Dear Universe,

Let me first start off by saying thank you.  Thank you for letting me be in London as I finish my journeys and near home.  I can’t think of a better way to end these weeks of travel.  I just love it here.

I arrived ready.  Ready for some Olympic Fever.  Being in Egypt I somehow missed the opening ceremonies—which I normally watch—and missed all the buzz.  So I was ready for London to bombard me with everything Olympics.

I got in the cab at the airport and my driver immediately volunteered this information:  London was dead.  No one was here.  No one was into the Olympics, and that included him.  It was as if he had been waiting for a fare for weeks.

I talked to a few more people.  With my mention of the Olympics I was met with blank stares, shoulders shrugging and a general sense of—Oh what?  The Olympics?  No big deal.

I wasn’t having it.  I was determined to find some Olympic spirit!  The signs were everywhere I looked so I knew I was getting warmer by the minute.

Here’s where today brought me…

1.  Hyde Park:  I sauntered into the gates where humungous screens were set up showcasing various live events.  People were camped out on blankets, enjoying the sun and taking advantage of the food vendors everywhere. And mostly, they were loving the Olympic games.

2.  Moving on from that, I was walking back to my cousins’ place when I spotted… members of Team USA!  I am not sure who they were, but it was obvious by their official Team USA gear that they were a part of the 2012 games.  Hey, even athletes need to sight-see.  (Let’s not forget that I spotted a half dozen members of Team USA in the airport on my layover to Cairo.  So I am getting good at noticing these things).

3.  Finally caught some of the games on T.V.  At the end of a cycling race where Team GB took gold, “Hey Jude” began playing and the crowd went wild.  That’s when I saw Paul McCartney swaying in the front row, singing along to his own song, encouraging the crowd to belt it out with him.  Winning gold and getting serenaded by Sir Paul?  Pretty cool moment if you ask me.

4. Went to eat at a Thai place which ended up being more of a bar.  Inside, patrons clapped, stomped, chanted, hollered, cheered and tweeted as they watched members of Team GB go for gold.  The crowd was on fire.  It was electrifying—especially when Jessica Ennis took first place in the heptathlon.

And that’s just in one day.  I’ll keep on looking for the rest of the games.  Because I think if you look hard enough, you can always find some genuine joy and positive energy.

Cheers,

A