Day 8 – Thursday 26th July

Wow – I’ve been here a week!  Time does crazy things when you’re enjoying yourself.

This morning’s task was to move from Bexleyheath.  Leaving at 8am I arrived at Turnpike Lane at 10.  My friend Leigh and I are going to be house-sitting for a friend of hers until the end of the Olympics.  I’m going to really miss Maxine and Matt, but I’m always excited for new places, and it’ll be great to spend time with Leigh.

She hadn’t seen the Olympic Stadium or the Westfield Shopping Centre, so we left for me shift an hour or so early so I could show her before it became really crazy with crowds for the Olympics.  We ate a wonderful salad of beans, pomegranate seeds, lentils, barley, cranberries and pumpkin seeds with a lime vinaigrette dressing at ‘Eat.’ before I headed to work and she continued shopping and enjoying the views of the Olympic Park.

My day at the village was a little busier than previous days.  First of all I had to ask in the basement about meeting and storage rooms for Venezuela, being the interpreter for Yamelys, before helping one of the technical guys, Franklin, to troubleshoot about training passes for coaches.  There was a small lull for a moment or two as I sat with Franklin and a coach called José, watching the torch relay in London, explaining who all the torchbearers were and where in London the torch was.

There was more to do before long as I grabbed some forms for new keys, as they’d rearranged some furniture in their apartments, and helping a cyclist find the WiFi password on his BT Hub because he’d lost the sheet of paper.  Following this Christina, Goli, our fantastically bubbly new teammate, and I wrote next week’s rota.   Feeling really pleased with ourselves for being organised (rotas are far more complicated than they seem) we were about to go to dinner when Artemio asked Christina and Goli to do some driving.  I decided to push the key issue, as they had to be paid for before I could order them.  By the time they’d found the person who’s in charge of the money and pinned her down, and by the time I’d paid, the key place was closed.  Because Venezuelans, I’m learning, don’t really hurry.  I’m so glad I was able to pay today, though, as it makes tomorrow’s task much easier.

So, a far more entertaining day, with a fair amount to do, which I like more than sitting around, although I do love chatting with everyone and getting to know them.  The Village is practically full and buzzing now, with the potential to see any athlete from all over the world just walk, run, cycle or, in one Spanish case, skip by.  It’s so exciting.  I can’t believe the Opening Ceremony’s tomorrow.  Where did the time go?  The last 7 years?  In less than 24 hours the greatest show on Earth will begin and, although I’m just a Volunteer, I’m right in the heart of it all.  I’m so excited!