Some Pictures from 08.08.08

Me and Yao holding the torch. TV makes him look so much bigger! ;)

The countdown clock with only 2 hours to go!

This was just before 8:00...looking at the stadium lights.
About 10 minutes later, everyone went home since our TV was "broken."

Let me know if you're able to view the video. It's loaded, but I'm not able to view it, but I'm sometimes not able to see videos on others' blogs either...

A Truly Cultural Experience

Friday 08.08.08 was declared a national holiday. People were given the day off and I heard rumors that they were encouraged to stay home...to make less traffic? To create a more peaceful atmosphere? Not sure. But in any case, we were going OUT!!! But everywhere we went it was strangely quiet and rather empty.

Anyway, 08.08.08 I woke up early and headed over to Jordan and Sonya's apartment. We started the day by going to one of the two "Coca-Cola Zones." We got there at 11 and they said "no more tickets. Please come back at 1:00." But, as with everything here, we knew that could be negotiated. My friends have a baby and so they said "can you ask if we (4 plus 1 baby) can come in? We have a baby- can't come back later bc she needs to have a nap." So they asked and sure enough, there was room for us. Oh, and this "zone" was at a place where the largest TV screen in the world is. :)

We entered through this huge archway and into a tunnel that looked like an igloo. As we passed through, we were handed free bottles of coke. The tunnel opens up into this huge open area. To our left are kiosks to buy your own pins. To the right, a pin trading area. Straight ahead is a huge stage where the crowd is participating in all the typical things- sing-a-longs, dances, group games. Everywhere you look, all the "volunteers" are in Coke colors and there are Coke and Game themed decorations everywhere. We walk through a walkway around the stage and into another open area. To the right you can buy a coke and choose your own plastic cover and go around behind the counter and wrap it yourself (put the sleeve on the bottle and stick it into a machine that shrinks the plastic to fit the bottle). There's also an area where you can get your picture taken with a life-sized cut out of Yao Ming holding one of the actual torches...you get to hold the torch (well, you get to touch it) with Yao. There are also huge, colorful terracotta soldiers that you can take pictures of...I guess just for something cultural? The cool thing was that the entrance "tickets" were free, you got a free bottle of coke, could trade pins (free), and if you chose to wrap your own bottle, it was only slightly higher than the normal price. So any person could afford to go and enjoy it.

We went back to Jordan and Sonya's for naptime (we all napped). Then stopped at the countdown clock to get a picture (there were LOTS of people there taking pics). I got a picture at 2 hrs to go! There were no taxis, so we had to all (our group had 6 plus a baby now) get on a bus. Of course, lots of people were going to the same area as us. The bus evidently had an altered route for the night and wouldn't be driving near the stadium. So our walk was longer than we'd hoped. We stepped off the bus into a sea of people. Fortunately, we knew a shortcut that took us to less crowded streets and then back into the sea of people. Four friends met us at an intersection where people looked down the street for about 8 blocks to where the building that looks like a flame is (it's next to the stadium).

The park where we'd watch was packed with people. We squeezed through to an area where we had a clear view of the giant TV (one of many that was built for this purpose) and a clear view of the sky above the stadium, where fireworks would be. We could see the beams of huge spotlights coming out of the stadium. But our TV screen was black. People started yelling "turn on the TV! turn on the TV!" I texted a friend in another city and he said the only thing happening was important leaders arriving. At 8, we saw the fireworks...but our screen was still black. People filed out towards home, or someplace else. As we left, we spoke with a group of men in uniform who told us that our TV was, in fact, broken. So we asked about the giant TV that's near my friend's house. "That one's broken too." Turns out many of the giant TV screens were "broken" that night...including the one that's on the "flame building" which is right next to the stadium. Mysterious...the screens all were miraculously fixed by the next morning, of course.

So we went with the status quo and decided to be good citizens and go home. So we left the fireworks and the masses and tried to find a taxi...there were none...or a bus...there were none. We finally found a taxi and got home an hour later (the drive is about 15 minutes). Watched it all from the safety and comfort of my friend's living room. We missed the first hour, but got up Saturday morning and watched the re-broadcast ...which was, of course, at 8 am...if you haven't figured out, 8 is a lucky number...there are even 8 rainstorms "predicted" (or should we say scheduled?) during the Games!

The ceremony itself was amazing. I've watched parts of it over probably 5 times...every time I find a channel re-capping it, I find myself captivated again. Wow. I'm not even sure I can pick one thing I liked the most.

Anyway, now when I'm free, I channel surf to see what events are on TV. There's no tv guide, so there's no way of "planning" to watch anything. But of course, most of what I do come across is the local teams...and none of the channels have English commentaries (including opening ceremonies), so I'm learning some new words! On the 21st I'll be going to handball with a friend!!!! What's handball, you ask? No idea...but WHO CARES!!! I'm GOING to the Games!!! And yesterday someone said they had one ticket to a volleyball final and they can't go. So I might be going to that too!!! Woo-hoo!!!

I love summer!

I went to the market on my way home today, wanted to get some fruit. Saw the usual- peaches, watermelon, gigantic grapes (called "ping pong grapes")...a few different varieties of mangos. After looking around for a while and buying some veggies, I decide to get a mango and a dragonfruit. I haven't actually had dragonfruit yet, but I love tropical fruit, so I'm sure I'll like it.

As I was walking out, I spotted a fruit that looked vaguely familiar- from pictures I'd seen. And then another fruit that looked vaguely familiar from pictures...and then one that I had no idea what it was...thought it was a nut of some sort or something.

I started my walk home (the market is literally around the corner from my gate) and was wracking my brain to figure out what the mystery fruits were. Sometimes I forget fruit names because I don't see or hear them in English. But as I approached the gate, I remembered the two "familiar" fruits- guava and pomegranate. And tonight I happened to come across a website (thanks Trish) that revealed the identity of the third, unknown, fruit- mangosteen. It seems to be a very healthy (as in really healthy) and delicious fruit.

So tomorrow, I'll be going back to stock up on my tropical fruit before it all goes out of season. Man, I love summer!

Phenomenon # 2, 3, 4 AND 5... And T minus 7!

Today was truly an amazing day. Seriously amazing.

Yes...four phenomenons...phenomenon? phenomena?... four in one day. Now, it may not be as amazing as, oh, say, a safari, but it's still pretty amazing. You know what? No... I'm sure it was more than four. It was an absolutely, unbelievably amazing day. Really really amazing.

First, as if to review what the first phenomenon was, I saw people standing in line for the bus again. About 40 people. I now have physical evidence...a picture.

Number Two came shortly after I woke up. I realized that it was really windy outside. I opened the window (always have to be careful doing that...sometimes you open it only to receive a face full of dust/dirt from a wind storm). I saw a powerful wind coming in from the west (I know I'm directionally challenged, but I'm getting better...and this one I really figured out. It was definitely the west).

Now, for those of you who don't know, the Man upstairs is not the only one who can change the weather. Oh no. There happens to be a weather changing committee here. That's right. The rain? Well, I'm sure some of it is natural but this year we've had an unusual amount of rain... of course, to clear up the air. I recently read that over 170 chem. sticks have been shot into the sky, inducing rain (but I read that last week. I'm sure we're close to 180 now). We had rain yesterday, and to those of us that lived here, it turned out to be a remarkably beautiful day. But that's not good enough.

So this morning, the wind came. It was very unusual and my first thought was "is this natural or man made?" I literally watched the clouds get blown away. It was almost freaky. No, not almost. It was.

The next phenomenon came after my class. I went with my friend, Ryan, to run some errands. He had to go to one of the local shopping markets to buy a new suitcase. This is one of the markets I hate going to because of all the "hallo lady...you want buy purses? come here have look." But evidently, they've been taught some western manners. I walked in and had 5 minutes of peaceful browsing. As we wandered deeper into the interior of the market, some of the normal dialogue came back, but on a much smaller scale than usual. Also, I only had my path blocked once by shopkeepers, and only about 75% blocked (as opposed to the 100% blocked in every direction and they're grabbing you). And no one grabbed me or even touched me today. Amazing. Never thought it possible. What on earth has happened to my city?

Next, I saw Ryan off to the train station. He almost missed his train because he had so many last minute things to do. So we took a taxi from my place to the train station. It was very possibly the most expensive taxi ride ever, but man it was the most amazing. The sky was blue, there were fluffy, friendly clouds in the sky, the sun was out. It had rained yesterday and so everything always looks more colorful and clean and new after the rain. And in the distance, on the horizon, you could see the unbelievable mountains. So cool. It was breathtaking.

After Ryan got on the train (barely made it), I went outside to wait for the solar eclipse that my student had just reminded me of. I stepped outside and it got super bright...like middle of the day bright, but it was dinner time. I took a bunch of pictures, but I had no special "filter" so it just looks like I was taking pictures of the sun. But also, I had some place to go and after waiting for 30 minutes for the eclipse to come (couldn't remember if you could see it w/o the special filters or not), I decided to leave. According to stories I read and captions on pictures taken, the eclipse was about 7 minutes after I got on the bus. But in the grand scheme of things, the next part of my day was more important. One of my students works for a group that just opened a coffeeshop. Today was their grand opening and he invited me to come. Tonight was the only time I was available, so I went for dinner and had a great visit with my student. I was the last customer.

After dinner, my student walked me to the subway station. I looked up and saw a handful of stars. For those of you who don't know, I've always loved stars. I forget how much I love them until I see them again. They're just really special- a reminder of His faithfulness. Sometimes I laugh when I think about Him telling Abe that his descendents would be as numerous as the stars. I think "well, I hope he didn't live here because he'd have no kids. Maybe 1 or 2, on a good night."

I like where it says, "He placed the stars in the sky. Not one of them is missing." Even when we can't see them, they're there. Even when the sky is covered with clouds, or pollution, or city lights...the stars are still there...every single one of them. Even when we're crazy busy or the world is "falling apart" or we feel completely cut off from everything and everyone familiar and "normal" in this world, He is still there. Even when we can't see Him, He's still there. Just like the stars.

Tonight I saw a handful of stars. I don't know when the last time was that I saw even one star. But as I face the countdown clock (T minus 7 days) and unpredictable days and weeks ahead, I'm glad for the reminder that He's here and He'll be here.


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