I'm now 4 months behind in updating the posts... so far behind, that these posts are really now less vacation posts and more throwback Thursday material.
I actually sat down two months ago and started to compose the accompanying blog post to this series, hoping to publish in time for Veteran's Day... and then pushed that back to December 7th, the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Alas, between getting sick, midterms, getting sick again, finals, and some new obligations at work, I was low on both energy and time. Now that I've survived my first quarter of grad school, I have my bearings again and can get back on it with the rest of my life.
Anyway... on to the throwback!
Most people take vacations to relax and lay on a beach drinking umbrellaed libations, but I find tanning to be a mind-numbing activity. Not to mention, a terrible return on investment, considering I'll be rewarded in the short term with a tan (at best) or a sunburn (more likely) and in the long term with elevated risk for skin cancer and wrinkles. No bueno. When I travel, I want to see sites of historical and cultural significance. Though depressing, since most places of historical and/or cultural significance involve something tragic happening before the triumph, I do think there's merit in visiting, understanding, and honoring the past in hopes of making the similar boneheaded mistakes in the future. I'm not sure how well we're doing on that score as a human race, since there is the cynical phrase that history tends to repeat itself... but anyway, when I knew we would be going to Oahu, I knew I wanted to visit Pearl Harbor and Iolani Palace. Modern day Oahu can be best described as LA with a beach - in fact, my friend lives in Honolulu remarked that most tourists visiting for the first time are perplexed by the urban environs, as it clashes with the lush rainforesty Hawaii they envision in their mind's eye. In between and around the high rises and paved thoroughfares though, you can see little gems from the past.
Iolani was the official residence of the reigning Hawaiian monarch until it became a republic, a U.S. territory, and finally, a state. It's definitely a reminder of a complicated (and at times, tragic) past, including imperialism, loss of sovereignty, and house arrest of the monarch. It's a sad story all around, but an amazing architectural structure. It feels decidedly more accessible than a palace, though still grand and appropriate for a republic. I loved being able to experiment with the wide angle lens here.
Pearl Harbor was a raw experience for me on an entirely different level. Though Iolani was a reminder of how terrible power struggles and the overthrowing of a monarch can be, Pearl Harbor was a horrific attack on an unprepared naval base, resulting in a great loss of life and suffering. Even for the soldiers that escaped sinking ships, they had to swim through an oil-slicked inferno. On the beautiful day that we visited, it was hard to think about, but seeing the rusted ships and listening to stories from the guides and the veterans made it real. The current was flowing and more than one visitor dropped leis into the water - an elderly woman even dropped her beaded necklace in. Even eerier was the oil still leaking from the USS Arizona, which they estimate still holds some 500,000 gallons of fuel within its hulls. It bubbles up slowly and dissipates into the water. Apparently, some veterans say that the droplets as the black tears of those who died and when the last veteran who served aboard passes, the ship will stop leaking oil. Besides the creepy anecdote, I shivered more than once despite the fact that it was about 80 degrees and humid.
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