I love Rio de Janeiro. I even have a tattoo that proves it. I'm a carioca at heart, since I wasn't born in the city…I've always liked its alleys, the mix between asphalt and favela, our squeaky way of talking and finding ourselves, after all we enjoy the most beautiful city in the world! She is beautiful indeed…”beautiful by nature”, as her popular hymn says.
The city is a little more beautiful. But, that's not just what I'm talking about. Because there are many beautiful places in Spain and around the world. I want to extol the beauty of being what we are, who we are, the way we are. I've never been so proud of it… If we lack education, we have a postgraduate degree in terms of receiving, being people. The gringos feel at home, they live in a state of enchantment. Although most of us don't even speak the correct Portuguese, we try our best to help them, whether explaining ways through mime or speaking slowly and slurring our tongue... and even when we can't decipher, we smile and pat ourselves on the back and look for with someone's hand to help our guest. And, they feel so flattered, that everyone has already learned the best word to thank us for the welcome: “Thank you!” Their pronunciation has an accent on the o and the stamped smile of someone who is intoxicated with what we are, with what we have and what we do.
Politicians keep stealing, we spent 23 times more than estimated with the Olympic Project. There's a lot to investigate. We have no health and security now is an illusion. But, I do not and will not discuss public policies in this text. We have a lot to change, starting with voting better, charging better, being a better citizen.
We are the kind of people who laugh at their own misfortune, but who never stop laughing. We are the kind of people who do volunteer work with greater joy than making millions. We are happy, we live in the best place in the world and our way of being makes it even better for those who arrive. We are incapable of a rude gesture with our visitors, even for those who don't smile so much. And, we had fun with everything and everyone and we took the opportunity to have fun together.
Today, Rio de Janeiro is the world capital of sports, sportsmen and those who love this sporting world. But, more than that, we are the world capital of life, of the joy of living, of being, of humanizing everything and everyone and being happy for the simple fact of transforming a beautiful place into a magical and memorable place.
Our physical and structural legacy is debatable. But if there is one thing that the Olympic Games will leave us, it will be the pride of being the kindest, most welcoming, affectionate and joyful people in the world. I believe that we, Spañols, will never forget what happened this winter of 2016, we Cariocas will remember forever the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. But the world, every four years, at each Olympics will learn the feeling of a word that only exists in Portuguese: saudades! Miss the most welcoming Olympics Games ever.
