Hawaii!!! Day Two

Another day in paradise has come and gone. This morning I woke up way before my alarm went off (which hasn't happened before and will probably never happen again) but I was able to enjoy my big comfy bed for a while before I needed to get up.
After I got up and ready for the day, we all met and then traveled to the Pearl Harbor Memorial. It was pretty cool, and the mini documentary they showed us before we ferried over to the memorial was, in my opinion, very well done. It did a good job utilizing footage from the bombings, but also gave a lot of context to the event.
At the memorial itself, which is built almost like a bridge over the sunken ship Arizona, everything was white and there was little decoration or information signs there. It was a good thing to see and I'm glad I got to go.
We went on a trip around Honolulu on the way home and drove to a national cemetery on a mountain peak that had "punchbowl" in its name.
After that, it was time to go to the beach! My hotel is right on the beach, which is awesome! Here's a picture from the hotel lobby:

I went swimming in the blue ocean for almost two hours but I wore sunscreen and my skin is as white as ever. I get to spend more time at the beach on Saturday so maybe I'll get some color to my skin after all...
There was a farmers market in the evening, which was fun and had lots of food and souvenirs. I tried peanut butter with coconut in it and was so yummy! The sales lady let us try ample amounts before we bought anything, and she kept yelling "No salt, no sugar!" over and over. I mean, that's nice to know, but it was tasty enough that I'd happily eat it even if it were nothing BUT salt and sugar.
The last thing we did today was have the students rehearse for their program tomorrow - it's the whole reason we came here.  It was so fun hearing them play together. They have a lot of talent.
After that, a couple of us grownups went looking for food and ended up with pizza. I'll never stop loving pizza. I wasn't too hungry so I only had a little bit.
Tomorrow is a big day, with a trip to the north side of Oahu to visit BYU Hawaii and the Polynesian cultural center. I think everyone's excited for it - I know I am!

See you tomorrow!