Opening of the Olympics - Rio 2016

An eye-popping show!

Okay! Brazil will host the Olympics in 2016. It would have been news like any other. In fact, Cariocas are so used to big events that they didn't even give much thought to the event that was about to take place. The first impacts on daily life soon appeared, with street closures, construction work and more construction work, which never seemed to end.
Then came the criticism of public spending and the government's priorities and everything else that the whole world has read about in the newspapers.
By leaps and bounds, at the last minute, we found a way, nothing more Brazilian than trusting that God is Brazilian and that everything will fall into place in the end. Yes, it seems that he really is Brazilian.

I had the opportunity to attend the opening of the games, but what do you mean?! I'd never imagined it, the most popular event, so last minute! Then I thought, okay! I'm not doing anything, let's go and see this party up close. I don't know if it was the lack of expectations, but what I saw at that moment was unforgettable and will remain in my memory forever.

On my left side sat an American, and on the other, a Costa Rican couple, both stunned with a smile from ear to ear at what was being presented, being able to witness the Rio I love so much portray itself to the eyes of the whole world and show what it has come for, living up to its reputation as a wonderful city, soon that Rio with so many problems of violence, scandals and corruption, was showing itself to be the darling of the world, the capital of planet earth.

Instead of the mosquito, Santos Dumont's 14 bis flew past, our national pride took off straight from the Maraca lawn towards the city's most beautiful postcards, my eyes filled with tears and I could look at the American next to me with a smile on my face and say, that's our hero, the father of aviation, inventor of many things, including the wristwatch.

That was just one detail of the show, when I heard and sang the national anthem in Maracanã, I could feel perhaps a third of the feeling that an athlete must have when they stand on the podium, I felt part of it. What's more, moments of patriotism and national pride have been rare lately, Brazilians love to talk badly about everything, they're a complex, you know!

There, we didn't turn over any cans, we turned the tables and went on the attack, radiating positive energy, with open arms to the world, following the example of the host. At that moment I was witnessing history, more than that, I was part of it and I can remember what I felt and saw, there are no words to describe it, what I'm trying to do right now is to convey at least a little of what it's like to see an entire nation regain its pride and hope.

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Igor Duarte.