The Trek.

    Southern Spain, the area where Murcia is located, is a very dry region. I may have mentioned this in an earlier blog, but water is so scarce here that you often see artificial turf grass on medians, in parks, almost anywhere. I've actually gotten excited to see grass before! When I came home to Middletown for one night, before leaving for Hawaii, I was completely captivated by the greenness! There's a golf course behind my house, so rolling green hills, trees and reeds swaying in the wind, colorful flowers, etc. I loved it!! The point of this is that I have been dying to get back to nature.

     So, when we finally got to Hawaii, I begged Remy to take us on a hike. I got my wish, but was a little surprised at the outcome. This is a bit embarrassing, but I realized that I am more out of shape than my two twenty-something brothers (okay, that's not surprising), but also my fifty-something parents!! My mom was skipping way up ahead of me, while my Dad and Uncle lagged back to make sure I didn't fall down the mountain in exhaustion.

As you can see, there were tons of roots and other obstacles to potentially stumble over! (Pic by Josh)

     To be fair, the 'hike' up the mountain, became a climb at points...but still. I walk a ton, I just never run (because I hate running). I hope to do some more fun exercising with my best friends Devin and Erica this summer; biking the C&O canal, taking some yoga classes, and definitely more hiking, especially along the Appalachian Trail.

Josh took this picture of me!

     Back to the hike: although it was a bit strenuous, it was amazingly beautiful and well worth the sweat. The whole hike totaled about two hours, but we made it up to an incredible view of the beaches. My Dad has all the pictures on his computer :( but luckily I took some pictures on my cell phone (they're awkward sizes, but don't judge). When I get the good-quality pictures later, I will update this post!

This view is only halfway up! I was too pooped at the top to take a picture.

     This was our last day with Josh, so we headed to Ala Moana mall in Honolulu. I didn't take any pictures since I have been there before but it's, like everywhere else in Hawaii, ridiculously pretty. It's open air, meaning it's not enclosed, there's a koi pond with mini-waterfall,and tons of great shops organized by whether or not you can afford them. We didn't buy anything because Josh wanted to head to the next place to look for a gift for his wife Emily. He picked her out a super-cute dress, then we sped him off to the airport. We were sad that he had to leave so soon, but I only had about two more days anyway.

I probably should've prefaced these posts by explaining that I had no idea I was going to Hawaii until just a few days before I left! I missed the last week and a half of classes (questionable decision), flew thousands of miles and plenty of hours, and am so so so incredibly lucky and grateful for the experience. My parents are amazing for giving me this opportunity and convincing me to do all of this missing school and traveling alone. Remy is also amazing for going to school in Hawaii and giving us the opportunity to go out there and visit him. His next step is attending graduate/doctorate school at Georgia Tech--yay, a new place to visit!

If you're interested, I'll try to quickly explain my travel experiences. 

1. 4.5 hour train ride from Murcia to Madrid (after a 30 minute walk to the bus station) 
2. 15 minute connector train from Madrid Chamartin Train Station to Barajas airport
3. 8.5 hour flight from Madrid to JFK (New York)
4. 3 hour layover in JFK
5. 1.5 hour flight to BWI 
6. 1 hour-ish drive home!! I got to sleep in my own bed!
7. 1 hour drive to back to BWI the next day
8. total of 8 hour flights from BWI to San Diego and
9. San Diego to San Jose
10. we stayed the night in San Jose, so about a 30 minute drive there and back to the airport
11. 5.5 hour flight from San Jose to Honolulu!!

Apparently a panda was sitting in front of me...? I think it's a hat, btw.

In total, about 30.5 hours just driving, flying, and training...and that's only ONE WAY! On the way back, I also went to Burbank, London, and Vegas. I met a cool person, heard some interesting stories, and met some creepers (the joys of flying solo).

     Overall, it was a crazy experience. I can't believe I did so much solo traveling (I even stayed in a hotel by myself for the first time). When I got back to Murcia, I realized I have less than six weeks left!! Where has the time gone??