We have had the most exciting day!!!!  But first, let me backtrack to last night.  One of the men at the school is a magician & he had a magic show for everyone.  Very appropriate since the theme of the Gymnaestrada is Meet the Magic.  The most amazing part of the show was when the magician pulled a scarf out of Mandy’s sleeve!  I hear Mandy put on a show of her own in her amazement.

Today, we set out for the venue in the rain.  Good thing we catch the bus when we do, because after we got on, there was no room for people at the later stops.  At the venue, we went to Hall 2.  That’s where our performances are.  WOW!  It’s a huge wood floor – not to worry, there are strip mats to cover it.  There are bleachers on 3 sides of the floor, so hundreds of people can watch.  Dr. John & Neil went to the official medical meeting.  They can get us free ibuprofen if we need it!

We had a 2:15 lunch slot - & apparently 10,000 other people did, too.  Getting to the food was definitely not fun.  But it was worth the wait!  YUM – chicken & rice in a lemon sauce, salad, bread, & apples.  The girls got right in the Gymnaestrada spirit and started trading & taking pictures with people from other teams.  It was great fun!  Then, we hiked yet another mountain to reach the stadium for Opening Ceremonies.  All the delegations were lined up & having a big party while we waited to march into the stadium.  I can’t describe the feeling of entering a huge football stadium in the US uniform, with people cheering & shouting USA.  It’s very special to be able to represent our country!  There are 55 countries here & 20,000 gymnasts of all ages and in all shapes & sizes.  It took a full 2 hours for everyone to march in!  We circled the stadium giving high fives & waving to the audience – what a thrill!  Then, we sat on the field for the show.  There was a band playing during the whole march-in.  We clapped, marched, & danced to YMCA.  There were huge groups of Swiss gymnasts on the field doing mass warm-up routines.  It was great!!!  Then, the real show began.  Dancers, an amazing drum line, local gymnasts, & jets that flew over in many formations.  What a show!!!!

As everyone left, we ate our sack suppers & waited until things cleared out a little before we headed back home.  We hiked down the hill & caught the number 2 bus in two shifts.  I was on the second bus.  You can imagine my surprise when Ana, Rachel, & Tonya got on our bus at a stop half way home.  Somehow, Rachel & Tonya got off the bus at the wrong stop. Ana got off at the next stop & ran back to rescue them (though they were cool & calm and had a plan to catch the next bus).  Gotta have a little excitement everyday, don’t we?

The day has been well documented – Mark (Danielle’s dad) took almost a thousand pictures just today!  Lindsay had a headache this AM, so she & Robin stayed at the hotel in my room and watched Opening on TV.  They saw Jennifer & Ms. Joey march in!

Bad habits are easy to form here – there’s an ice cream stand right outside the hotel entrance.  Need I say more?

TOMORROW IS OUR FIRST PERFORMANCE!!!!!  We can’t wait!  I’ll let you know if the internet connection is fast enough to post the routine on YouTube.  Get your popcorn ready to watch a great show!

PS – did anybody count how many times I used the word GREAT in this post?