Athletics has begun! Canada had 2 out of 3 athletes advance to semi-finals at the track this morning. The schedule is basically at the track in the morning 9 to noon, a break from then until 5 and continue on until 9 or 10. I will come back to the Village in the break for lunch and some treatments. Thus far all the athletics people are doing well with no major injuries. Actually, the whole Team Canada is well except for one ill athlete.
The weather has turned around and the haze has returned. Not quite as hot as before, which is nice, but somewhat humid.
Some China tidbits….it is illegal to ride a bike in Tiananmen Square (they did drive tanks through there though…).
They have men with flags controlling the pedestrians and cyclists at major intersections. They stand out in front with their flag and won’t let the people go until the light changes.
Whenever we go anywhere especially with wheelies (wheelchair athletes) without security (anywhere outside the Paralympic areas) we have groupies. They all gather around and take photos of us, some with us, them and their friends. Even happened a few times without any wheelies, just our outfits and accreditation cards draws attention to us.
We were coming home one evening at 5 in a taxi, passing some restaurants. They had all their workers out front lined up in rows, like 3 rows with shorter women in the front, then others in the middle row and taller chefs in the back. They appeared to be having a pep talk, or maybe they are learning the specials for the night?!?! Looked quite interesting!
And that is about all the news today. Canada is doing well in just about all the sports, and we hope to add to our medal count today. More to come….
Paige
