Day One: Sunday, July 20 (Hawaii) & Monday, July 21 (Hong Kong), 2014

Sunday, July 20^th [Honolulu] /Monday, July 21^st [Hong Kong]
(Goodbye Hawaii, Hello Hong Kong)

Written by Kelli Zakimi

I arrived with Miho at the Honolulu Airport around 8:00am on July 20. We met up with our crew and had a smooth check-in to the waiting area. While we waited, we chatted a little bit about our home lives, which I admit made me a little homesick (and we hadn't even left yet!). But I think I was more tired (it was early, and I hadn't slept because I was packing) and excited for the journey ahead.

On the way to Hong Kong!

We arrived in Shanghai around 2:30 China time, after a grueling 11-hour flight. Or at least I thought it was grueling...I was so tired I slept pretty much the entire time.

Originally, our itinerary called for a short layover in Shanghai before transferring to Hong Kong. But, of course, everything that could have happened, happened, and we got off the plane to find out our transfer flight to Hong Kong was canceled. By this time we were very irritable, and wanted to get there!

 "Why is this happening...?"

Sylvia to the rescue! Thanks to her multilinguistic skills, we learned that the flight was not really canceled, but delayed "to a time to be determined." We didn't know what that meant; so we rushed to grab our bags, re-checked them in, and raced through security (again).

 Sylvia-je (boss)

We ended up in a crowded area (with a much smaller occupancy rate) where it seemed many passengers were also waiting to board their delayed flights. It was 90 degrees, the humidity was thick, there was no air conditioning, the water fountain only offered warm or hot, and we were sitting on the floor (yes, I am the best complainer). But at least we were almost there. Right??

 Put on brave faces, HK crew!

 At least they fed us...

At 9:00pm we finally boarded the plane and arrived in Hong Kong around midnight. After we exchanged money and grabbed our bags, we found Bird, who was to be our camp leader for the duration of the trip. We were surprised by Bird's youth; from the email correspondences,  Sylvia likened him to an older gentleman. He took us to a 7-11 within the airport to buy wifi cards for our phones (which didn't even work). We left the airport in two taxis and drove out to the campsite, which took 45 minutes to an hour. It was much cheaper than what we are used to paying at home. The total came out to about $300HK for one car, which was about $15US a person (the exchange rate is about 7 Hong Kong dollars to 1 US dollar). I am surprised at the cost of things here, even at the airport.

The taxis dropped us off at the end of Wing Lung Road, and we had to get our flashlights out to walk down the rocky hill to the farm. We were greeted by the barks of about 10 huge dogs, and I was extra careful about where I stepped after we got past the gate to the farm. Bird introduced us to Simon, the farmer, and three other local Hong Kong volunteers - Anson and Stephanie, both students, and Shirley. When I found out we were all sleeping in the same small room, I had my doubts, but we made ourselves fit as it was the only option with air conditioning.

After introductions, showers, and a brief orientation, we rolled out our sleeping mats and stayed our first night in Hong Kong.