Greetings from day 8 at the International Olympic Academy in Olympia, Greece. Today was the last of our lectures (we had two this morning), and now we have group discussions as we prepare for our second presentation.
 
Our last lecturer this morning was HRH Prince Faisal Al-Hussein from Jordan. Yep, the Prince of Jordan was the last lecturer of the Session for Young Participants.  He flew in a helicopter to the IOA, so it sat on the football field all last night and until around 2:00 PM today when he left.  He's the President of the Jordan Olympic Committee, so he is very involved in the Olympic Movement. 
 
I've been going to the dance workshops in between the last two days, which, as those who know me can attest, is fairly out of character.  At yesterday's session, we learned a traditional Greek dance called “tziltaki.”  I'm sure the spelling is incorrect, but it's a fun group dance.  Unlike the dancing that I am used to, that you can count either 1-2-3-1-2-3 or 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4, there is no counting for the difficult part.  Well, I guess you can count to 13, but it doesn't repeat itself, so it was good that we practiced it again today.  Actually, it was good that I practiced it again today.  I'm not sure, but the 10 people or so that have practiced the dance are going to do the dance in front of the entire group tomorrow night, so if that's the case, I will try to get the video up for people to see.
 
I was thinking about the group of friends I have gained over here, and I can't help but be amazed at how well I have connected with some of the people.  Of course I will forget some, but Denis, Fergus, Emily, Sarah, Jens, Jerome, Megan, Tiina, Adam, Florian and Jesper, and Anne all come to mind. 
 
Certainly I need to mention Murod, too, as part of my group of friends. His English has really improved and we're able to talk to one another now.  From time-to-time, we have to write down the word(s) we're trying to say, but we're able to more freely communicate.  And to think, English is Murod's third language, as Tajik and Russian are his first two. Rafiqi mon Tojik.
 
Last night was another social presentation, and there were about a dozen countries who presented.  The Estonians had a great presentation that tied their Olympic past with a game.  Estonians are traditionally strong in cross-country skiing, wrestling, and cycling.  20 pairs of people were needed, so I was one of the 40 people who went in front.  It was a great game that wound up with just one group left – not mine unfortunately. 
 
I think that there are different mosquitoes in Greece than what I'm used to.  I have 8 mosquito bites on my left arm, but none of them itch at all. I'm certainly not complaining about that, but I am confused.  And the second difference – they don't make noise when they're flying around to give warning.  So each day I wind up with more bites, but I have no idea when they're attacking me!
 
Quick update on the tennis.  I won my first round match against Qiu, but haven't played since.  I'm not sure how it worked out, but the posting for the semi-finals came out about three hours ago, and I wasn't one of the semi-finalists.  Hmm…not sure how that worked, but it's fine.
 
Tomorrow morning more of my contemporaries are going to read their essays, so I'm looking forward to hearing what people have to say.  I always enjoy hearing about other people's journeys in the Olympic Movement.
 
Citius!  Altius!  Fortius!