a few, but opted out of jumping off some fairly high ones. I can jump off of Waimea just fine, but for some reason when I was at the Walls I just couldn't bring myself to jump off of the higher rocks. Maybe it was the reminder that this is a place where people have died, or maybe it was just nerves. Here are some pictures that don't do the area justice, but hopefully give you guys a better picture of what I'm talking about.

A glimpse at how clear the water was at times

A view of the rocks from the side, facing the mountains

I didn't end up jumping off one specific rock, it was about 30 feet high, but I have made it a goal of mine that when I go back I will jump off of that one rock that made me really nervous. 

I went with Eric who, after we swam for a bit and walked around looking at the entirety of the Walls, agreed that we should stay for the sunset and then get dinner. Naturally, the one cloud in the sky was directly over the mountain that the sun was going to set behind, so we didn't see much besides the changing colors of the sky. However, I can't complain. The atmosphere at the rocks was incredible. Dozens of people, old and young, just sitting and talking to one another as if we were all friends was something I've never really experienced since being here. The Walls are definitely a local hot spot, but it's clear some tourists were there, too. 

Once the sun had set we left and made our way out of the neighborhood and then off to get dinner. I can't remember the exact street, but for those curious as to where China Walls is specifically, I do remember that it's in a very nice neighborhood that you can access by walking in between houses. 

I hope you guys are having a relaxing weekend!

Until next time,

Aislinn