Evening Monday 8/6

Well here is the bigger update with pictures. Mostly pictures. Today was a double barreled lecture day-Japanese popular culture in the morning, and Chinese environmentalism in the afternoon. I truly found the day intriguing and interesting and it kept my attention. I also had a morning meeting to discuss my project for the institute, and lunch with Jennifer and Catherine, two of the ladies I was with yesterday from Middlesex State College in Massachusetts. I ate lunch from one of the lunch carts on campus: it was a chicken gyro and sweet potato fries, ie a fairly yummy lunch.

Yesterday we got started at 11 am, driving to Pearl Harbor. We had tickets for the 12:30 trip out to the memorial. We went through the new museum (finished in 2011), then watched the movie, before taking the boat to the memorial. We then came back and I acted as a historian for Jennifer and Catherine through the second part of the museum, shopped in the bookstore, and since we had the car for a few more hours, we traveled about the island. Cristin and Allie had driven all over the day before, but Jennifer and Catherine hadn't seen that much of the island. We stopped at the Pali Overlook, then drove to the north shore. We stopped at a beach for about an hour so Jennifer and Allie could catch a swim, and then we drove to the Mahapu'u Lighthouse trail to go see the lighthouse. It was a bit of a hike: 1.5 miles up, over 500+ feet in elevation. However, we did it relatively late in the day, so it was cooler and the view was impressive. As well, it was something I hadn't done before and I would do again.

We drove back towards Honolulu, and stopped for gas. It also happened to be in the complex where the Kona Brewing Company had it's restaurant. We decided to get dinner there, and I had a couple of beers and a sampler, as well as some very good fish tacos. I also bought a few more t-shirts. We then got back in the car, where I acted as navigator to get the car back before 9 o'clock. We then caught a taxi back to the university (with 5 of us, it was only 50 cents more expensive for each of us than the bus would have been.) I lasted about an hour before I fell asleep this morning and stayed that way until about 6:30 am.

Anyway, I'll post the pictures in a couple different groups. I hope you enjoy!