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It was a rainy day in late July 2015. My two friends and I had a day off from work and decided to go and grab pizza for lunch. As we were eating, we were discussing our plans after the summer was over. We were in the United States on a program called “Work & Travel” on which participants work for 3 months and then get one extra month to travel. “Hey guys! What about Hawaii? Why don’t we go there?”, said one of my friends. Without further thinking, we checked the prices of the flights and hotels in September and we managed to find an irresistible offer! And spontaneously just like that, everything was booked in a day! September came by fast and there we were, getting ready to forever leave Sun Valley, Idaho and head out to our trip, first destination being the island of Oahu in Hawaii!! Our flight was from Las Vegas, so we rented a car and drove 17 long hours to get to the airport. However, we did it! There we were, getting ready to catch the plane to paradise! I still remember getting out of the plane and trying to leave the airport ASAP. I just wanted to breathe that Hawaiian air! Outside the airport, I remember the view; the grass was so green, the sky super blue, and you could feel the ocean salt even in the air. We took our car and drove to downtown Honolulu, where our hotel was located. It started raining; I hate the rain, but even with it, it was so beautiful, tall wet skyscrapers and even taller palm trees in central Honolulu. That same night we went to a traditional Hawaiian restaurant called Helena’s Hawaiian food. Look folks, I don’t like sea food in general, however, that was the best shrimp pasta dish I have ever tried! The next morning, we went to see the famous Waikiki Beach! However, it was the next stop that fascinated me the most, Ko’olina Beach. It is a beautiful sandy beach, with lot of palm trees and turquoise color of the ocean. The water was so warm as the sun was shining through the clouds, I was in awe! I decided to walk around the beach and discovered a hidden park behind it. It was the greenest terrain I have ever seen in my life. I will never forget that moment, as I was sitting on a bench while the wind was howling. The next day we headed towards the North Shore of Oahu. As we were driving towards it, we explored the thick trees and vegetation in the middle of the island. We had a car, so we were lucky enough to be able to stop when a stunning scenery would suddenly show up. Finally, we got to the North Shore. The weather was amazing, hot and sunny. Suddenly, my friend from US mainland texted me that there was an alert for a tsunami. I thought he was joking, so I googled it… it was true! The weather was so nice we initially forgot about it and just continued playing with the huge waves in the water, but then realized that it might be our last night… but then again, even if it is, it’s fine, we were in paradise! The tsunami wave was supposed to struck at 5:00 AM. We woke up at around 9 AM and realized that we are alive! It didn’t happen! We were happy that we are still breathing and still in Hawaii! That was our last full day, so we decided to go to Sea Life Park and swim with dolphins! I know a lot of people don’t agree with these parks, but I can assure that staff there was taking a really good care of the cutest dolphins and their other animals! Again, another dream of mine became true, to swim with a dolphin! It turned out to be a beautiful and fulfilled day! Just like that, we again woke up the next morning, however, it was a sad one. We were heading to the airport and forever leaving Hawaii, with a promise to come back one day!