Personal – Page 12 – It Is Trish

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

July 19, 2016July 18, 2016Trish1 Comment

I am going to stay in Greece for another year so that I can continue to work with HD in providing recovery to women who have been trafficked or sexually exploited!

This decision has been a long time coming (with a short period of “I’m so homesick!” confusion), and it is based on several things.

I love what I’m doing, and I feel like my talents are uniquely necessary to the HD team, so why would I stop?
I think it will take most of this year to adapt to living in a foreign culture, and I want to give myself time to enjoy life in Greece more comfortably.
There is so much coming in HD’s future – a new office, a one-year anniversary, more participants, graduating participants – and I want to be a part of them!
I don’t feel called to go anywhere else, so…why go?

I have been talking to my GEM supervisors, and we have created a budget for another year of living in Greece. Continue reading →

100 Questions

July 18, 2016July 17, 2016TrishLeave a comment

Accio Padfoot (and isn’t that just the dream? c’mere Sirius!) posted a Q&A, and I couldn’t resist trying it out myself. Plus I couldn’t think of anything else to write about today. Win/win!

Do you take the shampoo or conditioner bottles from hotels?
Yes, of course. They make for perfect travel-sized shower necessities the next time I fly somewhere!

Have you ever stolen a street sign before?
I haven’t, but I HAVE taken a picture that made it LOOK like I stole a street sign.

Do you like to use post-it notes?
Yeah, sure, but I like having a notebook handy better.

Do you cut out coupons but never use them?
No. All my coupons are of the online variety.

Would you rather be attacked by a bear or bees?
Bees! My God, who would choose to be attacked by a bear!? Continue reading →

A Week in Greece #27: Slumber Parties, Hiking, and Escape Rooms

July 16, 2016July 16, 2016Trish1 Comment

I have been SO social this week, y’all. It’s fantastic to have found some friends that I can be around 24/7 and not feel socially drained. I mean, within reason. This is normal levels of introversion, not “I live in a new country and everything is over-stimulating” levels.

Sunday

On Sunday I got to hang out with Tatiana (my new roommate for the summer) a lot. We went to church together, and it is just SO GREAT to go to church with someone. We got lunch and coffee afterwards, mostly to use their wifi. I’m going on two months without wifi, and honestly it’s just because walking to Cosmote and figuring out how to buy it makes me stressed (hello, social anxiety).

On Sunday night we watched Man in the Iron Mask and realized that Hans Harrison’s full name is “His Majesty Hans Harrison the First.” He is in no way spoiled, don’t worry.

Monday

I started counseling the HD participants on Monday! Continue reading →

Greek God Tag

July 11, 2016July 11, 2016Trish2 Comments

I’ve never really grown out of my 14-year-old self’s love of personal surveys, and since this one is Greek themed and I lived in Greece, well…that’s a good enough excuse for me!

Aphrodite: what you find attractive in a person

Intelligence and humor. Also eyebrows, ankles, and laugh lines around his eyes.

Apollo: favourite piece of music

Ooo! I could go with “the entire Hamilton soundtrack” but that is a recent favorite that has yet to withstand the test of time. Oh gosh, I’ve sat here scrolling through my iTunes for ten minutes now, and I cannot decide whether to go with something instrumental or emotional or artistic and whatever, I’m just going to choose “After the Storm” by Mumford and Sons because it’s beautiful.

Ares: opinion on war

Not a fan of it. I can get into the emotional fervor of it in fantasy movies, but I dunno. I think life is sacred and violence is easy and Ares is my least favorite Olympian.

Artemis: favourite animal and why

Cheetahs! I loved them when I was a kid because they were pretty and fast and could be tamed enough to be in movies. Then I grew up and found out that they have social anxiety and often need dog-companions to calm them, and my love grew even deeper.

Athena: share a piece of wisdom Continue reading →

A Week in Greece #26: Sleepovers and Lazy Cats

July 10, 2016TrishLeave a comment

What a week! For a while there I had FOUR people staying in my two-bedroom house, and honestly it was so much fun. It’s nice to have found some people that I feel comfortable enough with that I don’t mind turning my safe haven (aka home) into a slumber party.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I celebrated the 4th of July with Luciana on Monday (she’s Brazilian, but she embraced the spirit of the holiday). We were going to go to the beach and drink beer (so American!) but it was windy and we didn’t like the idea of sand blowing in our eyes. So instead we went to Cap Cap, a coffee shop she’d been meaning to take me to for a long time now. Every couple months they redecorate according to some nerdy fantasy world, and we GEEKED OUT over all of the Game of Thrones decorations and menu items. Continue reading →

ART THERAPY REFLECTION | Emotion Portrait

July 8, 2016TrishLeave a comment

One of the classes that I lead at HD is called “Boom Team.” It’s meant to be an arts and crafts time, but I’m a counselor, so I turned it into art therapy.

Project: Emotion Portrait
Assign colors to eight basic emotions
– Fear, Anger, Sadness, Disgust, Joy, Trust, Anticipation, and Surprise –
Then draw a self-portrait using those colors to reveal your emotional state

I assigned pretty typical colors to the eight emotions – bright colors for the happy emotions, solid stark colors for the bad. The real fun came in creating my self-portrait, which I’ll describe by emotion. Continue reading →

Letters Between Friends: MY LIFE IS BORING

July 7, 2016TrishLeave a comment

Last week Lindsay changed the game and vlogged a “letter” to me. This week I return the favor!

Check it out on her blog, Wild Ginger!

How to Celebrate the 4th of July in Greece

July 5, 2016July 5, 2016Trish3 Comments

Normally, I’m not a very patriotic person. But there’s nothing like living in a country that is not your own to make you appreciate the culture you grew up in. A couple weeks ago I was INTENSELY homesick, so I decided to celebrate all of my American-ness on the 4th. Today I’m not feeling quite so homesick, but I figured I would regret letting the opportunity pass, so here we go!

The Outfit

Jeans, of course. Red tank top. My Illinois necklace. Unfortunately (fortunately?) I don’t own any obnoxious USA gear.

The Soundtrack

Hamilton, obviously. Do you even know me?

The Food Continue reading →

My Nine Favorite Selfies

July 4, 2016July 1, 2016Trish4 Comments

I was recently deleting videos/photos from my iPhoto library, because our IT guy said, “Wow, your computer is slow,” and I respond quickly to criticism. As I was scrolling through, I had a realization: I’m super cute! So in the interest of positivity and pro-selfie culture (which I’ve defended here), here are my nine favorite selfies.

Screen Shot 2016-07-01 at 6.53.39 PM

One of the first selfies in iPhoto, I think this really captures how hard I try to keep in my wild adoration of Rory.

Screen Shot 2016-07-01 at 6.58.46 PM

This is one of my favorite pictures of all time, documenting one of my favorite nights of all time: drinking wine with Michal Ann in Austin, binge-watching Hey USA on YouTube. Continue reading →

A Week in Greece #25: I HAVE A CAT

July 2, 2016July 1, 2016TrishLeave a comment

On Monday, I had the world’s longest layover in Istanbul (five hours!) on my way back from Cappadocia (check out a video of my weekend here). Of course, if you’ve been paying attention to the news, you’ll know that on Tuesday, there was a bombing in the Ataturk airport where 40+ people were killed and 200+ people were injured.

I feel…weird about this? I was one day off and one airport away, but it still feels really close. I don’t know what the appropriate emotional response to this is, probably because there isn’t one. I do want to take the time to say, however, that in light of this terrorist attack, PLEASE don’t hate on Muslims as a whole. Just like there are terrible Christians who use violent Bible passages to murder African Americans or trans-people, there are terrible Muslims who use violent Kuran passages to instill terror in people’s lives. But they are SO not the norm! The entire weekend in Cappadocia, Muslim men and women who were fasting for Ramadan were so hospitable and kind to us. Just…don’t let the fear win, yeah?

But back to that title: I HAVE A CAT!