Act of War

After watching the documentary “Act of war” I grew more interest about the Hawaiian culture and their history. It is so much more about this beautiful paradise and I am sure that many of us , only know about the famous beaches, fun activities and the price of a Hula dance class in the middle of nature. But that’s just like judging and assuming by the cover of a book.

So, the very interesting, yet sad documentary about Hawaii reveald that until 1893, the Hawaiian Kingdom was a monarchy, ruled by Queen Liliuokalani, but eventually the islands became the 50th state of the United States, after the Americans took over and turned the Hawaiian nation and lands into their territory.

In a cruel takeover and political battle, the Americans dethroned Queen Liliuokalani and the islands became the Americans battle ground, in a very cruel and unjust way, destroying the beautiful, unique way of living and their rich culture.

What..?

Sometimes we are so busy talking about ourselves ,  letting the world who we are, what we do, what we like and what we don’t...But one thing that brings you more is listening to the  people around you, their stories, their life.. I find that interesting and inspiring somehow. A good story from someone you don’t know is like reading a book.  I was wondering today… What do you guys want from life? From yourself? How would you describe happiness? Is it money? Is it Love? What is it? I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer. We are all different, we all have different perceptions and different dreams.  Express them in your own unique way 

Moments

Nowadays we live through our phones, which is pretty sad, and cool at the same time for some particular reasons. For example, I love photography and I feel like everytime I notice something appealing to the I, I have to captivate it in a picture. But,  I sometimes feel like is so hard to reflect the beauty of a place through pictures, so I decided to share with you guys a compilation of  videos taken in Hawaii, with my teammates, friends or by myself.

Iloveeating.

 I love cooking! It’s one of my passions, but  thank God we live in Hawaii and we can barely buy milk. Anyways… no more sarcastic comments.

Cooking for me is not just blending the ingredients, baking the bread and frying some chicken breast in tons of oil. Man… It has to be art, haha.

I spend more time on decorating my dishes, and making them look like you’re scrolling down on Pinterest.  And I also have the talent of mixing everything I find in the  kitchen and preparing the most delicious foods.  (I had some fails too, like bad ones)  Too bad I never, ever remember the recipe I invented two weeks ago, or the one on Christmas.

But here are some pictures of  my experiments

Zucchini Crust Pizza :) 

Cinnamon Oatmeal with Cherries, Coconut flakes and honey+ A mango/coconut/banana smoothie.

Pumpkin vegan muffins with Honey and cinnamon 

Coconut Vegan Muffins 

Honey&Rosemary Swweeet Potatoes with Greek Yogurt&Walnuts

Here's a link to 

10 Cool Refreshing Summer Popsicle Recipes!

http://www.practicallyfunctional.com/10-refreshing-popsicle-recipes/

Favorite thing about Hawaii

                                          What’s my favorite thing about Hawaii? 

First of all, I have to admit that I have never been so happy in my life:), since I moved to this beautiful place.

Even though time is flying, due to a very busy,  crazy schedule, a couple hours a day are enough to realize how lucky and blessed I am to live here.

But what’s my favorite thing about living here?

It’s the freedom of my spirit.  The one I never had before.

Riding my moped  at midnight around Diamond Head, just to see the ocean, just to get lost in my own thoughts, and feel the warm breeze is one of the best things I was never able to do back home.

Everyday I get happy about something around me, and it’s not related to anything fancy. It’s just the beauty of nature, of the simple, little things we sometimes take for granted.  Things money can’t buy.

What's your favorite thing about Hawaii?

Student Athlete

                          Playing college tennis

As many of you know we barely make it to half of our classes when we’re in season, which is not something to be proud of, but  these are the circumstances, and today when I’m flying back from Arizona, one of the many trips we had this semester, I thought about sharing some of the things we are facing as college athletes. 

First of all, this is our job, and just like in everyday’s life, our coach is our boss and if you don’t do your job right, you are fired.Monday through Friday, I wake up at 6:40 to get ready for practice, eat breakfast, prepare my tennis bag, get mentally ready for a good, productive practice. 

8-10:30 Practice and then rushing back home to take a shower, getting dresses, grabbing something to eat and riding my moped like I am in Fast and Furious 7, because class starts at 11:50. Great!School finishes around 5-6 everyday, and then I head back home, all tired and ready to relax somewhere, or eat in peace, but guess what ?!I have 3 assignments due tomorrow and I’m freaking out. 

Thursday comes and I’m already packing for the next day, because we have a flight at 8 in the morning and seven matches in six days, which doesn’t sound like fun, but I’m mentally getting’ ready to kick ass, even though I have others things on my mind. “I hope my professor still passes me”, “I’m missing so much school”, “ Crap, I missed that assignment”, “What time is it in Hawaii now?”, “My body is tired, but I can’t let that affect me”, “C’mon Lorena, you got this!” And so on… We are all there, stressing out and trying our best.  

After a 6, 8, 10 hour flight, depending on where we’re going , we arrive at the hotel, most of the times we look like some zombies, and we’re ready to knock out because we practice tomorrow morning for our first match. (But oh fudge, I have to read Chapter 6 and study for my quiz)And here comes the match day, we wake up early, go to the courts and there we are,  until late afternoon,  sweating, running, playing, fighting and screaming from the bottom of our lungs “Let’s gooo Sharkkks!!!!”  

That happens, everyday, for 6-7-8 days, when we come back to Hawaii and we have 5 days until we’re flying again for the next tournament. 

But at the end of the day, I smile… Because this is the greatest thing that happened to me. Having the opportunity to play college tennis in Hawaii! Jesus Christ, Lord and Jesus again,  I would’ve never imagined in my life.. haha Tennis is teaching me everyday how to push my limits, when I feel like I can’t do it anymore, to realize that there is no shortcut to any great thing in life and that you always have to take the stairs in order to be successful and to be a strong person.

  

Aloha

My name is Lorena Gheorghe and I am an international student-athlete. I came as a transfer student from Oklahoma State University, but originally I flew all the way across the globe, from Romania, to beautiful Hawaii. I’ve been living in Honolulu for a year, majoring in Integrated Multimedia and playing on the HPU tennis team.

I’ve been playing tennis for seventeen years and throughout my dedication and passion for sports, I also found myself falling in love with many other things. I fell in love with photography, art, and being creative with designing my clothes, whenever I have time, coming up with recipes, or editing/ making videos as a personal hobby. Before coming to HPU, I wasn’t decided about my major but luckily everything went in the right direction. Studying Integrated Multimedia is one of the best things about being here.