The end of the Games Buzz

I know. I've completely neglected my blog for the last few weeks. But I have a good excuse- for seventeen days I was being held hostage by…my TV. Yup, addicted. To the Games. I remember as a kid being upset that I still had to go to school during them. I'd think- that’s 8 hours of Games that I’m going to MISS! So now that I’m a full grown adult, I’ve allowed myself to sit at home eating junk food and watching people who work out for HOURS each day competing against each other in pointless competitions…like shooting…and weight lifting. I did manage to see some good stuff- like gymnastics (my favorite), trampoline (whoever made that an event is a genius) and diving (which scares me almost as much as trampoline to watch). I missed the good stuff that you guys probably see a million replays of- like Michael P’s 8 medals, or the weight lifting guy who dislocated his elbow or the other guy who put his medal on the floor and walked off…but I did see the heart breaking moment when my local hurdler guy walked away from his competition and the crowd looked on in shock and disbelief. I missed the tv announcers crying as they announced he’d withdrawn (had I known it was such a historical moment I wouldn’t have changed the channel), but I did see the press conference later where his coach balled his eyes out. But I still feel like I saw nothing because I wasn’t able to watch any of it in my own language. However, I managed to learn a few (not that I’ll ever need to use them) words- like dismount and some sort of flip on the balance beam that sounded cool.

As you may or may not know, I was able to attend two Games. I went to double header handball matches, the winners of which would play for the gold. The handball matches were at the national indoor stadium, which is in the same "compound" as the aquatics stadium, the national stadium, and all the most impressive buildings that have been constructed for these Games. The other Game I went to was the women's volleyball bronze medal match.

The first handball match was between Norway and S Korea. Norway had a huge section of fans, all wearing red and singing & cheering. I could totally picture my grandpa up there with them, leading the cheers and songs. :) So I mustered up all my Norwegian pride and cheered for them, and they won (although I doubt it was because of my cheering). Game 2 was between Hungary and Russia. I decided to cheer for Russia for two reasons: 1- so many people here think I'm Russian, might as well embrace it for a couple hours, and 2- the Hungarians booed every time Russia got the ball. Hungary had taken over Norways section in the stands and had some great cheers and songs, but I wasn't a fan of their booing. Russia won (again...not because of my cheering...or was it?). Handball itself is a pretty interesting sport. It's not what I thought (racquetball without the racquet...which is what I always knew as handball). It's basically soccer with your hands (think about it- in other countries, they call "soccer" "football." So it makes sense that handball and soccer/football would be similar).

After handball, my friend and I walked around the compound and took tons of pictures. The organizing committee didn't overlook even the smallest details in the main compound. Every inch of the place is amazing. The textures, the colors, the shapes. There's a cool tower that you may or may not have seen and I've wondered forever what it was...and also wondered how so many news casts have the same live background behind them. Well, that night I discovered that the mysterious but amazingly lit up tower is none other than the media tower. Each level has a few news cast desks, all facing the infamous background you always see.

The volleyball game I went to was absolutely unbelievable. I'd hoped that it would be either the local team or the local team vs the US. Really, I just wanted to be part of the local team's crowd...to experience it. Well, it was the local team vs Cuba. The entire stadium was going crazy the entire time cheering for the local team (except for whoever was holding the one Cuban flag way over in the opposite corner). When Cuba had the ball, the local fans still went crazy cheering for their own team. They did "the wave" and made it around the entire stadium 3 times in a row! The sound was absolutely deafening. I took pictures and video, but there's nothing that can capture those moments. Cuba didn't stand a chance against the home team and the fans..."my" team won again!

I had the privilege of watching the closing ceremonies with a sea of people on a big screen out in one of the parks. We were relieved that the screens weren't "broken" again. At the end of the ceremonies, fireworks went off all over the city. One of the places was at the park we were at, so we got to see them live.

The Games are over, yet not quite. Round 2 starts this weekend with the Paralympics. The city is again undergoing a transformation, but on a smaller scale. Many of the signs and decorations are being changed to reflect the Paralympic logo. We're hoping to get tickets to go to more events in the next few weeks, to be in the venues cheering on anyone we can.

There's been a lot of bad press surrounding these Games and I can't even say how disappointed I've been at the reports that I've seen. Reporters who should have come to cover the Games and to help spread the excitement seem to have come with the intention of exposing every single mistake and looking for every bad quality and searching out those who are here to fight for their own ideas rather than to participate in the Games. Now, I'm not saying anyone is right or wrong. But this country has come a long way and they have every reason to be proud. They are absolutely not perfect and have made bunches of mistakes and they will continue to do so. But I keep being reminded of "let he who has no sin cast the first stone." It's given me a stronger burden to pray for those who are in every area of leadership here as well as in other countries and also for the press... that they would be motivated by truth and not corruption and that they'd act out of people's best interest rather than personal gain. I also am reading the news less because I realize that those stories probably have just as much "truth" as the ones I read about here. There are better things I can be reading.

This post is too long already. Pictures will come soon...