5am Morning Call to My “Dream Vacation”

Finally, the day I had worked extremely hard for to board my flight all the way to Hawaii, was here. I had dreamed of waking up on the beach at my own leisure and being pleasantly entertained by fire dancers and hula girls, just like any other dream vacation to Hawaii, right? After boarding my first flight to San Francisco, then to Los Angeles I finally made it to Hawaii at 6 pm. That night I was driven all the way to the camp where I would be staying for the next few weeks named, Polestar.

Good morning great souls” were the first words I heard the next morning, being extremely tired from my flight I looked at the time and saw it was 5am!

â–º  QUARTER FINALIST 2012 TEEN TRAVEL WRITING SCHOLARSHIP

Even though I could have gone for another ten hours of sleep, I woke up joyfully remembering it was Hawaii. I followed everyone to the temple where everybody in the Polestar Community gathers up to energize, do some yoga, and meditate.  Having never done this combination in my life I was slightly confused on all these different poses everybody would seem to know by heart. After tripping and falling every other pose, I followed along and thankfully made it out of the morning practice alive. We then ate breakfast in silence. Once we were done eating we gathered up in a circle to talk about what was going to get done in the Polestar Community Gardens. My first day, I was put to work in the garden weeding out plants and sitting in the blazing heat till lunch was ready, checking the time never got old that first day.  Sure, this wasn’t exactly what I had expected my first morning in Hawaii to be like, but hey, it had to get better, I was in Hawaii for goodness sake!

Yes! Two more kids came my age; thank goodness I finally had some people who I could relate to.  Unfortunately, Service hours began even more tough. The next day we had to clean out an infested lake of seaweed, without having any knowledge on what type of God forbidden creature or depth of the lake truly was. It was undeniable that I overcame fear that day. Within a few days we were on to our next adventure. We visited the highest volcano in Hawaii called Mauna Loa. Waking up at 3 am wasn't the most desirable way to start of my day. Yet, I was willing to come through in order to quench my need of adventure. After getting lost, falling on volcano rock, scrapping up my hands , running out of water, and getting lost from my group, I finally witnessed flowing lava with my bare eyes. Standing within 5 ft. of the lava I could feel my clothes almost melt off. The orange/red color the lava gave off was like seeing the entire sun burst out of earth; I snapped more pictures that day than my own brother’s birth!

Taking this eleven hour trip from my hometown New Orleans, La all alone, sounded insane to all my friends and family. Yet, I was glad I did it anyway, because it was one of the most life learning experiences I’ve had. Though my days started tough and it was not the same “Dream Vacation” I had expected it to be with hula girls and fire dancers etc., I realized I was bringing back home so much more than just nice pictures. I was bringing home a suit case full of knowledge and experiences that I wouldn’t have been able to discover anywhere else!