Dear College, Go away and let me do whatever I want!

As of late I realized something. I HATE school. For the past 5 years, not 4 for all you folks smarter than me,  I have been in the higher education slave trade at Westminster College.  It has gotten to the point where I was hospitalized because of all the anxiety I had over school and personal finances as of late. I graduate next year: 2013. Another year of trying not to lose it.  So basically here's a top 12 list of why school is boring me:
 1. Professors who have the exact same personality as my dad.
 2.  Not being able to get enough sleep for WEEKS because of anxiety over papers and stupid senate meetings that went until midnight.
 3. Associated Students of Westminster College (ASWC) being so inclusive that I have to retire.
 4. I'm struggling with having a credit card for the first time.
 5. I can't ditch class to go on a vacation even though I want to and everyone else does including my own brother .
 6.  Everyone yelling at me on the school newspaper.
 7.  Getting busted by my parents for partying, raging and regulating then nearly having a panic attack.
 8.  The question of what the hell am I going to f***ing do with a comm degree?
 9.  Realizing I'm impulsive.
10.  My dad still giving me crap for not going into science.
11. Going out with a guy for three months who was a hick farmboy with ZERO life experience.
12.  Avoiding stuff that was bothering me and letting it spiral outta control.

Well looks like SOMEONE needs to re-evaluate some things...Ha!

City Creek: The next SLC shopping adventure...for ME!

I admit like everyone else in Salt Lake I have gone completely insane over City Creek Centers. I recently went there THE DAY BEFORE IT OPENED for a media tour. That's right folks I. am. that. awesome. I was really impressed with what I saw.

The place totally caters to my style: Classic and sophisticated. My favorite stores there are Disney Store, Brooks Brothers and of course the usual suspects Ann Taylor, Loft and as of late Banana Republic. Tiffany's felt too small and confined. However, I did find my dream job: the Tiffany girl. I wouldn't mind wearing a Tiffany blue dress, white shawl and Tiffany jewelry. (Sigh) one day.

I liked the Disney Store mostly because it reminds me of all my Disneyland and DisneyWorld adventures. In fact as I walked in I remembered my first trip to Florida getting off the plane after high school graduation with a big smile on my face. The Disney Store has these AWESOME interactive exhibits for kids and even adults.

Brooks Brothers is a fancy top-of-the-line store for the preppy corporate types. I really liked the interior design. It reminded me of the Ralph Lauren section at Macy's, Dillards and Nordstroms. So classy!

Besides stores I really liked the ZCMI facade. It made me think of when my mom told me about how she used to dress up when she went downtown with her Yia Yia and Papou as a kid. I wonder if that will happen with City Creek?

City Creek is awesome. Don't take my word for it! Check the place out!

Lifeguard Certification: What the hell am I thinking?!

Photo: google images wendy_sandlotlifeguard

As of late my swimming adventures have lead me to the wonderful world of lifegarding. I decided to get certified for an internship even though it is not required. In a few days a pre-test given by the American Red Cross will determine whether I'm worthy or not of responding to aquatic emergencies. The hard part: swimming with the brick.
One of the requirements is to swim to a brick, retrieve it and swim back with it in under 50 seconds. 50 SECONDS!!! My time as of today: 1 minute. I'm a pretty good swimmer but this task is HARD.
The catch is the ARC changed the requirements. The old time for the brick swim was 1:50.


At least if any middle or high school boys try to pull any sandlot jokes on me I can just ban them from the pool all summer.

Butterfly Stroke: Bring it!

Swimming has basically been MY LIFE besides academia and student government since 2008. Recently I've had a little love/hate relationship with it because of how crazy my schedule has been. I think that all changed when FOUR things happened:
1. Bob: He might have the same name as Michael Phelps coach but he's actually a science professor at my school. Whenever I'm at the fitness center on campus aka HWAC he always says, "Dorothann time to get in the pool its swimming day!" This happens even when its NOT EVEN SWIMMING DAY and I'm just there for other activities. Talk about motivation: telling me to get my ass into the pool and swim like I was in the Olympics or running away from sharks in the Aegean Sea!
2. Being recruited for the U.S. Masters Swim team: Although I did swim masters at Steiner Aquatics center in 2010 recently I was recruited to swim at the Sports Mall on their team. I guess come summer 2013 after I'm outta Westminster I'll be swimming with old people again.
3. My internship: I never really thought I'd be teaching little kids to swim. A few months ago I secured an internship at this place called SwimKids. Besides graphic design work and advertising I'm learning a top secret way to teach kids how to swim by a person who's done it for 20 years.

4. Lifeguard Certification: Olympus was 5 YEARS AGO!!!! I'm getting lifeguard certified for my internship even though its not required. I only thought high schoolers got lifeguard certified to get people to get a date with them but I guess not. So as of March I'll be learning techniques on how to respond to aquatic emergencies and fend off guys who ATTEMPT to pull off the "sandlot" facade. P.S. all you single guys out there I'll gladly take your flirtatious attempts at taking a chance with a gorgeous girl like myself but for right now I'm going out with someone else.

I guess for all these reasons I should probably get back into the pool more often like a boss.

Relative look alikes...Generation Clash or Genetic Lottery?

I was getting a haircut from my cousin Desi the other day. At one point our conversation we were having led to a discussion about my Yia Yia (grandma) Dorothy, our namesake hence my name and my cousin's name. I told her that we look EXACTLY like her in terms of facial structure: eyes, nose, mouth, face shape, you name it! Desi was very surprised because she had never seen the pictures of them. Even the ones from when they had graduated from high school!
Although my Yia Yia has been deceased since 1982 and I have never met her, from the stories I have heard it seems like we've had similar life experiences: we grew up in the city, worked in a deli at a grocery store, had a car accident, dated a farm boy, etc. But there are a few differences too: I am finishing my college degree, I've been out of the U.S. twice, and I'm of a different generation along with other things too. I think that its crazy yet awesome at the same time how I have similar life experiences with people in my family I never met. It feels like there is a connection of some sort which makes me the person I am today.

International Adventure Part 2: Greece

Γεια σας everyone! Sorry this took so long but I was in Greece back in June. All I can say is GREECE IS THE BEST PLACE EVER. Beautiful beaches, nice people, wonderfully delicious food and amazing historical sight and my relatives are some of the most wonderful genuine people I have met in a long time. (I'm Greek duh!) Here's what I did:

10 hour flight: The airport in Atlanta is not a fun place. Everyone was being a charge hog and my iPod was out of batteries. I flew from Atlanta to Athens. The food on Delta is good for international flights. I never had pasta on an airplane before and I spoke to my grandpa a lot since he was sitting next to me the whole time. I slept a little but not too much. Also, when the pilot was talking over the announcement system he spoke Greek besides English. Fantastic!

Athens: Crazy place. Lots of crowds and there were strikes going on. The Acropolis and the Parthenon were awesome though. The Parthenon is HUGE! They also had really good food. My personal favorite on the mainland: Octopus. Sadly, it turns out I speak very little Greek. But I did the best I could to communicate. I took ships from Pireaus to Aegina and Crete after 3 days here.
The ships are pretty nice. I liked looking over the horizon of the Mediterranean Sea and getting to wander around a little bit. There was a lot of graffiti in Greece besides strikes and no one seems to care. My mom thought it was heartbreaking and I thought it was disgusting. Apparently they're in worse trouble than the States are. The only parts I liked about Athens were the food and the Acropolis.


Aegina: One of the best islands to visit. I took a ship from Athens to this wonderful place. Aegina is known for pistachios and St. Nectarios in the Orthodox Church. St. Nectarios is the saint of healing sickness. He died in 1920. When I was at his monastery I saw these prayer cards of arms legs and people in general that were put near his icons throughout the monastery and cathedral. Seeing this brought back some memories of when I was in high school and I didn't get asked to homecoming dance or my drivers license my junior year and recently not graduating from college in 4 years. It was scary for me to see this at first but I realized that there are people in this world who are in far off worse situations than I thought I was in. I need to be grateful for what I have and not complain or internalize problems that can be solved. I got upset because I was remorseful about my behavior. Lately I have had dizziness and anxiety issues because of school and after I left Aegina, miraculously, my dizziness went away. The water in Aegina is really blue and sort of looks like a swimming pool. I was eating at a beach side restaurant and I was tempted to swim in the water but I didn't. It reminded me of Florida. Aegina is Heaven on earth.



Chania, Agia Marina, Crete: Another fantastic island. I stayed in a hotel by the beach and I met my relatives on my mom's side. They are sooo wonderful. They make really good food and do some of the things I do. My cousins swim and dive in the sea even when really cold outside. Some of them also shoot machine guns as a hobby. I found this out when I went to the village where my Grandpa's side of the family is from: Aroni. The funny thing about that is my uncle said,"Maybe they're waiting for the Turks to come." Ironically my dad's family is from Turkey. I also went to Theriso where my great-grandma Elpiniche is from. Its in the mountains and it felt like I was in Colorado or Whistler again. I figured out that in Greek families, including mine, everyone is named after their grandparents. I spent a lot of time at the beach and I got really tan. Even though I already blended in pretty well despite the language barrier I came back to the states looking more Greek than I already am. I learned a lot about my mom's side of the family when I went to the villages where they are from. Going to Vreses, which is where my great grandpa was from taught me about never losing sight of who I am. It was humbling to see where he grew up because the village looked like a third world country. But the people were nice and the food was amazing! I also saw some pictures of my late grandma Dorothy, who I'm named after. The funny part is my relatives would tell me stories about one of my uncles who used to go there a lot. Some of them made me laugh. I met some guys in Crete and in Athens but even though I like Greek men I think the ones who are from Greece smoke too much. Again, the food was amazing. My favorite food in Crete was the food I ate in the village and some of the alcohol I drank. We went to a beach called Falasarna and the water is as blue as it was in Aegina. But when I came back to my hotel the power was out due to a strike! So I ended up sitting by the poolbar drinking because it was so hot in my room. What a relief. In Chania everyone lives in apartments. Including my relatives. Generally, parents live on one floor and their children live below them. The system seems fishy to me. I'd rather have my parents live down the street or be my next door neighbor than in such close space! Speaking of fishy, when I'd go to the beach there were fish that came right up to me and I got to hold a sea urchin! Crete was amazing.


Heraklion, Crete: I was in this city on the last day. I went to Knossos. Knossos is an archaelogical site that existed during the Minoan Civilization. I don't find Minoan Civilization interesting but I liked the layout of Knossos palace. It was cool.
















International travel is one of the best things to ever happen to me. It was a life changing experience. I learned a lot about myself and my family. The trip wasn't easy but I had a lot of fun and I look forward to another adventure like this one!

Swimming shenanigans!

As of Tuesday, thank you Kuhn and company, I was able to swim 100m flipturns and all! For those of you who aren't swimmers, the 100m is the equivalency of 2 laps. It was one of my goals for the summer to actually pull it off in case I ever go back to USA Masters Swimming, which is a swim team for old people. (Sorry Michael Phelps, you'll have to wait til 2012 to join!) Considering I'm sore outta my mind and STILL figuring stuff out about Greece it was awesome that I was able to give myself a chance. The good part was I wasn't forced into doing it. In fact, I have been working up to 100m for the past few weeks. I guess whoever said practice makes perfect was right about this one!