Greetings from Olympia, Greece.  Olympia is the site of the Ancient Olympics, which were held every four years beginning in 776 BC.  They were held in such a manner (every four years) for 1100 years, until they were stopped.  Greece had recently come under rule of Christianity, but since the newly in charge believed that the Olympics were a form of paganism, the leaders abolished the Olympics.  The site of the Ancient Olympics was only utilized for the Olympics, so once the Games ceased, the site of the Olympics was essentially abandoned.
 
Up until the 1800s, the site was actually under up to 20 feet of mud from a nearby river that had flooded many times over.  Now the ruins are open to the public, so our entire group went to tour the site this morning.  It was actually very impressive to see the stadium (and learn how the word stadium was derived), which could hold up to 45,000 spectators for the Games.  We also were able to see the Palaestra, which is where wrestling was held.  I did not realize that the root of the word palaestra is palaiein, which is the Greek used for wrestling.  As wrestling fans, you will probably all understand why I was more excited about seeing the Palaestra than the others in my group.
 
After the tour of the grounds, we went to the museum across the street.  Just like in Athens, it was nice to get inside of a building with air conditioning, as it is hot again today.  We all laughed when the tour guide this morning said that it’s the beginning of summer and that it’s not that hot yet.  Yikes.
 
Yesterday when I wrote, we were on the bus to Olympia.  We stopped twice along the way at what I would equate to rest stops, and arrived shortly after 2:00 PM.  My new roommate, Marad Tashives, is from Tajikistan.  Of course that is probably the incorrect spelling, so I will try to find out the exact spelling.  Communicating with Marad has been difficult, though, as he speaks very little English and can understand me even less.  I tried to tell him that we had our first meeting last night at 5:00 PM and that formal dress was required, but I was unsuccessful is getting my point across.
 
A few of us went to downtown Olympia last night, which was nice.  Olympia is a town of 11,000 people, so it’s about the same size of my hometown.  We wound up catching part of the England-Algeria soccer game, and then we walked back to socialize at the IOA.  Funny that I say soccer, because as expected, no one else here says soccer, but rather football.
 
Speaking of football, did anyone watch the US-Slovenia game?  I may or may not have been following the game on my phone during a session last night, so I read about the goal that was called back.  I haven’t seen the replay of it, but is it as bad as Americans are saying?
 
After the first session last night, we all signed up for one group sport to play during our time here, and one individual sport.  The team options were volleyball, basketball, and football (soccer, for those of you not following along), and tennis and table tennis were the options in individual sports.  In 2007, one of the American delegates here tore her Achilles while playing volleyball, and last year one of the Americans broke his wrist playing basketball, so I chose football.  Actually, I would have chosen football anyways, as I grew up playing and enjoy doing so.  I have a feeling that this will be the first time in my life where I am the worst player on the team.
 
For anyone who would like to follow what is taking place in the lectures, feel free to visit www.ioa-sessions.org.  I know that my mom caught part of the opening ceremony/first session last night, as I sent her the URL when everything began.  They said that over 5,000 people world wide tune into the sessions, which I find amazing.  Most countries have National Olympic Academies, though, so learning about Olympism is a little bigger deal abroad.
 
Now, I realize that I haven’t explained much about what the Session for Young Participants at the International Academy will consist of.  When Pierre du Coubertin resurrected the Modern Olympics, he did so as a way to promote peace in the world through the mutual understanding that sport creates.  On the surface, this might sound like Sandra Bullock asking for world peace in Miss Congeniality, but when discussed, it is a much deeper and more meaningful topic.  Hopefully throughout the ten days, I will begin to put in words a little more of what we discuss.  I know that I am really looking forward to the week-and-a-half, and I hope that I am able to convey the message back to everyone following.
 
This afternoon we will have a lunch, a lecture, and then some sort of physical activity, followed by a lecture tonight.  At least that’s what I think we have in store.
 
Citius! Altius! Fortius!