Of course I do.
Friday was sad when Janelle left us. Her room was all packed up and she said goodbye to us and then left us to fend for ourselves. Right now she's probably getting ready to hop on a plane and go back to UH to start spring semester... lucky bitch.
Just kidding. Love you Janelia!
Friday night was full of shenanigans. Finals were done and it was the beginning of the end for my time in Hawaii. Enough said.
Saturday - TATTOOOOOOOO. I was really really pumped about this. I had wanted a sea turtle with a hibiscus flower in the shell for an eternity or so. Even before I even thought about spending a semester in Hawaii. Don't ask questions, I really don't know why it got stuck in my head.
After it hit me in the summer that I was really going, I looked up different tattoo shops to find credible artists and all that jazzy jazz. I may have been a little too excited. The tattoo symbolized me taking risks and being spontaneous, just living life because it's so short, and taking advantage of opportunities. Plus, the tribal turtle and hibiscus flower are essentially symbols of Hawaii, which made it even more perfect.
As the semester went by and I thought more about it, my tattoo had another meaning. Sea turtles lay their eggs on the same beach where they hatched themselves. No matter where they travel to, they always come back for their family. It's their instinct. And that's so amazing. For me, this tattoo is a reminder to always come home, always come back to my family, no matter where life takes me.
I had made the appointment in like October, and made sure to get it on one of my last days on the island because I wouldn't be able to swim in the ocean or a pool or lay out on the beach and tan.
Sidestory. On the bus ride to my appointment, a woman with a very large dog got on and sat right by us.
He was a mastiff/great dane mix. HUGE dog. Woof.
I had spoken with my artist, Alex, a week beforehand to explain what I wanted. So Saturday when I showed up, he already had an idea on paper for me. I didn't like his original drawing, so I changed a bunch of things and made the poor guy redo it. But hey, it needed to be done how I wanted.
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| Waiting for the final sketch! |
As Kelsey and Jimmy, another friend who wanted to come with, waited alongside me for the final sketch, we saw a couple about in their late 20's who were also getting tattoos. I overheard the woman explaining what she wanted, and she had the same idea as me, a turtle with a hibiscus flower in the shell on the back of her right hip. Same. Exact. Tat.
I wasn't really surprised though, because girls get this tattoo all the time. It didn't really bother me.
Alex called me back to get started. We figured out where the stencil should go and got straight to business. He wore a headlamp! Here:
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| He was supercool. |
The whole thing didn't take very long. I'd say it was like a half hour. The part that hurt the worst was the outline, but it was bearable.
In the middle of my tattoo, the young couple from before came in to start their tattoos. I then told the woman that we were getting the same thing. They were really nice and we all started talking. Turns out they had ran the marathon too! That was their whole reasoning behind their tattoos. The man was actually getting the marathon warrior man whatever from the logo, which was pretty cool. It was both of their first tattoos, and they were really sweet. We then realized that both of us had gone to the north shore on the same day to watch Pipemasters.
Same tattoo, marathon, Pipemasters. How crazy of a coincidence was this??
Anyway, here's the final product of my day:
Love it!
Healing it over these past few weeks has been a bit of a challenge because I turned out to be allergic to the moisturizer I used on it, which resulted in tiny red bumps everywhere around the tattoo. It looked hideously disgusting. I was so concerned I even thought about going to the doctor to get it checked out. But it's healing now and I'm still in love.
Saturday afternoon-ish, Serious Rob wanted to take me out on his motorcycle around the island. I happily complied. It was so breathtaking getting one last glance of the windward (east) coast on the back of a motorcycle, during sunset no less. As we were on one of the major roads, I realized that I had traveled that road by car, by foot (marathon) and now by motorcycle, which was cool to me. After a few hours it started to get dark and chilly so we made our way back home.
Kelsey and I decided we wanted to check out this huge Christmas display that was set up in downtown Honolulu. We also wanted to make a video of us dancing around idiotically, so naturally we went to Goodwill and bought flamboyantly annoying Hawaiian shirts to wear.
A combination of pouring rain and getting lost trying to find the display led us straight to Jack in the Box, which I had never been before. So our shitty night ended with fast food. It was absolutely delicious. I don't know how I had never encountered this tasty establishment before that moment. It also may have been due to the fact that I had almost eaten zero fast food in the last four months, and I forgot how good it was. So bad... but so good.
Nope. Not kidding.
Sunday morning Kelsey and I finally made it to the Christmas display and filmed our shenanigans just how we wanted. Then we met up with Tawni and whoever else was left on the island and beached it all day. I even got some sand volleyball in, which made me oh-so-happy. I made sure to cover my tat, though. We watched the sunset and I went shopping for Christmas gifts for everyone and it was a successful day.
Monday morning Kelsey, Jimmy, and I ate at Eggs N Things, a yummy little place that we had been wanting to eat at for a while. Then we beached it up some more. Spent my final moments at Fort DeRussy beach and made my peace with the ocean. Then I had to go home and finish packing and leave for the airport.
I had to say goodbye to Kelsey earlier than I thought, because she had to go pick up her brother at the airport. We cried and hugged and promised to Skype (which we did!) and said our goodbyes. Which really aren't goodbyes, because I plan on visiting her at Haverford sometime during this next semester!
I managed to fit all my shit in my suitcases without having to use the vacuum bags I needed when I flew here. Even better news? I didn't have to spend $90 for an overweight suitcase, also unlike when I got there in August. Boo-ya!
Sitting in the terminal waiting to board the flight was surreal. I didn't want to go. But I knew I had to. And I was excited to see my family and all my friends back home. It was the most bittersweet feeling ever.
Tawni and I boarded, popped a Nyquil, took off into the air, and dozed off as we made our way back to the mainland.
Aloha!
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