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JUSTIN CORREIAJustin Correia is the brother of Maritza Correia, a member of the U.S. Olympic swim team. He and his family have joined Maritza in Athens for the Summer Games and will be providing an ongoing diary of the experience.
Justin Correia has left Athens after traveling to the Summer Games hoping to see his sister Maritza Correia swim in the Olympics. His trip over, he took time to answer a few questions about the experience.
Question: What was the best surprise and worst disappointment of the trip for you?
I'd have to say the biggest surprise was having so many Americans supporting swimming in the family areas. When finals were on the TV at these centers, all eyes were focused on our swimmers, so when they did good, people were cheering. The worst disappointment ... well, of course, it was not seeing my sister in the final of the relay.
Q: Tell us about the food -- what was the best or worst thing you ate?
The best thing we ate over here was the food that the Nike hospitality had for us. It was a combination of Greek and American food. The worst thing I ate was a Greek dish that the Bank of America had one day. Oh and the bread was as hard as a rock. I didn't get it. I could throw it at someone and severly hurt that person.
Q: Any notable celebrity encounters that stick out?
I'm, a swimming fan, so meeting both Gary Hall Jr. and Aaron Piersol was big for me. But I also saw Carl Lewis, which was very neat as well.
Q: Did you have a favorite tourist attraction?
The Parthenon was the best tourist attraction by far. My sister and I had a wonderful time hiking up the mountain to go see it. Believe it or not, with all the hotel blunders, I would go back and visit. I really liked Athens and its people.
Q: What do you think will be the lasting memory or impression from your Olympic experience?
I will never forget Dmitri, who was the night watchman at our hotel. He definitely made a positive impact on my trip over here. He is someone that I didn't write about but was a person that kept me smiling throughout our ordeals.
Here is a quick story about him:
The night that the 4x100-meter freestyle relay men came in third, a lot of the swimming parents congregated in the lobby of the hotel. Most of us drank some Ouzo and other drinks and kind of made a ruckus that night. We talked about all the controversies and all of that.
Well, Dmitri, the night watchman, didn't know any English and would communicate with sign language pretty much. Mr. Keller would try to tell him about the problems with the hotel and Dmitri would stick his hands out and say "Huh? Huh? No problem."
Everyone would laugh and so would he. He was a very positive light amid everyone's frustration.
I later found out, by hanging out with the English speaking staff, that he knew what had happened, but was trying to make everyone feel at home and wanted to get us to laugh, which he did.
When we checked out on the last day, I came down first, and Dmitri quickly told me to sit. He looked at me and motioned that the elevator had broken, so I asked him how. He replied by saying, "One, two people OK ... three NO!" and crossed his arms in front of him. I couldn't stop laughing, and I kept laughing until we said goodbye.
After all the disappointments and the hotel problems and the excitement, Dmitri will be my lasting memory of Athens. I am hoping that when I come back to Athens that I will run into him again.
I will also never forget the opening ceremonies for the rest of my life. It was so amazing that words could not describe it. Hopefully I will be with my family again for opening ceremonies in China in 2008.
As for my sister's race, I am confident that she will bounce back and try again for 2008. We watched the 100-meter final tonight, and she would have done very well in it. But it wasn't her time. Her time will come, if she sticks with it. We, as a family, have put the disapointment behind us, and we are ready to support her these next four years toward the ultimate goal -- Olympic gold!