Today we arrived in HAWAII!!! We docked in Honolulu this morning at 6:00am and we were so excited. The entire ship was on their cell phones calling their friends and parents because this was the first port where they would work unless you were willing to pay huge international fees. So the US customs folks came on and we all got our passports stamped and by 8:30am Geno and I were on our way to Waikiki to the Hilton Hawaiian Village Grand Vacation Club. YES! It was only about 2.5 miles away from the port so we took a cab and were there by 9:00am. My wonderful parents had Hilton points that were going to expire on 12/31 so they graciously allowed us to use their points for our one night here in Waikiki. Our suite is so beautiful and we have an awesome balcony overlooking the ocean and the lagoon. After we got settled in we went downstairs got some maps and walked the property. There are four pools, 90+ shops and a beautiful view of Diamond Head. We spent most of the day by the pool, where I got a lot of grading done and then we watched a beautiful sunset. At 7:45pm there were fireworks on the beach and we could sit on our balcony and watch them. It was just perfect! Tomorrow we are going to hang on the beach and by the pool all day before we have to be back on the ship at 6:00pm. We are going back early because we assume that there are going to be a lot of students that want to wait until the last minute to get back on. Then we have an overnight trip to The Big Island where we will be docking in Hilo for two days. Can't wait!

Fun Facts:

-People here speak English... we are really appreciating that

-When we go into the restaurants we know what we are ordering... we also appreciate that!

-Malhalo means "thank you"