I thought that the Drive Across America might be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and even though it came after five weeks in Southeast Asia and a week in Hawaii it was a no-less-significant part of my journey home from Morocco and my big birthday celebration. The fact that the potential once-in-a-lifetime was more or less repeated the very next year (albeit on a train) makes it no less noteworthy. I’ll talk about the Hawaii and the Drive, and then my post-Philippines trip (more of Southeast Asia!) and then Amtrak Across America, and I am sure by then (or even interspersed) there will be still further adventures and tales to tell. Thanks for your patience and for your interest!
If you’re going to land in the United States after being abroad for a while, there might be no better place to land than Hawaii. It’s paradise, after all! The Aloha State was more than welcoming, starting with the hunky Hawaiian immigration officer. He asked where I had been on my travels before returning to the United States and I rattled it off – Morocco, Spain, Germany (the airport – ha! Thought I might forget that one! Now that I think of it, I forgot Gibraltar though), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan – and then (even though he didn’t ask) I mentioned that I had just returned from the Peace Corps. The officer listened to me rattle on, welcoming me back with a smile. It helped that most of the people on my flight were Japanese, meaning that there wasn’t a long line of people with U.S. passports waiting for me to move along already.
I rented a car – a car! Peace Corps volunteers are not allowed to drive a car in-country, and I didn’t rent one in Asia, so it had been a while. Drove to my hotel (it was like riding a bicycle…), an Outrigger in Waikiki. It wasn’t the same Outrigger I’d stayed in ten years ago, but it seemed right to be in one. Then – uncharacteristically, but in some sort of recognition that I had just been on two overnight flights and had crossed the date line (this was January 15th, the second!) and several time zones, I sat on the bed and rested for a bit. As I was resting I flipped through my passport and I realized that the officer hadn’t stamped me back in. I guess that in my eagerness to declare myself back, I hadn’t been paying enough attention!
There were things that were next on the list from my trip ten years ago. I really didn’t spend much time in Honolulu then – Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head and that was about it. This time, I wanted to see the historic part of the capital city – what had been the capital of a sovereign nation before the U.S. toppled it. Turns out that January 17 was the anniversary of the day the Americans overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy. Another part of American history not to be particularly proud of…. On the other hand, it’s a part of what makes the history of Hawaii so fascinating and unique. I went to Iolani Palace, where I learned more about the royal family (very interesting) and how they were treated (not well, after the toppling). Hawaii has such an interesting blend of cultures! On to the State Capitol - kind of blocky, with a big open plaza, through which rain fell. That’s okay – I was in Hawaii! I then went on to a church made out of coral – the history of the missionaries is a big part of the history of Hawaii, and in spreading religion they also did things to preserve the culture, such as writing down the alphabet and language. That doesn’t mean I approve. As I was walking, someone came up to me – he said “Peace Corps, Morocco, Thailand…” I looked at him in confusion and then realized he was the immigration officer! I told him that he didn’t stamp my passport and he said, “that’s okay; we know you’re back.” He then offered to stamp it when I next went to the airport and gave me his number. Another person might have let it go, but I called him when I left Oahu and had him come out and back-date it! Then I wrote a nice letter to his supervisor, not going into specifics but telling him how nice my welcome back was.
I then sat on the beach for a while, and waited for a sunset that never quite materialized. When my sister suggested I go to Hawaii and I told her I was going to Bali, and she said it’s not the same. She was right! The beach in Bali was such a disappointment. Waikiki was not! I later walked along the main retail/restaurant drag of Waikiki – it kind of reminded me of the Las Vegas strip (again, that doesn’t mean I approve). Overwhelming return to American culture – stores, restaurants, crowds, everything expensive, everything clean and shiny and somewhat artificial. But a good way to ease back in, especially when in so many other parts of the U.S. it was the middle of winter!
What foods did I miss? I set out on my walk, looking for a California Pizza Kitchen. I didn’t get very far before I found a P.F. Chang’s, and that’s where I ate! Sad, maybe, but you really miss the mundane. Then – somehow sill awake – I went back to the room and reorganized my stuff, some to mail to my friend Howie for what’s turned out to be very-long-term storage and some for more immediate dispersal as gifts. Ready for the U.S. mail!
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