RIO DE JANEIRO _ We were lost. The bus driver had failed to find his way to Maracana, only the most famous stadium in South America. We circled in the vicinity of Maracana once and then twice and then a Portuguese-speaking rebellion broke out.
It was Friday night, three hours before the start of the opening ceremony. We were wandering six blocks from Maracana when four Brazilian journalists stormed to the front of the standing-room-only bus. Speaking Portuguese, they shouted at the driver. They waved their arms. They demanded we be liberated from the bus.
After several minutes, the defeated driver obeyed. He pulled to the side of the road and opened the doors. I had little idea where I was, but decided to follow the Brazilian insurgents. If I had not escaped through those open doors, I might still be sitting on that bus.
"I am sorry about the driver," one of the Brazilians said as we started our journey by foot. "He is blind."
I'm thinking the Brazilian did not mean the blind statement literally.
A few dozen of us followed the Brazilians on a snaking route to the media entrance, where I talked with friends, all from Colorado, in the gargantuan security line.
Their driver had gotten lost, too. They spent several minutes driving along deserted roads in an impoverished Rio favela.
Rio favelas are known for vibrant music and dance scenes. Rio favelas are not known for their hospitality to international visitors. Three clueless Swedish tourists stopped at a favela last week to take photos. They were briefly abducted at gunpoint.
We were lost, but I'm not complaining. The bus rebellion added a happy jolt to the day. Instead of getting dropped off right by the Maracana entrance, I walked through a vibrant Rio neighborhood, where I saw a loud, happy Christian rally. A man played a trumpet while men and women danced and shouted praises to their savior.
A man stood in the middle of the rally holding a 10-foot sign, red letters on a yellow background.
The man wasn't concerned about the Olympics.
He was concerned about my salvation.
The sign, written in English, read:
With Jesus equals Heaven
Without Jesus equals Hell
