Olympic Spirit

How lucky are we to live in the centre of this amazing event that is the Olympics! As a child, I used to watch my favourite sports back home in Brazil (there has never been an Olympics hosted in South America!),  at the time Nadia Comaneci was my idol, and I dreamed of being able to be part of it someday, in any way, even if far from being an athlete myself.

Some Londoners complain about the increase of traffic and crowds on the streets and tube, but I really cannot understand how an event like this can push people away just for the ‘headache and chaos’ it may cause. In other words, how can anyone not get the real Olympic Spirit? Living and working in Central London, I have been through or seen no chaos at all. Instead of escaping from it, I am very excited to have got tickets for two events, and can’t wait to go and cheer in a couple of weeks.

Last Monday I got the privilege of having been invited to watch the rehearsal of the Open Ceremony. Of course it was crowded, but all the extremely nice and smiley volunteers working to help and direct people into the stadium, and through security proved that the patience, determination and good will, the real Olympic Spirit, of all is enough to overcome any disorder.

My first glimpse of the Stadium, glowing against the astounding sun and intense blue sky we have had this gorgeous summer week gave me goosebumps! Again, volunteers (or ambassadors as indicated in their uniforms) made the long walk from the tube station to the gates very smooth, even the security check performed by the Military. 

Once inside, I could not stop looking around, at the flags and the tens of thousands of 'volunteer' spectators from all backgrounds, ages, nationalities. Show starting, and of course this was only a rehearsal, so the main guests and VIPs were not present, and even the athletes parades was skipped. But what a show by Danny Boyle ("Slum Dog Millionaire") and the thousands of actors, professional or not, who got to take part in it! Lots of sweat (indeed it was quite a hot day) and even tears! As Danny himself and the huge screens around the Stadium pleaded, I will not reveal any detail, so you will have to tune in on Friday, and hopefully the weather will not let anyone down.

Now, athletes, their families, trainers/ coaches, state leaders and personalities already in town, the excitement of this amazing event is really about to begin, drawing everyone to this Spirit of competitiveness and yet solidarity!  So, thank you to those who have really made all the effort to keep this unique Spirit alive, athletes, organizers, volunteers or just cheerful spectators! 

by Valeria Fleury 

Donate time, not money!

Last Thursday, 12^th July, Alessandra Gnudi and I rolled up our sleeves and got to work sprucing up the Hatfield Community Centre in East London, as part of the Jubilee Hour, in an effort to help Catch 22.

The Jubilee Hour  is an initiative taking place throughout the Queen’s Jubilee year, to get people to contribute an hour of their time for charity or goodwill.  Catch22’s programmes help to develop a person's confidence and skills to grasp solutions that are right for them; from getting back into school or into training, choosing to stay out of crime, finding a safe place to live and helping them with the skills needed to live independently after leaving care or custody.

The day was organised by Katarina Jankovic of Re:locate Magazine  and Paragon, and it called on professionals from the relocation industry to work alongside youths from the local area to replant the two flower beds at the entrance to the Community Centre.  Catch 22 organised the day, from finding a gardener to contribute her time, to providing coffee breaks and lunch for all those who participated.  There were 25 volunteers in total, and we spent the morning clearing the existing flower beds of old, gnarly tree roots, weeds and garbage. 

The first youth volunteer to turn up was a girl of 16 who is a youth carer for her sister, mother and grandfather who are all ill and require being looked after. 

I was on kitchen duty and prepared lunch for the group, which proved very interesting given that we had no cutlery!  I was assisted by another 16 year old girl suffering from a debilitating muscle disorder, anorexia and low self-esteem.  She found it quite a challenge to be involved in food preparation, but with a little encouragement she washed her hands, rolled up her sleeves and got stuck in!

By four o’clock in the afternoon, the beds had been cleared and prepped for the next phase – planting!  In great community spirit, the planting was to be done on the following Saturday by the children from the local primary school. 

It was a very humbling experience to learn about the work that Catch 22 is doing to support young people today.  The energy and enthusiasm that the staff showed to encourage hard work and positive behaviour among a group of youths who don’t have a lot of encouragement in their daily lives was very life affirming.  

Written by Eva Stock

My Brazilian/ British soul

You may be wondering how a Brazilian can ever turn into British? I was born and raised in sunny, laid-back, beautiful and tropical Brazil, and moved away in my 30’s. After a period in New York, and after having started my family there, I found myself with a young family, arriving in London as a trailing spouse, in the beginning of the year, when I have to admit, not the easiest time in London: it was dark, windy, chilly (but not particularly cold as in NY) and especially, grey and drizzly. I kept thinking that, back in Brazil, my friends were probably spending the days under the sun, and even after a long day at work, enjoying the evenings with a nice BBQ among friends, enjoying the last rays of sun.

At that time, my Brazilian soul never thought what was about to happen: nine years on, and I have just become a British citizen. Not for visa or tax reasons, but because I wanted to!

I have to confess I have always been very appreciative and admiring of the British culture and history (I have a BA in English Language and Literature) since I was a young girl dreaming of tales of princesses and castles and all these things that as a Brazilian was only a distant world. Coming from a young country, only about 500 years old, I live and breathe history and culture everywhere I go. Even my best friend’s house, where I stayed at on my first days here, was almost that old. Maybe this is something that Europeans take for granted, but it is something that still amazes me. We settled down and still live in the same house for these 9 years, and my ‘neighbour’ used to be Harry VIII, and every time I see that blue plaque, I cannot help feeling lucky to be here and almost living that dream on a daily basis. Of course life in the UK is not at all like a fairy tale, but these details make my life here still a whole world away from what I ever imagine.

Of course I miss the sunny days most of the year, and the frequent barbecues with friends (there is not a common translation for ‘weather permitting’ in Brazil), and my family, but I don’t think I could ever have been happier raising my family everywhere else. And in that sense, I guess I really found the other half of my soul!

On my next blog... the Citizenship Ceremony!

By Valeria Fleury

Visit the FOCUS website www.focus-info.org

Pick your Own

I’m from Estonia. Estonia is a very small country where the tradition to grow your own fruits and vegetables are still the normal way of living. Of course not all people have their own back gardens full of potatoes and berries, but at least everybody knows somebody who has  a garden and so it is very easy to just call your friend and ask the permission to pick some juicy fruits.

As the summer progressed and all my friends from Estonia were talking  how nice to pick the strawberry right from the plant and eat it, I started to feel very jealous. I’m not complaining – Waitrose and Sainsbury’s offer quite good berries, but it is still not the same than going to the field, full of strawberries, pick the little juicy red berry and eat it right there. It really tastes different. You almost feel the summer in your mouth!

Somewhere in the back of my mind I remembered that there are farms in England, that offer the service called “Pick Your Own”, which means that you can go to the farm and pick as many berries or vegetables as you like and pay per kilo. After a bit of Google, I found out that there are several farms that invite people to pick their own. I was so glad!

We decided to go to a the farm near Weybridge (www.crockfordbridgefarm.co.uk). Just a 30 minute drive from London and there we were. The field was enormous! Long lines of strawberries, raspberries and gooseberries! Honestly, I have never seen so many strawberries! I felt so happy and excited like a little girl!  After a half an hour of picking we paid the fee and went on a berry-picnic on the site. Oh, it was so good!!! Take a look at the picture to see how nice they were!

 As for the prices, to pick your own berries is much cheaper than to buy them in the supermarket, plus it tastes much, much better. 

We will definitely go back again to pick our own! 

by Eva Unt

If you can read  Estonian, cheak Eva's blog at  www.evajacolondonis.blogspot.com