We woke up this morning and realized it was our last day. We felt sad to say goodbye to our friends but were also looking forward to snorkeling and having a sun-filled day at the beach. Our breakfast was awesome as always. We will definitely miss the pineapple, waffles and the view! We got in mini-vans that took us to Hanamua Bay which is a famous snorkeling reef. Before we got to the beach, we had to watch an informative movie about keeping the reef and sea creatures safe. We thought the video was important, but the 'Don't Step on Me' song was pretty cheesy. When the movie finished and we got a glimpse of the view we thought we were in paradise, like it was a picture from a magazine. Hanauma Bay is shaped like a crescent and is protected from huge waves so the sea life is very easy to spot. We didn't know what to expect when we jumped in the water and were totally surprised by the diverse sea life. There were constantly tons of brightly colored fish swimming just inches away from us. We were even lucky enough to see some sea turtles gracefully swimming through the crystal clear water. We were so shocked to see the sea turtle and the feeling of swimming beside one is indescribable. We also decided to work on our tan one more time, and laid out on the beach for a while too.
When we got back to the hotel, we all had to quickly get ready for the luau, which is a typical Hawaiian party. Everyone looked great in their tropical outfits and was excited to get a glimpse of Hawaiian culture. When we arrived at the luau we got a delicious guava juice and we were lei'd with a shell necklace by a very attractive, shirtless man. There were a lot of cool activities going on that we could explore. We decided to get Hawaiian tattoos (don't worry they're fake!) and while we were standing in line we got to see a beautiful sunset and a newlywed couple celebrating their first kiss. It was super romantic and magical! Other people made Hawaiian flower headbands, watched a pig-roasting ceremony, and learned how to throw Polynesian spears. They blew into a conch shell to tell us it was time for dinner and everyone filled their plate to the max with excellent Hawaiian food. We even tried 'poi', which is a very traditional Hawaiian food made from purple taro. It wasn't our favorite, but we're glad we tried it. After dinner, they put on a fantastic Hawaiian show, including dances from many Hawaiian tribes. We were called on stage to dance the Hula in front of all the other guests and even though we were a little confused about some of the moves, we had a lot of fun. Our favorite part of the show was the fire dancer who had huge flaming sticks to play with. His performance was the best Hawaiian dance we've seen the whole trip.
Now we're back at the hotel, getting ready to pack and say goodbye. This week has truly been amazing, none of us want to leave, and it went by WAY too fast. We've made friends that will last a life-time and can't wait to see them again soon. It's a fantastic feeling meeting other exchange students because they have all been through the same things we have. We've learned a lot about other student's experiences and feel very lucky that we were fortunate enough to have this experience for ourselves. Aloha and Mahalo Hawaii!!!!!!
Marita, Lisa and Victoria from Norway
PS from Oscar Dieden and Erik Tornqvist-Dis vas aeae vunderfull veek. Eberything vas wery perfecting doifjdhfdsbfjhdsufhdsfkjdsfkjhsdjç--this means big hugs in russian
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