No doubt the Rio Olympics got a bad reputation for being disorganized before the games had even started, but not a lot of words have been spent on the amiable volunteers of Rio. I’ll be leaving Rio on August 13, leaving the city where I learned and experienced so much. In these two short weeks, I’ve run into a lot of random problems I didn’t even know could become problems. So much media attention has been devoted to revealing them that I’m not even going to bother retelling stories of bad traffic, illogical rules, and no food.
毫無疑問，里約奧運會在開始前就落下了一個組織不力的壞名聲，但時至今日，仍沒有很多言語著筆在里約熱內盧那些親切可愛的志愿者身上。我將在8月13日離開里約熱內盧，離開這個讓我學習并經歷了那么多的城市。過去短短兩個星期里，我隨機地碰到了很多問題，有些我甚至不知道它們可能會出現。在眾多媒體致力于揭露這些問題時，我則想要避開復述那些糟糕的交通，不合邏輯的規則，和食物短缺的故事。

What I’ve really noticed that’s worth discussing is that the volunteers here are so friendly. Something you expect to happen might not work out, but they will cheerfully offer you suggestions. The vast majority of volunteers I’ve met were so eager to help and just happy to chat, even if it’s in broken English. I remember one fencing event I watched was on a rainy night and volunteers were nowhere to be found in the Olympic Park. After scouting around, eyes scanning the raincoats and umbrellas around me, I finally spotted a lady in a yellow volunteer jacket. I ran over.
因為我注意到真正值得討論的是，這里志愿者都那么友好！當有些你認為本應該順利得到的服務，卻無法實現時，他們會暢快地告訴你的確無法提供，并為你提出其他解決方案。絕大多數我遇到的志愿者是如此熱情地幫忙并且樂意同你溝通，即使是用蹩腳的英語。我記得，去看一場擊劍比賽時，是在一個雨夜。那時，奧林匹克公園到處都找不到志愿者。我在周圍尋找一圈，雙眼不停掃視身邊穿雨衣和打雨傘的身影，終于認出一個穿黃色志愿者外套的姑娘后，我立馬跑過去。

“Sorry, do you know where this arena is?” I asked and showed her my ticket. “Oh it’s behind this stadium. You go there and turn left and it’s over there,” she said, pointing out the directions. I squinted in confusion. “Here, I’ll walk you over,” she said with a laugh. Yes, my savior! I thought. I thanked her and we started talking. Her name is Desiree Alves and she’s from Florida. She’s been working by the entrance bars for four days from 4PM to midnight and this was her first day off. Wow, I thought, she finally gets time away from directing people around and she’s still happy to walk me? I couldn’t help but smile.
“不好意思，請問你知道這場擊劍比賽場館在哪兒嗎？”我一邊問一邊給她看了我的票。“哦，在這個體育場后面。你先往那兒走，左轉，然后就在那兒“，她邊說邊指著方向。我迷惑地瞇著眼睛望去。“這樣吧，我帶你走過去。”她笑著說。“好棒，你是我的救星！”我心里默默地想。我謝過她后我們便開始交談。她的名字是西瑞阿爾維斯，來自美國佛羅里達州。她在入口處工作從每天下午4點一直到次日凌晨，已經4天了！這是她第一天休息。哇！我想，在她終于有時間不用四處引導人流時，她還樂意給我帶路嗎？我忍不住微笑。

“I heard that only a small number of the volunteers who signed up actually came,” I said to her, “Is that true?”“I don’t know, but they only gave us our schedule one month in advance,” she shrugged, “A lot of people had problems coming here with their flights. I almost couldn’t come, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that was true.”
“我聽說所有報名的志愿者最終只有一小部分人來了，”我問她，“是真的嗎？”“我不知道，但他們只提前一個月才給到我們時間表，”她無奈地聳聳肩，“很多人因為他們的航班問題都來不了。我差點都來不了，所以如果你說的是真的，我一點不會感到驚訝。”

After standing by the entrance bars every day until midnight, I thought she must be sick of it all. “I love what I’m doing here,” she said to my surprise, “It’s been tiring, but I’m having a good time. The people are the best part.” You have to have some real zest and tolerance to say that. I’m happy she’s enjoying her time here. But I wondered about the disorder everyone’s been talking about. That can’t make the job fun, right? “I think it’s getting better and more organized compared to the beginning,” she said, “If you had asked me where the tennis arena was earlier, I wouldn’t have known. I only found out yesterday from other people.”
在入口處每天下午4點站到凌晨，我覺得她一定要站吐了。“我很喜歡我做的事，”她的回答讓我感到意外，“累雖累，但我玩得很開心。人們才是這里最好的部分。”能說出這話你必須要有真正強烈的興趣和包容吧。我很高興她在這里享受著她的時光。不過，我想知道人人都在議論這里的秩序混亂。這不能使工作變得有趣，對吧？“我覺得情況已經在改善了，相比一開始，現在變得更有秩序，”她說，“如果你早前問我網球賽場在哪里，我也不知道。直到昨天才從其他人口中得知。”

As we parted, I breathe a small, happy sigh of relief. And it’s not because she thinks the organizing is improving. It’s because I realized at the Rio Olympics, I can meet people like her, so willing to help and fun to talk to. I walked toward the fencing arena’s ticket scan. “Fencing?” the lady there asked before I even get to her and I nod, “OK, then you’re in the right place. We’ve been getting a lot of basketball people, but basketball is not here!”
我們道別后，我松了口氣，很開心。不是因為她說的秩序正在改善，而是因為我發現，在里約奧運會上我能遇到像她這樣的人，真心愿意幫助他人且風趣善談的人。我向擊劍館的門票掃描處走去。“看擊劍比賽嗎？”迎面一位小姐在我還沒走到的時候就開始問我，我點點頭，“那就好，你來對了地方！我們這之前來了好多籃球觀眾，但籃球比賽并不在這里！“

She laughed at her own words and let me in. “Have fun!” she shouted behind me. “Thanks!” I shouted back and smiled. At the end of the day, you shouldn’t forget the bright side. It’s hard to deny that the Rio Olympics are not very orderly, but it’s also hard to deny the people’s affability. Without the friendly volunteers and welcoming Brazilians, things could be much worse. While Rio’s missteps often stick out in your memory, don’t forget all the times you talked to smiling volunteers who wanted to help you the best they could. Don’t forget the hospitality of South Americans. When my plane takes off back to Shanghai and I see the lights of Rio de Janeiro blinking, I know it’s the people I met at Rio that I’m really going to miss.
說完，她一邊覺得自己說得很好笑一邊招呼我進去。“玩得開心！”她在我身后喊。“謝啦!”我微笑著大聲回答。一天下來，你不應該忘記光明的一面。很難否認里約奧運會不是很有秩序，但同樣也很難否認人們的友好和親切。如果沒有友好的志愿者和熱情的巴西人民，事情可能會更糟糕。雖然在大家的腦海中里約主辦方的失策時常冒出來，但請不要忘記始終愿意盡最大努力幫助你，保持微笑和你交談的志愿者們。請不要忘記南美人民的熱情好客！當我坐的飛機升空返回上海，我看到下方里約熱內盧的燈光閃爍，我才知道，里約熱內盧那些我遇到的人才會讓我真正地想念。

The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and don't represent views of China Daily website.
本文為讀者投稿稿件，僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。

作者：

Emma Li，SECA重劍劍手，《Around the Rings》實習記者

（編輯：Helen）