AMERICA... F*CK YEAH!!!!

Thursday, November 24, 2011 (8:46pm) - Hilo, Hawaii

happy thanksgiving people! this was the first thanksgiving i've ever spent away from home... and though it wasn't as bad as i thought, it still wasn't the same. we went through customs yesterday when we were docked in honolulu. it was really strange because they spoke ENGLISH and were really friendly. what a weird concept. since we did that, we got to get off the ship as soon as we docked in hilo this morning. me and maddy met up with courtney, audrey, and brenna in tymitz and all left the ship together. we also found jake and linda as we were leaving the port, so they joined us too. the 7 of us walked to ken's house of pancakes and had thanksgiving breakfast! since we had thankgiving dinner last night on the ship, we decided we were going to make breakfast our big meal of the day. i think it's gonna turn into a tradition at school cus it was really fun. i had a portugese sausage scramble, hash browns, pancakes, kona coffee, and a big glass of pog. delicious!

after breakfast, jake and linda went to the beach and the five of us walked to the local starbucks. i got to skype home and see/talk to my parents for the first time since august. i also got to skype literally every member of my family on both sides since they were all at my house for thanksgiving. started crying in public when i had to say bye to them. embarrassing, but i couldn't help it. i also got to skype melissa which was fun too. it was AWESOME seeing and talking to everybody, and just what i needed to get me through the last three weeks of this voyage.

after a few hours in starbucks, we walked across the street to safeway. it's the first time we've seen a grocery store in three months. what a novel concept. and as we were walking through the parking lot i asked everybody "hey... have you guys seen a parking lot in three months?" the consensus was that no, we hadn't. so that's just a preview of how weird we are going to be when we get home. i literally walked down every aisle in the grocery store, just because i could. i knew i wouldn't be allowed to bring frozen food on the ship, but obvs i walked down the aisles because dumb americans are the only people that have like 5 aisles of frozen food. i ended up buying a 6-pack of coke, a box of saltine crackers, a bag of tortilla chips, a thing of salsa, a gingerbread house kit, and a bag of animal cookies. like how high am i right now, right? i'm so weird. oh and we also got tabloids! yayyy celebrity gossip.

after the grocery store, we headed back to this drive in restaurant to get our last bit of real food. i got a tuna melt and curly fries. i really wanted a mahi-mahi sandwich, but they didn't have it. sad day. then we headed back to the ship. did absolutely NOTHING hawaiian today... just celebrated the fact that i'm in america. and i feel like i've been to hawaii enough that i didn't really need to go snorkeling and stuff today. plus, hilo sucks so it's whatever. i just lost cell phone service again... so that kinda sucks. talked to my mom for an hour and to melissa for an hour. now it's 19 days til home. if i've made it this long, 19 days should be nothing.

and in the spirit of thanksgiving... here's a little bit of what i'm thankful for. first and foremost, i'm thankful for my parents. without them, this voyage would have been impossible. they are my support system and though i don't say it enough, i would be nothing without them. i'm thankful for my sister and the rest of my family. today just showed how lucky i am to have all of them in my life. i'm thankful for my friends on the ship who made last night and today the best thanksgiving i could have away from my family, and for making the past three months unforgettable. i'm thankful for my friends at home who have kept me sane and grounded throughout this trip. i can't wait to get home to you guys. i'm thankful to be an american and have all the privileges and opportunities i do. this semester has taught me to never take anything for granted and to truly appreciate everything that i have. there's a lot more that i'm thankful for, but i don't want to bore you to death. plus, we're starting to rock and i never feel good when we leave a port. so i'm gonna go pretend to write a paper right now.

i love you all so much and i miss you! 19 days! happy thanksgiving!!