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Tasha Books Paralympics Diary |
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Tasha Books interviews spectators after Great Britain defeated Holland in the women's wheelchair basketball match, Sunday 19th September
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Rich Hallstrom talks to fellow 2K Plus reporter Tasha Books about her experiences so far in Athens. Photo by Mike Flynn, 17th September 2004
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Final day of work . . . well, sort of. Andy was still working anyway-surprise, surprise. All except Mike were off to the final men's basketball game between Canada and Australia for the gold. Canada won. Andy had good interviews with Travis Gaertner and David Eng, both Christians playing for the Canadian team.
Then we all went to the Acropolis for dinner and shopping sans Pete, who was sensible and went back to the church. At dinner, we ran into a nice wheelchair rugby family from Canada who, we think, paid for our meal.
We rushed home to get to Starbucks before it closed and then "home" for another late night of work-just wouldn't feel right without ending it all that way. Plus, we had to stay up to bid a fond farewell to Pete as he "escaped" out the door and through the non-existent street to his taxi. Oh, the adventure!
How to survive in Greece: When using the lift (or elevator) in a time crunch, always look both directions for the opening door; otherwise, you might miss your window of opportunity.
The homestretch now. . . Andy and Tasha off to battle their way through the massive amounts of schoolchildren at the main complex to see cycling in the Velodrome that didn't exist. They had a long walk around and then metro ride to Monastiraki; by which time, Tasha's body gave out and she had to go home and to bed. Dauntless Andy pressed on for street interviews and some lost time wondering around. He came home with seventeen interviews, well, tracks anyway.
As evening approached, all headed back to the stadium for some exciting athletics events, basketball, and swimming. Had a late dinner again with all at Tasha's favourite local spot. Joined by Patric from Sweden.
A tragic accident claimed the lives of seven Greek schoolchildren as they were making their way to the Paralympic Games today. Greece is in mourning for two days and much will be excluded from the Closing Ceremony tomorrow in observance of the loss of life.
How to survive in Greece: Expect the unexpected and prepare to be unprepared.
Greeted by the sounds of our street being torn apart today. . . As Cervantes said: truth is stranger than fiction. Who could have written a story about a rag-tag radio reporting team, both British and American, some missing arms and legs, living mostly harmoniously in a church covered in graffiti, on a street that may not exist at all tomorrow? We are putting feet on faith.
A good day at athletics today: numerous interviews with athletes straight off the track, capturing varying responses, representing multiple countries.
New arrivals aplenty to our happy little community today . . . Adrian and Thomas flew in from London just in time to fall asleep to the destruction of our road. Tasha's mom and friend, Andi, brought news in person from New Mexico and Pennsylvania (day-old news with the time difference, but still good). Rich goes live to Seattle via telephone early tomorrow morning at 3am. What did Pete do today? We forgot to ask him before he went to bed.
How to survive in Greece: make prior inquiries into the condition of the roads surrounding your place of accommodation if you enjoy at good lie-in.
Andy skipped breakfast to get a jump on the day - going to Zappion Press Centre. Apparently, he hasn't learned. Rich left for an interview and an unexpected pit stop with Otto Bock (wheelchair technicians) to fix his chair. Tasha spent the morning and early afternoon at the church with Mike and Pete, learning to edit her interviews and finding a new passion for the process.
Up late again with all manner of craziness.
How to survive in Greece: To keep from staying up until 3am working, be sure to never travel an hour to eat dinner. Especially when all you have is pudding (dessert); even if you are being treated.
Today . . . Tasha ran off to the only sporting event she really knows anything about-Equestrian dressage-and came back with three interviews. Andy spent a hard day chasing down interviews with athletes that ended up not speaking English. Rich had two interviews with wheelchair racers that he knows from the U.S., and Pete finally got accredited as media-so now, he can officially be included in this report.
Had an exciting night breaking into the church's upper room and our internet headquarters -climbing up and down ladders before Pete (who is now qualified to fix both taps and faucets) gained access with a screwdriver. We've renamed him "Jack" (of all trades).
All different directions today . . . Andy picked up some interviews with people and athletes connected to Athletics; Rich prepared for his late-night press conference; Tasha spent hours walking all around the Olympic Complex; Pete pulled things together at the church; and Mike went on what turned out to be a pointless journey to Zappeion (big surprise--"Zappeion" must be Greek for "huge excursion to nothing important").
Andy found Tasha in the afternoon by phoning her during her interview with the women's tandem cycling team just after they'd won the gold medal. Much of the afternoon was spent in Aquatics where they saw, among other things, an athlete with no arms and only one leg win a backstroke event. They were prepared to keep working, but were forced to head back early because they were given too many gifts from a volunteer friend and had too much to carry!
Everything ended well with a farewell dinner for Linda at a local place where no one knew which meal belonged to which person; so we shared everything.
How to survive in Greece: Be sure to never drink an entire coke right before you catch a car home if you are not sure when you might be arriving.
Venturing out to Helliniko once again, we were thrilled to see our very first wheelchair rugby game. It was the perfect first game with Canada pulling through in the end to beat Germany. Wheelchair rugby seems to be a mix of basketball, volleyball, rugby, and bumber cars; and it's fantastic!
Rich landed an interview with the president of the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation, which made a day of waiting at the rugby stadium well worth it. Andy and Tasha ordered (accidentally) a private car back to the Olympic Stadium and spent the rest of the day going from venue to venue, getting into places where they shouldn't been allowed and eating food free food. They also managed to interview a number of people and catch the wheelchair basketball game between long-standing rivals, Great Britain and Australia. Let's just say there were a lot of very happy Australian fans leaving the stadium afterward.
How to survive in Greece: When your mobile phone is your only means of communication with anyone, it is always a good idea to NOT leave it sitting on the computer desk in the media lounge when you leave. For further details, ask Andy.
First day of "real work" . . . Rich and Andy went to the men's wheelchair basketball (Great Britain vs. Italy) and Tasha headed south to Helliniko for wheelchair fencing. Andy did well with two interviews: one with the assistant coach of the GBR team and one with a wheelchair tennis athlete from the Netherlands. Tasha, when she finally reached the complex at Helliniko (a good three hours journey), was able to speak with three women from the U.S. fencing team.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Mike actually left the ranch (Maroussi Presbyterian) and ventured out to find the Olympic Stadium and press area (which he did, eventually).
All met up beneath the Acropolis for dinner and much running up one street and down the other trying to get back to the metro station. More fun tomorrow . . .
Note: It is always worth it to buy quality backpacks when traveling abroad!
More of God's provision today . . . We've been a bit frusrated by the lack of response for interviews, but pushed on today, confident that God will do what He has brought us here to do. Andy, Rich, and Tasha stopped off at the MPC to pick up press kits and do some research. On the way out, they walked into the Olympic Stadium where things were getting underway for the Opening Ceremony--a huge tree was set in the middle with people like ants running here and there all over the stadium. Then it was time for lunch at Monastriraki. Crossing the street was quite chaotic, but the yoghurt and honey more than made up for it!
So many things have happened that point to God's hand in our time here. We've been trying to get tickets to the Opening Ceremony for days to no avail. Yesterday, just when we had finally made it all the way to Zappion (a feat with a wheelchair), Andy got a call from Nick (volunteer) with the news that we had free tickets waiting for us at the stadium. An answer to prayer! Then, just as we had turned our weary feet back to the street and metro and more walking, a man practically pushed us onto a bus that took us straight to the stadium in twenty-five minutes. God is good and the ceremony was amazing.
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Last Updated: September 29 2004 08:32:16. |