This week my third Thanksgiving Break at the University came to a close. Although I was not treated to my mother's cooking or embarrassing family stories, I did fulfill at least one standard school holiday expectation: I got a miraculous nine hours of sleep a night - unheard of since I came to college. It did take changing time zones to accomplish this, however, so I don't know how many accolades are due here.
During the break, my teammates and I traveled to the gorgeous and tropical Honolulu, Hawaii for a three-game tournament. You know what people say about the journey being the destination? Outside of spiritual matters, let me tell you, this is not true. At the start of the trip we were giddy, unaware of what was ahead of us.
After a two-and-a-half hour drive to Dulles, we stayed overnight at a hotel. Then the dreaded alarm buzzer went off six hours later and we loaded up on the bus to catch our 6 a.m. flight. This one was brief, only four hours to Denver. Then came the real kicker, the seven-hour nonstop to Honolulu. I can't lie; this was my first time being in a small space for seven straight hours since elementary school. Being a foot taller than the average woman and sitting in a crammed seat conjured memories of those school days, when classmates affectionately called me "Green Giant" and "That Huge Girl," or my personal favorite - "She's Coming, Run Or She'll Stomp On You!" Yes, those were the days. You can imagine my joy at being forced into such seating arrangements.
But, all is well that ends well, and soon the plane touched down in Honolulu. It was exactly as the Travel Channel described it. Warm, green and - dare I say - luscious. Sadly, we did not get "lei'd"; That experience was saved for tour groups, and try as we did to lean down and get a flower garland put around our necks, they seemed to know we were not with the tourists. The matching sweatsuits probably gave us away.
The hotel we stayed in was beautiful and right by the beach. After a brief practice following deplaning, we all discussed the walks we were going to take along the sandy shores and the pictures for which we would pose between the palm trees. But somehow, I walked into my room at 8 p.m. that night, blinked, and it was 5 a.m. the next morning. Hello, jet lag. For the rest of the week we made grand plans post-practice or game, but I continued to find myself falling asleep well before 10 p.m. Once I sat down to untie my shoes and bam! The next thing I knew, I was up before sunrise. The benefits were twofold. If I so chose, which I often did, I could sleep four more hours and wake up feeling like a spring chicken at 9 a.m. - probably the last time I would feel rested until Winter Break.
One morning, I did leave my bed early enough to witness a penguin feeding. But being the oldest person there without a child by my side, I felt creepy and quickly left. It's the thought that counts.\nOverall, Hawaii was everything it is chalked up to be. Business trip though it may have been, it was still Hawaii. I got to spend at least an hour of my break in a bathing suit, and who isn't thankful for that?
Simone's column runs biweekly Tuesdays. She can be reached at s.egwu@cavalierdaily.com.
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