Sad to say goodbye, Hawaii!

This week has gone by so quickly and it is true, that once you come to the islands you do not wish to leave!  I want to thank each of the RYE Florida students, as well as our RYE students from New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.  We have marvelous memories to take with us, but more importantly we have new friendships!   I have been touched by so many of you and have grown to love each of you in a special way.  The team at Belo, Makena and Emily, have been fabulous and I want to adopt them both as my new daughters!  Their positive attitudes throughout our week, and professional demeanor kept the program moving forward.  Their knowledge and ability to multi-task are to be commended.  The students genuinely felt so comfortable with them both, and it was my pleasure to be a part of this fabulous tour!  Thank you, Belo, for an amazing experience and memories to enjoy for a lifetime!  Aloha!
 Cyndi Doragh, Rotary District 6960, RYE Florida Country Coordinator, Northern Europe

Last full day with our 'Ohana'!

The early birds who came out for the sunrise :)

Which was breath-taking!

Then we went and relaxed at Hanauma Bay

One of the most beautiful places we have been...

Then we rode to the Paradise Cove Luau for dinner and a show

We had a lot of fun!!!

And we even got tattoos!

 Don't worry...They wash off!

....And we went on a canoe ride...

...Saw a man climb a coconut tree...

Then we saw a beautiful sunset!

And ate dinner together

We hula'd together

Danced together

And met the gorgeous Polynesian performers

When we got back to the hotel, we hung out in the lobby....

And signed each other's flags and trip shirts

Our trip in Hawaii will always be in our hearts!

Our last full day in Hawaii started off with snorkeling!!

When you’re snorkeling, you pass a great time, but snorkeling in Hawaii, in Hanauma bay was magic, I saw a sea turtle, swim with her, take a lot of picture, but be in this place, protected was one of my favorite time in Hawaii.

 All of the colored fishes, the light blue water, made the time stop for us.

All the week, I was in a different world...far from the main land, close of Earth, and the beauty. 

When later we went to the luau, we were just projected into Hawaii’s culture and traditions!

We got to see how they cooked the pig, saw a guy climb a palm tree, and learned how to make beautiful flowered jewelry. Add to that how cute are the Polynesian  boys!

This “last night” here in Hawaii with my big family was magic. I enjoy every second.

Ohana !

Angie from France

Pearl Harbor and the Beach!

This morning the breakfast was good as always, and we all ate too much!

After the amazing breakfast we headed toward the Pearl Harbor Memorial which is towards the South side of the island. We started off volunteering for the battle ship, where we made sure all the hand rails were clear of germs. In exchange for our volunteer work, we got the guided tour around the amazing ship which had 16 inch canons and was also the place where the 2^nd World War ended when the Japanese and the ally powers signed the treaty.

Two people were awarded for their great volunteer work with a Navy pin...Jasmin and Pato.

After seeing where World War II ended, we saw where the American involvement started...Pearl Harbor.

The short movie and seeing the USS Arizona all made us think if war is really worth all the lives lost. There was an old man in his 90s at the memorial and he was one of the survivors on the ship...when he found out we were from all over the world he was very excited!

After a morning of history we went to the beach. The waves were big and many of us enjoyed jumping in them. Even though most of us were unlucky enough to get salt water down our throats, it was a lot of fun.

We must admit we’ve been unlucky with the weather. While eating lunch, it was way too hot – and then when we arrived at the beach and it was cloudy! But, we still had a lot of fun. We also took a lot of pictures with our flags!

We ended the day with eating a Hawaiin BBQ at the hotel (delicious!) and got some free time. We headed back to the International Market to do some shopping. Now we are soon heading to bed in order to get up at 6:30 am tomorrow morning to see the beautiful sunrise over the ocean.

Jasmin from Denmark

Elisabeth from Denmark

DIAMOND HEAD & SHOPPING!

Today was our 4^th full day already. Time is flying so fast here on this wonderful island. The plan today was hiking so we started the day with a big and fat breakfast to get some energy.

We had to hike to the top of a mountain called Diamond Head and it was pretty intense. By the time we got to the top, everyone was exhausted and sweaty...But up there the view was beautiful and it was totally worth our effort!

We took a lot of amazing pictures and then we came back to the hotel to chill.

In the afternoon we went to the beach and it rained sadly. So we decided to grab some lunch.

Finally the day ended by some shopping to the biggest mall of the area. The temptation was endless to buy EVERY little thing!

We also had dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant, where everyone sat together and we had such good laughs.

Back in the bus we realized how tired we were so everyone went to bed to get some rest for another unforgettable day!

We are so happy to be here!

Thank you Belo USA!

Obrigada Belo USA!

Merci Belo USA!

Eleonora from Brazil

Manon from Belgium

Our Tuesday at the Beach!

This morning started with another amazing breakfast. We drove to Pali Lookout and saw an amazing view of Hawaii! It was so good to take pictures, but also very windy!!!

Next we went to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world...Kailua! The water was so blue and clear...and had not only white sand, but also coral near the shore which is very beautiful. We got to play football, soccer, and volleyball on the beach...then some of us left for kayaking.

Once we started kayaking everyone became so excited, and with good teamwork we all made it to another beautiful beach for lunch. We took awesome pictures and had so much fun! We took funny pictures of our Italian boy buried in the sand.

We then kayaked to another island..the bird island and did kayak surfing here! It was amazing.

Dinner tonight was at hard rock cafe and it was so good! There were heaters on the roof and it was amazing. After dinner everyone shopped and bought a souvenir to remember the night.

It has already been four days and we cannot believe it! We have been having so much fun, it has been an amazing trip so far. We have fallen in love with Hawaii and the beautiful people here. We are so used to saying aloha now! We can't wait for tomorrow, and to experience more days of excitement!

Jigs from India
Hayley from Taiwan
Fernando from Chile