Who else is getting super excited for the Olympics??? I've decided one of my new life goals is to get really really good at some obscure Olympic sport like pistol or curling so that I can go to the games and meet all the superhumans one day.
I've had a number of interesting adventures over the past few weeks, some less fortunate than others. But I'll start with the positives. First, my dad and siblings and I hiked/climbed up that mountain thing that I mentioned in my last post. It took about 5 hours and that was even with my slave-driver sister practically making us run up the thing. Here's the best part though: I was wearing my crew hat, and about halfway up, we heard somebody on the trail ask, "Hey, do you go to MIT?" And it was another MIT '15! (Quantum Wei, for those of you who know him!) So that was pretty cool.
I also went to Florida to visit some family, and we spent a few days in Key West. One day we went snorkeling, which was a lot of fun except that my stepdad, sister, and cousin ALL puked off the side of the boat (which in hindsight was actually pretty hilarious since it attracted a whole bunch of fish...). Pretty much all I did in Florida was lay out by the pool and eat delicious food my grandma made. Well, I also ran most mornings (because strangely the senior living community didn't have any ergs). Yayyyy fitness.
So a couple days after I got back from Florida, I met my friend at the reservoir to row. We decided to take out two singles instead of the usual double. Which was all well and good except that: 1.) I hadn't rowed in over two weeks, 2.) I had never been in a racing single, and a tubby only once, and 3.) I am just generally uncoordinated at 5:30 in the morning (which is not to say that I am graceful at any other time of day). Anyways, I was to take out his stepmom's 25-year-old absurdly tippy single, which will herein be referred to as the Cranky Old Vespoli. Jordan helped make sure I didn't die when I launched, and I took a few strokes away from the dock to wait for him. I got about 25 yards away and then let it run, thinking maybe rowing a single wasn't too hard after all. But apparently my starboard oar was at a bit of an angle (my left wrist sometimes refuses to do what I ask it to do- it's a really good thing I don't row starboard), and the COV then decided to put me in my place by dumping me unceremoniously into the reservoir. It then became quite obvious that I had no idea how to get back into the damn boat, so after a few minutes of flopping around like an idiot, I was rescued by Jordan holding one of the oars steady from his single so that I could belly crawl back towards my seat. The rest of the morning was (thankfully) less eventful, except that I later discovered the COV was not actually watertight. About 30 minutes into our little row, I noticed that the boat felt weirdly heavy, but I assumed I was just being a wimp. After docking, however, we attempted to lift the boat and realized it was about 50 pounds heavier than when we placed it in the water initially. We took out that little cap thingy and found that the hull was about 75% full of water. Which is simply not practical for a thing that's supposed to float. So after finally starting to dry off from my initial unscheduled dip, I was soaked again by the seven bajillion gallons of water that came pouring out of the COV when we lifted it overheads to take it back up to the racks. I have not had another chance to redeem myself in the single just yet.
I also went out in a four a couple times with Jordan, his brother, and a friend of his who also rows for Virginia Tech. It was nice to sweep again, but also exhausting, partly because we were using ginormous men's oars and partly because I was terrified that the boat was going to turn to port and I would look like a pansy if I didn't pull stupidly hard.
On another note, my brother's birthday is this weekend so my sister and I are making cake pops tonight.
On another another note, somebody brought Girl Scout cookies into the office today. They were left on a table in the open so I'm assuming they're fair game.
Pictures:
Since the whole sprints shirt theme was being neglected, I took mine up the mountain...
My cousin Maddy holding a coconut with a hat in Key West. Just cuz.
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