Olympic Torch Relay in Our Town

Yesterday the Olympic Torch came through our little town of Sobradinho.  Today I'm going to tell you a little bit about how it all went and what we got to see.  

First of all it was very difficult to get a real fix or confirmation of what all would be happening on the actual date that it was stated for our city.  The official Olympic website told what day but didn't have any specific times for our city.  The official Facebook page of the city mayor's office only announced some times on Wednesday afternoon.  Basically nobody seemed to know, but everybody had some idea.  And of course, it didn't really matter because everybody knew it would be late because this is Bahia.  It's just a part of life.

We heard that the torch was supposed to be at the new statue above around noon.  So we decided to go down to the general area around 11 am.  There were lots of booths set up with different things about the area and food to sell and crafts.  So we walked all around for a bit and looked for a good place to stand to be able to see the torch go by.

As we were looking around we noticed lots of people with inflatable souvenir torches.  I really wanted one and asked  Byron to try to get one.  There were no lines.  People just gathered around the men and women giving them out and reached up their hands.  

Uncle Byron almost got trampled as people started pushing in more and more trying to get one before they all ran out.  He tried to keep people from squashing the lady giving them out near him, but it was hard.  As soon as she said there were no more everyone cleared away.  Later others would come to give out more and the whole scene was repeated time and again but without Uncle Byron!  I tried twice, but never even got close.  A friend of mine later gave me one that she had gotten earlier before all the pushing crowds showed up!

Finally we picked what seemed to be a good place near all the action of the ceremonies but on the way out to see the torch go by.

And then we stood there for two hours!  At least most of it was somewhat interesting with a band going by, the plastic torch giver-awayer people had a presentation, and friends would come by and say hello.  There was even a parade of local cowboys on their horses.

plastic torch givers

 Finally the torch showed up at the special receiving area but it all happened so fast that we didn't really see more than the top of it over people's heads.

Then all of a sudden it was gone and that was that!

We had chosen poorly.

It seems the five runners for our part of the relay did their running before they got to the city hall and not after as we had understood.  So when the torch came into the specially prepared tent near our spot, it didn't stay there for long at all and left in a car to go to its next spot.

The next stop was at the place on the river from whence the torch would be placed on a boat to go up and through the canal at the big dam.  Uncle Byron did some swift thinking and decided he still wanted to try to get a better look at that thing, so off we went to the canal and the dam!

This is the same spot where once all the missionaries

thought that Dalton had fallen in! 

I was a little afraid at first to look over and into the canal but after a bit I was able to hang over just a tad and take some photos.  We also met up with a good friend of William's.  He had been working on the organizing committee for the big event and knew a lot about everything.  He told us about what all was happening and would happen next. 

 Can you see the man with the lighted torch?

We had to wait quite a while as the canal filled up with water to raise the boat to the level of the lake so it could pass through to the other side.  

It was very exciting and much better than standing in the street in the city had been.  Many people had gathered on both sides of the canal and cheered when the boat finally passed through.  That's Uncle Byron's hands with his cell phone filming it all.

When it was all done we got to take photos of one of the runners from the city part of the relay who had gone up to the canal.  Every runner gets to keep their torch.  He had his and was letting people take photos with him.  I didn't get my photo taken with him but I took some.  And Uncle Byron asked if he could just touch it.  The man said - Go ahead!  And Uncle Byron did.

Uncle Byron was satisfied and we were glad we decided not to give up and had gone on up to the dam to see the second part of the relay in Sobradinho.

The flame of the torch comes from the site of the first Olympics in Greece.  There they keep a fire going all year long, every day waiting for the next games.  Representatives from the host country go to Greece to get the flame and take it back to their countries.  Each country then has a relay race all around their territory so that people can see it and participate.  Then the flame goes to the host city for the rest of the time of the games.  The host city this year is Rio where you all lived for two years.  Most of the games and events will be held right there in Rio and Niteroi.

Maybe you will be able to watch some of the games later this summer.  Will you cheer for Brazilian athletes or Americans?  Some times we cheer for both!

To Learn more about the  Olympic Torch and the Relay:

www.rio2016.com/en/torch-about

www.olympic.org/olympic-torch-relay