Orientation Week!

I have been so busy this past week, I’m totally worn out!

The game night was a great success! I met so many people, but kinda forgot most of their names! There was a dance along with the games, and well, I felt so white dancing next to the Polynesians! Haha! That’s a first! When I got back to my dorm I finally met my roomie! Her name is Megan, and she lives in Japan, but she is American. She didn’t stay in the dorm so I was all alone that night. Kinda sad, huh?

On Wednesday morning I went on a beautifully rainy run! Once I was all done getting ready I headed to breakfast with my new friend Sariah. Then it was a campus tour, and I still have no clue where anything is! Then we had Student Life and One Stop. We had to get all those things done in order to get our ID. Well, we needed one more thing from One Stop, but the line was so LONG  we decided to got to lunch and come back. That was a not so good idea…One Stop closed at 1! So we had to wait till Thursday to get it! After lunch, Mommy, Daddy, and I went down to Honolulu to get some things from Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club. That night, a group of people I met and I went to the talent show, JUST TO WATCH….or so I thought! 15ish minutes into watching it, they called my name! At first it was just my first name, and I thought ‘Oh someone else has my name, cool!’ Then they said, “Is Robyn Perez here?” I just sat there really shocked while all the people I came with stared at me! ‘Who in the world had signed me up?!’ was running through my mind! I hadn’t really played the uke or sang in forever! So I walked right up to the sign-up desk  and asked who signed me up. To my surprise, but I should’ve guessed, my dad signed me up online! I really didn’t want to perform at all. I had nothing prepared and didn’t practice any! Some girl literally begged me to sing, saying I’d probably be the best, haha. So I made a quick decision and ran back to my Hale, grabbed my uke, ran through Price Tag real fast, and ran back to the talent show. I told them I’d sing and I ended up being the next one to go up! I had no time to really think about what I was doing, but that was probably good! I got up on stage, explained what my dad did, and then just sang. According to people I did really good, but I messed up so much! But I have to thank Daddy for signing me up, because I wouldn’t have signed up on my own! After the talent show, I went to Temple beach with a group. It was so beautiful! There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, you could see all the stars, and the moon reflected on the ocean! Behind me was the temple, and well of course that was breath taking! When I got back to my Hale, I passed out so fast!

Thursday was pretty much a free day. I did get my ID though! After lunch, I went to the beach with a few people. At first it was kind of cold, but after you’re in, it feels great! We stayed there for a long while and we all were exhausted and hungry when we finally decided to walk back! We all got lunch and then headed back to my Hale to watch a movie. Once the movie was done, we got dinner and went to support the women’s volleyball team, and we won! We walked back to our hales and passed out, like usual!

Friday was our official BYUH welcome and the most exhausting day! They served us a light breakfast and then we had our welcome in the McKay auditorium. I left early with a few guys to workout, since we wouldn’t have any other time to do it. It was a good workout, and I'm definitely feeling sore! Then, at 12, we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was so cool! Each Pacific Island had there own area and activity or show. At around 5 we had a big, yummy dinner, and a few clubs either sang or danced. Then, we walked back to the PCC to watch the night show! The night show was so so so cool! I was so tired and had a bit of a hard time keeping my eyes open! However, once the guys spinning fire came out, I was up! There was a party/dance that night but half of the new students were to tired to even go. I got into my room and literally passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow!

I spent all Saturday with my parents, since it was their last day in Hawaii. We went back down to Honolulu, to buy more stuff…mainly socks! I know, how could I forget socks? Well, I did! We stopped at some food place on the side of the road for chicken, and it was really good! Then, we stopped at another truck to get cold coconut juice straight from the coconut! When we finally got to Honolulu, we shopped, and headed back to La’ie. Mom and dad stopped to get some Mexican good Tamales, and I’m still craving them! Finally the dreaded time came to say goodbye… That was so hard! I wasn’t really with them all the time, but I knew they were here. So yeah, I was a bit miserable for the rest of the night, but some good people helped me out by inviting me to do stuff. Once again, I passed out that night.

Sunday. It’s a good day, but I have church at 8 o’clock!! The cafeteria doesn’t even open until 11, so I’m literally starving during church! Over all church was good, lunch was delicious, and my Sunday nap was much needed! When I woke up, I Skyped with Mommy and Daddy! Yay! I wasn't too hungry for dinner, so I just ate fruit. Then we walked over to the   stake center for a fireside from the President of the school. We got a cool coin like thing that has "Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve" on one side and the temple on the other side. Also, the President said something really cool; so the 'A' in Aloha means Atonement, the 'L' means love, the 'O' mean obedience, and the 'ha' means breath of life in Hawaiian. Well I need to get some stuff ready for my first day of classes!! I will definitely tell you guys all about it tomorrow!

Day 2 of my Hawaiian Adventure!

I got some pretty good news! I didn’t have to camp on the beach!

Daddy was able to convince the hotel people to let me put a $20 deposit instead of  $50! After sitting in the room for a few long boring hours, I decided to venture out and get some dinner. When I say venture out, I really mean walk across the street to some little store. I bought a sub sandwich and a bag of chips. Great dinner I must say! Haha! Then I texted my new friend, Colton, and told him to come and stay at the hotel so I wouldn’t be alone. Once he got to the hotel, I took him to the little store to get dinner and then we went for a nighttime adventure! We were pretty determined to get to a beach, and spent 30 minutes trying to find one. Lets just say never listen to me when I think I know the directions! When we finally made it to the beach, we couldn’t stop talking about how unreal this whole thing is! We couldn’t believe that for the next four years we’d be going to college, in Hawaii!! After a good 15 minutes, we walked back and passed out!

Tuesday morning I woke up to the million texts my daddy was sending me. Then, right as I was about to doze off again, Annie called! She didn’t know it was around 5:30 in the morning, but we talked anyways. I told her all about the craziness that happened the day before. I also got to hear Linco say “Rawraw”, his way of saying Robyn, and “I love you”! He’s such a smart kid! After I hung up, I just couldn’t fall asleep! You got to remember, it was around 10a.m. in Tennessee, and I’m not used to the island time yet. I got ready and then met Colton for breakfast and a walk on the beach. We ended up doing a ton of exploring until Mommy and Daddy arrived. Once Mom and Dad got their bags in the hotel room, we loaded up the car and took a 45 minute drive to La’ie, my new home! Arriving at the BYUH campus was so exciting! I can’t believe I’m an actual college student! I checked into my dorm, got all set up, got my TB test, and had dinner with Mom, Dad, Colton, and some new friends.

Now I’m just sitting in my very small dorm room waiting for 7 o’clock to go to games night. Oh, and I already kicked Mommy and Daddy out, haha! I still have yet to meet my roommate and I’m kinda nervous! Hopefully she’s chill! Well, I got to go! Be prepared to read a ton more posts, this week will be very exciting and eventful!

My Big Hawaiian Adventure

Well the day has finally come and its time for me to leave for Hawaii. All I can say is that it is beyond bittersweet.

Sunday morning I cried and cried till I had to go to church. Daddy made a super delicious steak and chicken dinner. Michael, Lena, Angelena, Mia, Wren, and Zoli all came over. Oh, and of course Steven was there, like always. We had a good night together. I asked Angelena if she was going to miss me, and her reply was, “Hmmm…let me think about it.” Michael, Steven, and I just stared at her. I told her she could forget about a Christmas gift! When it was finally time for them to leave, I tried hard to hold back the tears. I’m going to miss them like crazy, but good thing we have a wonderful invention called Skpe, right?!

I woke up on Monday at 4:20 thinking ‘Oh geez…I’m leaving today…ugh…’ The whole time I was getting ready I was nervous, sad, anxious, scared, and excited all at once. It wasn’t long till I found myself sitting in the car with Mommy, Daddy, and Steven. The ride to the airport felt like eternity! I had to keep calming myself down, and I kept my eyes on the road. One look at Steven or Mom or Dad and I would become an emotional mess. We checked my TWO bags in and to Mommy’s surprise; both bags were less than 45 pounds! I must say I’m a great packer! Haha! I gave everyone a quick hug, took some pictures, and walked off.

My first flight was pretty empty…actually it was VERY empty! I had a whole row to myself and so did pretty much everyone else on the plane! When we landed in Dallas I had to take a train to get to my gate. I was so nervous and didn’t want to miss my stop. I thought I did and started panicking a little, but I ended up getting off at the right one! From there, finding my gate was easy peasy! Now I’m just sitting here, waiting, wondering if there are any other BYUH students on this flight, and crossing my fingers Daddy isn’t wearing a Hawaiian print shirt like most of the other men waiting to head over the Pacific to Hawaii where the unfashionable shirt will magically become fashionable! I guess I’ll update once I arrive in Hawaii!

I finally made to Hawaii! And it is so so so so so beautiful! But that 7 hour plane ride was not so wonderful! I sat by a nice lady and her baby. At first the little guy was good, then he started screaming and crying! The crying only lasted 30 minutes, but it seemed like he did that every other hour! Like always, I slept a good half of the flight. I couldn’t go back to sleep the last two hours! Those two hours crept on by! The anticipation of seeing Oahu literally killed me! When I could finally see the shore, all I could think was ‘Thank goodness I’m about to get off this plane!’ Once I turned my phone back on, I got about 30 texts from Mommy and Daddy informing me that they got delayed and won’t be getting to Hawaii till Tuesday! Yup that’s right! I will be alone my first night in Hawaii! So a little nervous, I got my bags, met the people to take me to the shuttle, and headed to my hotel. Everything went well until I got to the hotel. I didn’t have enough cash and I don’t have any money in my bank account! So, I can’t put the deposit down to get into my room! I can’t call Mom or Dad! All I could do was cry! Yes! I cried in front of a bunch of tourist! What else was I supposed to do?! As of right now, I’m sitting in the open air lobby typing and waiting for Daddy to call the hotel. Who knows I might have to camp out on the beach…