Rio 2016 Olympics!!! Viva o Brasil!!!

I'd heard something on NPR last night about the disappointment of Chicago's candidacy as host city of the 2016 Summer Olympic games and how politicians and pundits had already been criticizing president Obama because of that, deeming his trip to Copenhagen to defend the candidacy a(nother) failure (this criticism is patently ridiculous in my point of view, but what can we do if now all people do in this country is find any excuse they have to criticize him...). In any case, I knew in the back of my mind that Rio de Janeiro was a candidate, but I had no idea that the decision was going to be made today.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out about Rio's victorious election when my parents arrived from Maryland this evening. They had watched part of the presentation and then the revelation of the winner city live in my aunt's house (they have a Brazilian channel in their satellite TV). I'm writing this post while listening/watching the presentation of the Brazilian candidacy done this morning in Copehagen (here). Non-Brazilians have no idea of what it means to Brazil to host not only the Olympics, but also the World Cup in 2014. It means that our country can finally have more visibility, more consideration from other countries of the world. Brazilians will feel part of something huge, worldwide, not only with a tiny delegation of participants but as proud, welcoming hosts. Moreover, Brazilian people are wonderful, warm, friendly, passionate people -- the slogan of the Rio 2016 campaign is Live your Passion! -- really, I don't say those things only because I'm Brazilian, just make some Brazilian friends or and you'll find out all about it. During the candidacy presentation earlier today they kept saying that there is a "new Brazil" and that the games will help prepare and celebrate this "new" country. Perhaps I should go back, shouldn't I? Well, more on that later.

Here's a beautiful video from the Brazilian Olympic committee about the city of Rio:


The official bid site has a nice video explaining the master plan of the games, but I'm also embbeding it here:


Well, I guess this is enough for now. Viva o Brasil!

ETA: How can I make the YouTube embedded videos the right size?