Hey y'all,
It's the halfway point between the Games and by now I've made it to the majority of the pavilions. There's still the zip-line, B.C. House, Irish House, Haida Gwaii House, and the Richmond pavilions to check out, and I plan on doing all of those in the next couple of days.
But tonight was reserved for the Four Hosts First Nations pavilion, which is next to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. You can't miss it -- just like Saskatchewan House, it's inside a giant, inflatable volley ball. Coming from work, I discovered that the quickest route to the pavilion was cut off by Olympic security, so I had to detour through the Plaza of Nations, and I'm really glad I did because it's amazing down there! The entire plaza has been turned into a multicultural bazaar selling souvenirs, clothes, crafts, and lots of food, glorious food! My recommended eats: roasted corn, bubble cake, and tornado fries. Yum! The place was packed with the pre-hockey crowds and the spirit was just pumping.
Weaving my way back around to G.M. Place (oh, sorry, Canada Hockey Place), I walked along congested streets until I hit an empty stairwell leading up to Beatty. By the way, I should mention that along the way, I witnessed three drunk guys peeing against walls, and not hidden, shadowed walls either. Because of this, I have decided to record the number of public-peers I see right here in this blog, starting with this post. I don't really blame them, I hear the washroom situation is pretty bad downtown. A couple of guys at Dominos told me that they tried desperately to bribe the counter staff at MacDonald's into giving them the key to the handicapped washroom because the line for the men's was twenty minutes long. And the moral is: drink responsibly, dear readers.
My timing at the Four Hosts First Nations pavilion was perfect because the line was short and it was the last showing of the night. The pavilion honors the Four Hosts First Nations: Lil’wat, Musqueam, Squamish, and Tseil-Waututhi. Inside, the venue is just like Science World's Omnimax Theatre. A nine-minute movie featuring all the First Nations groups of Canada is projected onto the 360° domed roof. The message that the Four Hosts want everyone to remember is: "We Are Here." After the movie ended, a venue rep, and member of the Squamish community, thanked us all for coming and said that because his people have always passed on the history and knowledge of their culture, it is now our responsibility to spread the message, too. So I'm doing just that! If you haven't gotten a chance to see the pavilion yet, or sadly are not planning to, don't worry; I recorded the movie and have uploaded it here for your enjoyment!
After that, I headed towards Alberta House, which is just another glorified bar, but with country music. On my way home, I stopped by MacDonald's because the current Happy Meal toys are of the Olympic mascots, and bought three of them, one for each mascot. Hey ... they could be worth something one day! At home, I was surprised and ecstatic to find a lovely little Mukmuk stuffy key chain hanging from my light switch. He reminded me: I MUST find the mascots for a photo-op! If you see them around, please let me know. They've been strangely aloof during the games...
Peace out!
-Bonnie
2010 Vancouver Winter Games Counter
Drunks Wall-peeing: 3
Pavilions Visited: 8
Olympic Souvenirs: 9
Olympic Goals Achieved: 1 1/2
It's the halfway point between the Games and by now I've made it to the majority of the pavilions. There's still the zip-line, B.C. House, Irish House, Haida Gwaii House, and the Richmond pavilions to check out, and I plan on doing all of those in the next couple of days.
But tonight was reserved for the Four Hosts First Nations pavilion, which is next to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. You can't miss it -- just like Saskatchewan House, it's inside a giant, inflatable volley ball. Coming from work, I discovered that the quickest route to the pavilion was cut off by Olympic security, so I had to detour through the Plaza of Nations, and I'm really glad I did because it's amazing down there! The entire plaza has been turned into a multicultural bazaar selling souvenirs, clothes, crafts, and lots of food, glorious food! My recommended eats: roasted corn, bubble cake, and tornado fries. Yum! The place was packed with the pre-hockey crowds and the spirit was just pumping. Weaving my way back around to G.M. Place (oh, sorry, Canada Hockey Place), I walked along congested streets until I hit an empty stairwell leading up to Beatty. By the way, I should mention that along the way, I witnessed three drunk guys peeing against walls, and not hidden, shadowed walls either. Because of this, I have decided to record the number of public-peers I see right here in this blog, starting with this post. I don't really blame them, I hear the washroom situation is pretty bad downtown. A couple of guys at Dominos told me that they tried desperately to bribe the counter staff at MacDonald's into giving them the key to the handicapped washroom because the line for the men's was twenty minutes long. And the moral is: drink responsibly, dear readers.
My timing at the Four Hosts First Nations pavilion was perfect because the line was short and it was the last showing of the night. The pavilion honors the Four Hosts First Nations: Lil’wat, Musqueam, Squamish, and Tseil-Waututhi. Inside, the venue is just like Science World's Omnimax Theatre. A nine-minute movie featuring all the First Nations groups of Canada is projected onto the 360° domed roof. The message that the Four Hosts want everyone to remember is: "We Are Here." After the movie ended, a venue rep, and member of the Squamish community, thanked us all for coming and said that because his people have always passed on the history and knowledge of their culture, it is now our responsibility to spread the message, too. So I'm doing just that! If you haven't gotten a chance to see the pavilion yet, or sadly are not planning to, don't worry; I recorded the movie and have uploaded it here for your enjoyment!
After that, I headed towards Alberta House, which is just another glorified bar, but with country music. On my way home, I stopped by MacDonald's because the current Happy Meal toys are of the Olympic mascots, and bought three of them, one for each mascot. Hey ... they could be worth something one day! At home, I was surprised and ecstatic to find a lovely little Mukmuk stuffy key chain hanging from my light switch. He reminded me: I MUST find the mascots for a photo-op! If you see them around, please let me know. They've been strangely aloof during the games...
Peace out!
-Bonnie
2010 Vancouver Winter Games Counter
Drunks Wall-peeing: 3
Pavilions Visited: 8
Olympic Souvenirs: 9
Olympic Goals Achieved: 1 1/2
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