It's Thursday, which is the first day of group presentations.  I put together the 22 slide PowerPoint presentation, so I was glad when I was able to knock that off of my list of things to do yesterday.  There were 12 groups who presented (2 French, 10 English), and each presentation lasted about 10 minutes.  Each group had the same compulsory topic to present on (what is the purpose of the Olympic Movement), and then we were able to come up with our own questions for the last two.  After hearing the same lectures this week, there wasn't a ton of variety in the questions, but everyone had a little different take on them.
 
During the two presentations that were in French, I found it funny that when the speakers changed, they still sounded the same.  Of course the speaker didn't sound the same, but the translator in my headphones sounded the same!  Maybe I was more amused by my revelation than everyone else.
 
An interesting item was the use of "handicapped" instead of "disabled."  That was hammered home during college at Wisconsin, as I had an Adapted Physical Activity concentration, so every time I hear the word handicapped, I automatically want to tell the person talking that it's disabled. 
 
Murod just told me that he's been married for 6 months, and then he said that if I get married, I'm supposed to write him and he'll come so we can dance together.  I might have to take him up on that offer, as I think everyone would thoroughly get a kick out of him.  I had a tough time keeping a straight face, but I was able to respond.  Murod's English is getting a lot better.  Maybe it's the "Tony my brother, Tony my brother American" statements he says every time I enter our dorm room that has catapulted him forward in his quest to learn English.
 
On my last three trips to town, I have managed to jump in a car that has brought us to the IOA.  The road here is under construction, so it actually involves taking a detour on either a gravel/rock road or a detour on the road with the most potholes I have ever seen.  Fortunately the detours aren't long, but lining up a ride always makes for a good story.  Last night was the best of the three stories so far.  We were walking down the main street in Olympia, and there were seven in our group.  Three hailed a cab (it costs 4 Euro per fare, regardless how many people are in the car), so the four of us kept walking.  The ride should have taken about five minutes, so we figured if we really didn't want to walk, the taxi would be back in 10 minutes. 
 
About a block later, a guy was standing on the sidewalk between a store front and a car.  We just started asking "Taxi?" repeatedly.  The guy was clearly not a taxi cab driver, but he told us that if we helped him take down his jewelry shop for the night, he would give us a ride home.  Sweet! The four of us immediately got to work, bringing in the displays in from outside and setting the goods down on the counter.  We made quick work of the task, but we made sure to take some pictures of it all, as it looked like we were robbing the place.  One of the Swedish representatives, Sofia, was with, and her father is Greek, so she can speak Greek fluently, which eased our minds.  The driver spoke great English, too, so I figured we were covered. 
 
The drive took probably as long as it would have taken to walk, but what fun would that have been?  We learned why the Alpheus/Alfeios River is named so, and we stumbled upon a one-car accident about 100 feet from the entrance to the IOA.  More on that in a second.  Our driver took the gravel/rock road, and didn't go over 15 kph.  We came to two intersections on the road, so I made sure to say "clear" because no cars were coming.  Of course the three in the back seat laughed each time, as there wasn't a soul in sight!  We were probably the only car that drove on the road the entire day, so of course there wasn't going to be traffic to contend with.  I did this, though, because our driver put on his blinker both times and came to a stop (I shouldn't complain about his good driving habits, should I?).  After the second time, I was informed that I didn't have to say "clear" anymore.
 
Okay, now the car accident.  A little black Audi actually went in the ditch at almost a 90 degree angle.  His back right wheel was in the air, the hood/bumper at the bottom of the ditch, and the rocker panel resting on the edge of the ditch.  In other words, he was going no where quick.  When we came to the scene, the tow truck was there with the lights flashing.  A rope was already hooked on, presumably to winch the car out.  Nope, no need for a winch when you can just put the wrecker in first gear and pull the car out of the ditch.  Since the wrecker and rope was blocking the road, we sat and watched everything happen.  Once the car was back on all four wheels, they unhooked the rope and the car pulled ahead 50 feet like nothing happened!  We quickly took off, and as we drove by the car, our driver said "no damage, just grass."  Um, I don't think that's quite the case, but in the dark it was tough to see.  Nonetheless, it was a very entertaining ride home.  If you ever come to Olympia, Greece, be sure to pay a visit to the friendliest jeweler in town, Athanasios Fotinakopoulous, a visit.  In case anyone is wondering, I had to look at his business card about 8 times to make sure that I spelled that correctly.
 
Tattoos aren't nearly as common here as they are in the US, so Tony the Tiger tattooed on my right calf has drawn a lot of attention.  Most people say "Kellogg's," "Tony," or "Tigre."  I guess that Frosted Flakes are sold worldwide, and that Tony the Tiger is Tony the Tiger. 
 
We had an early morning today.  By early I mean that we left the IOA at 5:10 so we could walk to a hill that overlooked the entire valley.  Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the IOC and the modern Olympic Games, spoke of watching the sunrise from this point, so we trekked there in the dark.  I was the first to the top (it wasn't a race, I was just first in line), so I took pictures of my colleagues one-by-one as they summited the hill.  Unfortunately the clouds didn't lift in time, so we didn't get to see the sunrise.  From the hill, though, we overlooked the site of the Ancient Olympics, the International Olympic Academy, and the city of Olympia.  We did find a different route to ascend the hill, so a handful of us will organize another trip one of the remaining mornings.
 
Lastly, I just saw a funny sight.  The semi-finals for the football tournament are going on right now, and one of the participants (who plays in 13 minutes) just walked by my room smoking a cigarette.  Classic.
Citius!  Altius!  Fortius!