My original intention when starting this blog was to write each day of my experiences here at the Athens 2004 Olympics...after all, I'm just a volunteer, plenty of free time to reflect and record my experiences. The reality has been very different and now, as this spectacular event is about to close this evening, I finally have a chance to put up a couple of stories. So for anyone whose been trying to follow my time here, I apologize for the delays...I will get all my thoughts on the 'net, but, as I've truly started to live 'Greek time", it will not be conveyed in the punctual manner I originally intended.

Continue reading "A day in the life of an Olympic volunteer"

OOOOOO! I've found my favorite volunteer job! It probably has to do with the fact that I'm a big ham at heart or because I'm a Leo (we crave attention apparently) but whatever the reason, I've found the job I want to keep doing. Up until now I've done Support - boring and lonely, Response - filling in for other people on their breaks which gets you around to many positions in the venue but can be very dull when you're guarding an empty hallway, Access Monitoring - again, more guarding access points which I think is only fun in the press area and Ushering which has been great fun because I get to see the games, practice my Greek and try to get the crowd into the game. But now I've found my true calling as a volunteer.

Continue reading "Day 6: Daduka Days"

Mercifully we have a day off from baseball today...and I really need to catch up on sleep. Between staying out with Caroline until 3 am and standing for almost six hours every day in the baseball field, I'm in desperate need to a day to sleep in and recuperate. My bed is hard and my pillows too soft but oooooooohhhhh, aaahhhhhhh, does it feel good to just lie down and do nothing.

Ariana & Co

Of course this doesn't last too long and by 11 pm that evening I'm out with Ariana, her sister Jen and George, a young medic who seems quite taken with Ariana. After bouncing around the Syntigma area awhile, doing shots and getting silly, we wander over to a bar and club area I had been searching for the night before with Caroline. To my dismay I learn I was but one block away when I had given up the night before....and people wonder why I'm so fond of maps.

Anyway, we visited several smaller bars before settling on what appeared to be a converted house serving as a very crowded bar/dance club. It was called Aspro which means White. They were playing a combination of hip hop and older dance tracks and even though it was hot, sweaty, superbly crowded and most of the crowd was very very young guys it was hard not to enjoy ourselves. Eventually I started dancing with a guy who had some very good grooves and I was surprised at how handsy he got right away. I have no experience with Greek guys (strange I know, but true) and wasn't sure if this was a typically Greek guy thing or a Greek guy when he meets a foreigner thing. Eventually Jen "saved" me, but he kept coming around trying to get me in a dirty dance-like clutch. I was alternately offended and flattered because I was old enough to be this young buck's mom! When he asked my age, which by the way all Greeks seem compelled to do, I told him I was old enough to get him in deep trouble...but I think something was lost in translation. Eventually, to my relief he gave up and moved onto younger prey.

Once again the night slipped away into the early morning hours and we had another long day of hot sun and baseball looming. My poor body wasn't used to the late nights as bars in Los Angeles close at 2 am...the hour when things seem to get hopping! But I was determined to endure!

Today marks the first day of what will quickly become a habit: staying out all night, sleeping until 1 pm and barely having enough time to shower, eat and get to the ballpark on time. But I'm not complaining.

I am very tired, not as much as Ariana who's had no sleep whatsoever, but I'm definitely feeling the effects of our early morning adventure. Our vow to keep our secret lasted about as long as it took us to get home. Naturally Ariana told her sister and I whispered our secret to Christina who had accompanied us earlier in the night. But to others we kept our peace; limiting our recounting of the previous night's events to late night drinking with the team. They were playing this evening and with no wins so far, really needed to win tonight to stay in the running for a medal. I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty that perhaps I had contributed a little to the delinquency of a baseball team.

Unfortunately my guilt was not alleviated as the team unfortunately lost again. Well, no wonder when they are out drinking until all hours with women! Actually, I think more to blame is that they weren't actually a 'team' until just before the Olympics began; they had only been practicing together about a month.

One of the players, Vasily, who plays minor league ball in Chicago, had expressed his regret about not winning any games. He remarked how amazed he was that the Greeks were filling the stands to capacity each time they played and felt he really owed them a win. Granted a strong percentage of them were Greek Americans/Canadians/Australians but many still were natives. Though knowing nothing of the sport of baseball they came out to cheer on the 'home team' armed with Greek flags and chants that had become famous during the European football cup of which they had become the surprise champs the previous month. After all if the Greeks could come out of nowhere to be European champions in football then why the hell couldn't they have a chance to win in baseball??

HELLAS! HELLAS! Just like Cubs fans...any action in the game is reason to cheer!

And these Greeks, still riding high from their triumph in soccer, were in fact the best baseball spectators I've ever seen. They wanted so much to understand the game, watching intently, constantly questioning those few of us who understood the game. But perhaps the best part was their the unflagging support of a team that came from so far away to play under the Greek flag. No matter what the team did they jumped up and cheered; hit a pop fly - cheer; make it to base but get tagged out - cheer; hit the batter with an wildly pitched ball - cheer. Ooops. That's when we had to tell people it was bad form to cheer something like that. But for the most part you didn't want to say anything to dampen their enthusiasm; not that I thought it would do much good. It alternately made me smile at their unflagging high spirits and make me tear up at the overwhelming national pride which would have the Greeks sell out a stadium for a sport they didn't play, didn't understand and most likely would never experience again - all to show solidarity with their people - even if most of those people lived an ocean away.

They may not have been fans of the game, but they were truer fans of a team than I'd ever seen...and I'm sorry Chicago...even greater fans than those of my beloved, beleaguered Cubs.

"Lift up the fucking cup because I can't wait for it..." Oh what a lovely ditty to chant...somehow it sounds better when said in Greek...

"Let's go get another drink," one of our new friends suggested as we were being kicked out of a bar at 4 a.m. by the weary manager.

It seemed like a perfectly reasonable idea to Ariana and I at the time, especially since we were having so much fun and were already a bit lubricated from four hours of drinking.

"We have beer back at our place," they continued.

"Okay, goo-," I stopped, confused. "But your 'place' is in the Olympic Village!"

Continue reading "Day 4: Undercover at the Olympic village"

I'm not enjoying this volunteering stuff very much. I have found two people to talk with, an English girl named Caroline and an English bloke named Martin, yet neither seems to be anywhere I am so again I'm destined for a lonely day.

Today I'm assigned to Baseball 2, the smaller, temporary field that provides no respite from the sun. The first two days it had been so windy and chilly in the evening that it never occurred to me it might be a hot, sunny, typical Athens summer day. In addition I had been in Baseball 1, a proper, shaded stadium yesterday. Uh oh, today is a scorcher and I find I'm assigned again to be an Access Monitor but out in the common area under the blazing, windless sky. I make a passing remark to our team leader, Nikos that I've forgotten my official Olympic hat. He automatically offers me a shady sentry post, keeping unauthorized people from the staff area. Then he brings a chair for me. Then I notice how adorable he is. He even speaks to me in English. Hmm, things are looking up.

I think my expression the evening before when Kelly asked me if I would return to the Support role again the next day told the true story of my feelings on the subject. I had, of course, said I'd be happy to assist again, but I've never been good at hiding my true feelings. Kelly had immediately noticed that the idea of being behind the scenes again was not appealing to me.

Continue reading "Day 2: Response Team"

I arrived today full of anticipation and excitement. First last few days in Athens have been rather dull apart from seeing my cousins and visiting very briefly with a friend who was using my apartment as a jump off point for her Greece travels.

Part of my reason for signing up to be a volunteer was to meet more Greeks and Greek hyphenates. I don't hang with any Greek people at home. It used to be by choice but now it's just by chance and I wanted to meet some Greeks and get closer to my roots.

I arrive way too early, sign in, receive my arm band that identifies me as Spectator Services and join the myriad of other people waiting for instruction. I quickly realize that everyone around me is speaking Greek...even people that don't look Greek to me....and my heart sinks. I wonder if I'm the only volunteer who doesn't speak Greek...I mean I can order a meal and find the bathroom but beyond that my Greek is worthless. As my name badge clearly declares my very Greek name and practically overwhelms the USA country designation beneath it, everyone naturally assumes I speak Greek and I stand there feeling a fool for not having paid more attention in Greek school as a child. I'm in a room full of people and feel so lonely.

Continue reading "Day 1: Baseball"

As I sat staring open mouthed at the spectacle passing by me, I reached blindly into my purse for a tissue to blot at my teary eyes because I couldn’t spare one moment to glance away for fear of missing something else amazing.

Author note: This entry into my blog was written prior to the Olympic opening ceremonies last night. I tried to upload the story just before the ceremonies but unfortunately the internet wasn’t cooperating. So I ran off to see the opening and have to say that what was shown on Greek television did not even come close to capturing what I knew the attendees were experiencing in the stadium. The Greek camera shots were basically one continuous tight shot which did a great disservice to the multitude of things that were happening at the same time. The drama, the scope and the beauty of the pageantry was all lost in an effort, I guess, to show the detail of the makeup and the costumes. I was like watching an on-stage play while wearing blinders. Without peripheral vision you could not appreciate the majesty of setting and the event. I only hope that TV viewers in other countries were served better by their media.

What follows is a glimpse into what I was privileged to see and experience during the ceremony rehearsal. I hope in some small way it can convey what was truly one of the most moving events I’ve ever witnessed.

Continue reading "Opening Ceremonies: A tribute to Greece worthy of the Gods"

Street Signage - When I told my aunt about my days' adventures with the detours and optimistic directions and lack of signs she told me that earlier in the year a number of signs pointing the way to the stadium and other venues had to be covered up and eventually removed because they pointed the wrong way! So maybe nothing is better than something....

But to be fair, there is a wonderful map called the Olympic Public Transport Network that is given free at all information booths. Had I followed my usual habit of obsessively carrying a map it would have made my journey as clear as the beautiful blue Mediterranean for which Greece is famous.

In addition, I found lots of helpful people to ask directions. In one day I spoke with one tram and two train attendants, several volunteers, three city employees, two military police, two special police, and one regular cop and everyone was helpful and smiley.

City Transit - Naively I bought separate tickets for each trolley, tram, train and subway ride. I won't have that problem again because volunteers can use their credentials to ride for free through September 6, but for others venturing into Athens, daily, weekly and monthly passes can be purchased that are viable on all transport systems. In addition please note that event tickets also serve as "free passes" on the transit system on the day of the event.

Greek transit works as an 'honor' system meaning it is up to the rider to validate the ticket. This might tempt gate jumpers but please remember that Greece is a poor country whose citizens' grandchildren will still be paying for this Olympics. They need every bit of revenue they can get. If that doesn't convince you to pay the measly 60 cent fare, keep in mind that they fine gate jumpers and those who don't validate tickets. On the day of my mini odyssey I was checked twice!