Today was the first
day of competition. I was scheduled to shoot in the afternoon, so after
Breakfast I came back to the room to work on posting my journal and check emails
and Courtney went to the field to help pull arrows and score for the archers
who shot in the morning. I can hear the horns go off on the field that
signal that it is time to shoot and time to pull and score arrows.
After
lunch consisting of chicken and rice once again, I went to the field and got
ready to begin shooting at 1:30. It was very hot today, especially in
the morning. One of the coaches said his thermometer registered 118 on
the field with artificial turf. It was probably about 90 in actuality,
but the artificial turf really turns up the heat. Fortunately, I am
shooting on grass. The afternoon was not quite so hot because it became
overcast, which was a really lucky break.
I
shot my high average for the first round and was very pleased to have beaten
my previous record from
Korea
.
Massimiliano, from
Italy
,
broke Steve Prouse’s record from
Korea
. Massimiliano is a
very good shooter. He beat me by about 80 points.
Incredible! It was great to see because it shows what a visually
impaired archer is capable of. Courtney said he is a very strong and
consistent shooter. Our W1 archer, Jeff Fabry, who shoots with his
teeth broke a record as well. It was kind of fun when they announced
over the whole field that the records had been broken and people clapped
after each announcement. When I found out how badly I had been beat by
Italy
, it
kind of lit a fire in me and I shot much stronger for the second round.
I once again broke my record from
Korea
which made me very
happy. I’m not sure what Massimiliano shot that round, but I know he
beat me for sure. Unfortunately for Ruben, from
Belgium
, he
was not on his game and didn’t do very well. Tomorrow is another day
and I’m feeling pretty good about my shooting, at least as far as records
go.
After
the shooting was over, Massimiliano and his coaches came over and gave hugs
and took pictures. None of them speak much English at all, so it isn’t
easy to communicate. I do know they are from Balonia. Massimiliano
said he had seen my web site and had written to me, but I don’t remember
getting ANYTHING from him. He wanted me to know that he has a web site
too and gave me his information. Ruben and Paul came over as well and
we gave out some pins.
Dinner
tonight was checken and potatoes. The potatos were actually pretty good
and there were steamed vegitables. The chicken was really salty.
Not meaning to sound persnicady, but we’re getting really tired of the same
food every day. Oh, I should mention that the other choice was chicken liver
omelette. Have you heard of anything more
gross? Tomorrow I think I’ll try a
peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. Don’t care if I ever have
chicken and rice again. Beginning to see why Dad didn’t like rice after
the war. Randi brought peanut butter and they bought bread to make
sandwiches for anyone who wants a change of pace.
Another
story about the dining room and the surly servers. We got to the dining
room early this morning for breakfast and everything had been pt out
yet. We sat down at a table to wait and a couple more people
came. One of them started to get a plate to start on something the the
surly server came out and said “no, no, no” quite loudly. She did not
want anyone starting breakfast yet. She marched over to the door and
closed and locked it. We sat inside while the other athletes lined up
outside and nocked on the door for us to let them in. We weren’t even
going to mess with her!
Tomorrow
we follow the same schedule as today for the last two rounds of
qualifiers.
Courtney
is really wiped out. He works really hard all day long. He is longing
for a decent ice cream and a big glass of milk. There is no milk served
here and I think he is going through withdrawals.
Sorry
the photos of the day aren’t very exciting. Courtney has a ot to do and
taking pictures isn’t fitting in very well. Will keep trying. |
