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| DALIAN DALLIANCE—Mike and Erica Bartolina pause for a moment above a cartoon banner of a pole vaulter at their hotel in Dalian, China. The Hammond residents left their Dalian base Wednesday to head for Beijing and today’s Open Ceremonies for the Summer Olympics. |
(Editor's Note: Hammond resident Erica Bartolina, who is in China with her coach/husband Mike to compete in the Summer Olympics, has been sending email updates as she prepares for the Opening Ceremonies on Thursday and the pole vault competition a week from Friday. Here is her latest dispatch from the People's Republic.)
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DALIAN, China — Greetings from Dalian, China on August 6!
Today is my last full day here at training camp. Tomorrow, I will have a morning workout, then return to the Olympic Village in Beijing in the afternoon.
This has definitely been a great place to prepare and adjust, physically and mentally. The training has been good, although it is obvious that everyone is a little nervous and on edge. I am excited to get settled in the Olympic Village and walk in Opening Ceremonies on Aug. 8.
We went on an outing yesterday to the city center of Dalian, about one hour away. It's a city of about 6 million people, and there were a lot of people and shopping malls in a very compact area. They also have the largest underground shopping market in all of Asia.
As always around here, security was very tight. Every person had a plain clothed policeman trailing us. Each of us also had a student volunteer as our guide and interpreter. Security is at a maximum because they don't want anything to happen to us. It is not dangerous, but to have something happen would be such a disaster that they are doing everything they can to protect us.
The air was beautiful when we arrived on Saturday, but for the last couple days, the "coastal fog" has been so thick that visibility was less than a mile. Today was better; clear, less humid and cooler. Notice the contrast in the pictures.
Anyway, I am hoping I can send this email. You are not getting as many as I intended because the number of emails I can send is limited here. I am not sure why.
Cheers!
Erica
TEAM Erica wrote on Aug 7, 2008 7:37 PM:
Hammond and Tangipahoa Parish is so very proud to have you representing us as well.
Thank you, Daily Star, for your continued coverage of our own Olympic hero! "