Aloha Spirit

Dear travel diary

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

This week my class consists of a total of eight students. There are five of us from Switzerland, three of whom are from French-speaking Switzerland. The remaining three come from Japan, France, and Belarus. However, it will be revealed next week how the constellation looks like, as Vanessa is leaving this week and apparently about 13 new students are coming. Let's see who will join our class. My teacher, Mike, is an upbeat, warm, and especially funny person. It's a lot of fun to have him as a teacher, as he always has a joke ready.

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

I was already told about the Aloha Spirit before arrival. After my family already showed Aloha Spirit by adopting Chantal, I have encountered it in various situations since then. Whether it's on the street when a stranger comes and asks if he can help us, at the beach when someone watches our belongings, the bus driver who acts as a tourist information center, or just the openness and friendliness of the residents here. These may seem like small things, but for us Swiss people, they are sometimes extraordinary. 

On the way home, we were able to admire our first rainbow from the bus. But it wasn't just a rainbow, it was a double rainbow. And what a sight it was! It shimmered beautifully in the sky in all colors. However, when we could finally get off the bus, it had unfortunately already disappeared. But it certainly won't have been the last one. 

Thursday, April 15, 2021

When we left school today, Chantal, Nadine, and I took a short lunch break and headed to Halona Beach Cove and the Halona Blowhole. This is near our home, or rather Sandy's Beach, where we relaxed on Sunday. It was about a 40-minute walk from the bus terminal to Eternity Beach, as it is also called. On the way there, a cute Soili crossed our path at Sandy's Beach, peacefully wagging its tail while grazing. But even without Soili, who definitely sweetened our way, the hot walk was worth it because the bay was beautiful and not overcrowded - luckily! Various movies have been filmed at this beach, such as Finding Ohana, which we watched together with Debbie and Tony the night before.

As the sun slowly disappeared and it got cooler, we gathered ourselves and made our way home, but we definitely didn't feel like walking at least another 40 minutes. So we tried our luck with hitchhiking and once again hoped for the famous Aloha Spirit. After countless cars passed by, one finally stopped. Unfortunately, it was not a truck where we could play stowaways on the cargo bed, but a yellow Jeep. The couple wanted to drive along the coast and agreed to make a little detour for us. So we got in and let ourselves be driven home. Interestingly, both of them are not from Hawaii, but from San Francisco and are now here on vacation. Nevertheless, they seem to embody the Aloha Spirit and were more than happy to help us. 

Already during the hitchhiking, we felt small raindrops finding their way to the ground. Glad that we were now in the car, we could still walk the last few hundred meters home in the light sunshine. Several minutes later, it poured down and we saw our second rainbow here. 

Here's to many more Aloha Spirit experiences and rainbows!