Still the Olympics... and Georgia again

The 2008 Beijing Olympics are now officially closed, and the countdown to London 2012 can finally begin. The second week's highlights included the confirmation of Usain Bolt and Jamaica as the king and kingdom of human speed, as two other world records were broken; and a gold medal for Portugal! Nelson Evora, another Benfica's athlete, won the men's triple jump competition and made it possible for the Portuguese national anthem to be played at the Olympics, for the first time in the 21st century. With only two medals won, the Beijing Olympics were a bit disappointing for Portuguese people, but confirmed China as the number one world's superpower in sports; an anticipation of what will soon happen in economical and political terms too. I have to confess that I don't regret seeing the USA and Russia relegated to the second and third positions; neither in the medals' ranking, nor in the other terms... Tomorrow I will fly to Tbilisi; I would have preferred my first visit to Georgia to take place under different circumstances, but I am really looking forward to arriving and start bringing the Youth Forum's support to young people and youth organisations in there. I hesitated a lot before deciding to go there; not only because of obvious safety reasons, but especially because I was not sure of the real usefulness of this visit. The feedback I have been receiving from both friends in the youth organisations' field, and especially from people in Georgia reassured me though: they all seem to be happy about the Youth Forum's action, and looking forward for my arrival too. This is enough for me; if they are happy that I am coming, I will be happy to come. It will be a short, yet intense visit, and I promise to share my impressions afterwards. This will also be my first work-related trip after holidays, and it will mark the beggining of an extremely busy period which will only be over in mid-November. These are good news for this blog's readers though, because I am sure I will have a lot to tell you about. So, please do keep coming for more; I will do my best to make it worthy.