More Press packs delivered to journalists and photographers, and then headed off to "do the rounds" of info collection from the concessions on my own. Got to the massage place and said I might come back later as my shoulders and neck could always do with being brutalised. The guy in charge tried to see what the issue was and uttered something completely unprintable and said yes do come back it will help.
So after my dinner I headed back for a 15 minute massage that cost R$30 (around £8) painful but needed.
Back to work after, but so little to do really, and finally time to head home. Claudia, one of the managers gave me a lift, which saved the walk.
Much of the same the next day, though a new volunteer joined and came round on the concession walk. Bloomin useful to have a Portuguese speaker. Extremely quiet day though, as most people were at the Opening Ceremony, so we got the pictures for the live streaming up onto the huge TV in our work area, and we settled in to watch the ceremony, catching up on a few bits we missed from the rehearsal. Of course also sorting any issues as needed and recreating an "eaterie" list for anyone that wants to head away from the park for food.
So my first free day arrived, and initially I had though about going to see the Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugar Loaf, but the weather had turned, and after rain at the opening ceremony last night, the clouds were still low this morning, so I bailed on the Christ, and instead arranged to meet with another Volunteer Steph, to see if we could get tickets for something in the Olympic Park. A quick check of schedules and we plumped for the morning wheelchair basketball (both GB women and men were competing in their group stages) and a late afternoon cycling session, where we knew there were likely to be medals.
We were not disappointed.
The basketball was a win for our men, but a defeat for the ladies, though they still have other group matches to pull things back.
Then we headed to find some refreshment before our cycling experience.
The park is fairly big, but lacks the atmosphere and numbers of support people of the London Games. No entertainers or wayfarers, just the occasional volunteer, milling around. Food choices limited to burger, pizza and other pasta snacks or a small McDs takeaway (which actually only does desserts apparently). No choice for Brazilian food or any other cultural options.
Took us a while to work out that you cannot buy food or drink at any of the small outlets, without having gone to the cash-desk, or one of the mobile cashiers to pay and get a ticket for what you want, then you present that at the counter in exchange for your food or drink. And hardly any of the sellers spoke English, so it was difficult to explain things with a language barrier, especially when my ticket was taken, but no pizza arrived. Part of the free for all of asking anyone who wanted only pizza to come forward was that everyone came forward pushing and scrummaging to hand over their tickets. Queuing seems not to be very well adhered to here.
We eventually sat in the very green sprayed tarmac area, possible village green representation, but more looking like the conversation went along the lines of "how do we make this pure concrete and tarmac area look a little more appealing, oh I know lets spray it all green".
A quick wander around the Rio 2016 megastore shop with the usual horror at the costs of things, and we then headed to the velodrome.
Hannah, who has been working in the MPC with me, appeared and we all spotted some GB supporters so headed to join them. Turns out the lady sat in front of me was Steven Bate's mum. So a very proud mum moment when he and his guide rider took gold in their race.
After a brilliant evening trackside, we headed off to find some food. A great end to a really lovely day in the park.
No comments:
Post a Comment