Alabama Women's Tennis in Hawaii: Day 4
1/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
HONOLULU, Hawaii - Bianca Svensson, a sophomore on the Alabama women’s tennis team, will spend time each evening chronicling the Crimson Tide’s experiences in Hawaii. The Tide kicked off its spring campaign with the program’s inaugural trip to the island to compete in the University of Hawaii Spring Invitational. Competition runs Wednesday, Jan. 16 through Sunday, Jan. 20.
ALOHA from Waikiki! Tonight was by far the most memorable part of our trip to Hawaii thus far and will most likely not be topped for the most exciting. We attended our first Luau!! What an evening it was. From almost getting left at the hotel, to Eduardo doing the Hula dance, tonight is a memory we are never going to forget.
Okay, let me back up and start off at the beginning of the day. Today was our "early" day of the trip. Instead of the usual match time of 3 pm, matches started at 11 am so everything was pushed up. We at breakfast early and headed off to the courts to warm up and get ready to play. Once again we had an amazing showing! We really proved that we are a strong team, no matter the circumstance or conditions. Matches of course lasted forever, but that's to be expected because we are Alabama and we always seem to be the last ones at the courts every tournament!
So we were scheduled to be picked of for the Luau at 4:30, which from the get go seemed to be enough time to get the matches in and still have time to get ready. Well, let's just say we were pretty wrong. We left the courts at 4 pm and had 30 minutes to get back to the hotel and get ready. Well by the time we got to the hotel and I looked at the clock it was already 4:28. We thought we would be okay because we were attending the Luau with Florida State and Kansas (two teams also here for the tournament) and Florida State was still at the courts. To make a long story short, we all got showers and were rushed down to the lobby because the charter service was ready to leave without us. Well, we got on the bus and our first Hawaiian Luau began.
The 27 mile bus ride to the Luau seemed to be forever because of all the anticipation building up inside us. When we reached the site we knew this was going to be so much fun! After taking pictures and looking around, we headed to the dining and stage area. The Luau kicked off with two Hawaiian men pulling the pig out of the hole in the ground where it was cooked. That was not the most pleasant sight because we could see everything from its legs to its nose. After the pig was removed dinner was served and the festivities began. Throughout the night there were many different dances all filled with excitement and energy. A few times the dancers asked members of the crowd to come and participate. For the first part they asked three men to come up and square off in a Hula dancing competition. Of course, we immediately volunteered Eduardo (our assistant coach) and he took the task head on. Unfortunately he came in 2nd place, but oh how many laughs we got out of that. For the next dances they asked for girls who wanted to learn how to Hula. Paulina, Elise, and Tiffany all went up and stage and began to dance. Much to our amusement Paulina brought down the house with her moves. We were laughing uncontrollably! The night ended with a few more dances and then back on the bus and off to the hotel.
The Luau turned out to be much more exciting than I had ever thought it would be. We had an amazing experience and created memories that would last a lifetime. Look at the pictures and you can see what an evening it was!
Tomorrow we have a tour of the Island scheduled and then are off to North Shore to watch the surfers on the pipeline (which are waves any where from 10 -25 feet high) and enjoy the sunset on the beach! I'll be back again tomorrow with some more great stories! Goodbye for now! A Hui Kaua! (the new phrase I learned today) that means until we meet again!
Bianca
Players Mentioned
