MINE AND CANADA'S GOLDEN DAY!!

Got to sport my golden yellow Right to Play t-shirt today and take in all that Vancouver had to offer, which was mostly sun and smiles today. Day began with a meeting with Daniel Igali, the Canadian gold medal wrestler and one of RTP's most outspoken and dedicated Athlete Ambassadors. Look for his interview in an upcoming issue of The Globe & Mail, and maybe just maybe a picture of me with him and some other volunteers.

My role today was to be part of the promotions team for Right to Play - our job was to raise awareness of what Right to Play is and does by any means possible. Today that meant getting people to skip rope in the streets and shouting lots of "When children play, the world wins!"




After impressing the locals with my jump rope skills, we then headed down to the 'cauldron' where the Olympic flame burns brightly and draws huge crowds. And yes those are mountains you can see behind the flame as it was actually sunny today, and yes that is the flame behind a fence making it very difficult for all but the most important (I know, I'm blown away I am not somehow on that list too) to see. But it's still pretty cool.

This was followed by cruising the streets of Vancouver.

Being in this city at this time truly is something special. What makes it all the more special is the people I've met (gave a heart felt thumbs up to some members of the Georgia delegation) from so many countries, and the fact that as you walk around you come across scenes like this.....



and this....



These spaces are, and will remain reserved for the excellent videos I have taken. And if I ever figure out how to get them up without having to wait an hour to do so, then it'll happen.

The first video was of an outstanding troupe of capoeta dancers, and the other, a group of drummers no older than 15 from Taiwan. Both were part of the Cultural Olympiad that is taking place parallel to the actual Olympics, and both were incredibly impressive.

Of course, neither was as impressive as Canada's first gold! And the story of brotherhood that accompanies our first gold medal on Canadian soil makes it that much better. So exciting and awesome, and it's only the 2nd day!

Tomorrow...hanging at the "World of Play" pavilion for most of the afternoon, and some time spent truly figuring out how to get videos posted to this site.