The Ups and Downs : Life in Hawaii

So.. Here I am on the beautiful green island of Oahu for the past two weeks. 70 of us landed on Honolulu on 27th June 2013 after about 36 hours leaving the land of hidden treasure, Brunei Darussalam.

We were grateful by the warm welcome by the people of East West Center, the institution that has been giving us the shelter to stay and grab precious knowledge for a month stay here in Hawaii.

Life here is not very much different from the life back home. The people are friendly and it is very safe to go everywhere here. The only difference would be the difficulty in finding halal food in every store in the city. So basically, we, the Muslims, rely on vegetables and fruits to survive, although some of us did bring canned foods and instant noodles from home.

Despite being home sick and missing family at home, friends here have been very wonderful and I must say, we have become one big family now, especially in the month of Ramadhan when we fast as part of our responsibilities as Muslims. The pain of being away from family has lessen now we face Ramadhan together and break iftar as one big family. Alhamdulillah.

Other meaningful moments here in Hawaii are obviously the tours we were taken to by the East West Center. I can never forget the beauty of Hanaoma Bay, the serene sight of Nu'uani Pali Lookout, and the cold windy experience looking out for blow holes on the beautiful rocky beach. The visit at Bishop Museum had also taught me the life of Hawaiians in the past, as well as the history of their Royals. A close encounter with a Pearl Harbor Attack survivor, Jimmy Lee, in our visit to the Arizona Memorial was also a dear to my heart. Watching the actual video footage of the attack, and standing in front of the Memorial Wall did not fail to shed me tears of agony.

I will still be here in the next two weeks, and I am sure more memories are in the making. I may be missing home right now, but I am sure when I leave here, I shall be missing my one-month life here in Hawaii.