By Mac Malambri
I woke up today and decided to check out the beach. Some of my friends were going paddle boarding. I just walked around Kona. It is cool to see before the world awakens. Unfortunately, Kona has an unbelievable homelessness problem. Before 9 AM, every semi-flat surface is covered by a destitute man or woman. This one guy today showed some beauty in the face of poverty. He and his dog were asleep on the sea wall. While they are in such desperation, there is beauty in the fact that they still care for one another. I hope that they can someday find a better life.
After breakfast, we headed to a beach that is South of Kona. We turned off the highway onto this rough road. Our vans made it impressively far, but eventually we got to a point that they were not going to cross. Unlike a certain small SUV, they cannot drive over gradients and surfaces far beyond what they were designed to do. After turning back, we preceeded to another popular beach. It was so hot! Trying to avoid sunburn, I hid underneath a tree I found while eating lunch. I briefly emerged from this tree and sent swimming—after applying sunscreen this time, but did not last too long. I quickly retreated to my tree. From my hiding spot, I watched a pack of goats and some moonguese. Moonguese aren’t that interesting; they’re like fast squirrels. Goats are amazing. They gradually move across a landscape getting their food. When treatened by a potential predator—like me—the largest bravely goes forward to push it away, while the little baby goats run to another adult. They are such elegant creatures.
We finished early this day and went back to the hotel. Us students enjoyed the hot tub and reflected on our journey. We got dinner back at Foster’s Kitchen—the first restaurant we went to. We headed to bed early, in preparation for what is sure to be a long and strenuous 20 hours of travel.