I need a vacation.

One of my more favorite trips as a flight attendant were, oddly enough, the flights into Hawaii. They were easy, EASY! None of our passengers spoke English (we were working a Japanese tourism gig) and if they did, we just nodded and smiled and went back to our own work. We weren't TRYING to be complete bitches, it's just... broken English... no translators (as we were promised.) I remember during meal time having to draw pictures of fish/chicken/beef on the backs of broken down soda sleeves so we could properly serve our passengers. I still don't remember ever getting an explanation as to why the promised translators weren't aboard the flight. I wrote about my experiences in Japan here.

 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." Genesis 9:16, God's promise.

Our first flight into Hawaii was shortly after a storm had come through. Seeing a double rainbow was beautiful and I was super lucky to have caught it on a tiny toss away camera. All of Hawaii was amazing, but I was only disappointed by the fact that our location was so touristy. I would have loved to have been able to visit the more remote and "local" type areas outside of just Waikiki.

 This cracked me up. Effective warnings at the very least.

 After walking a few blocks from our hotel, I was able to sit on the beach and get a good look at the infamous Diamond Head. Several of our more adventurous crew members took advantage of what little time we had there and hiked it. Good for them.

 Sitting underneath the Banyan tree outside one of the many little touristy mall setups.

A memory I have that sticks out most of all is waiting for our paychecks to go through so we could stock up on supplies for our trip and, duh, souvenirs. I remember needing something badly and not wanting to wake any of my fellow crew members to see if I could borrow a few bucks to run to the nearest 7-11. I was constantly checking my bank account and it finally cleared sometime in the early hours of the morning. So as the sun started peeking up over the horizon, I got my shoes on and stepped out of the hotel. Let's just say there were a lot of lovely ladies (I think they were ladies?) on their way home from "work." What happens in Hawaii stays in Hawaii I guess (I hope!) I remember being on the phone with my Mammaw at the time and I had to stop to tell her what all I could see on my walk to the store. She and I were both holding our sides thousands of miles apart we were laughing so hard.

Talking to my Mammaw during my trips was a highlight to both of us. I would call her before I left to fill her in on where I was going or afterwards to tell her what exciting things I'd been able to partake in. As a young woman, she and at least one of her sisters had wanted to work as a flight attendant as well but during that time they were a lot more strict on height/weight regulations. I come from a family of short, well "rounded" people. Whenever I would get my pictures developed I would get just as excited as her to share my visions of the places I'd been. I think I loved retelling my adventures to her just as much as she enjoyed hearing about them.