The reason that my last post didn’t have any pictures is revealed in this post. 😀

Morning

The party ended in the morning. Walking along the Copacabana beach, we decided to have breakfast and then head to the beach.

The weather was nice and we had all been up all night. Sounded like a great idea. 😀 Until we all fell asleep and I got my bag stolen…

So yes, it did happen. 😀 But luckily, I still did not have anything in there that was much worth stealing, apart from my accreditation card and the pins collected.

But still, the incident kind of bummed me out, but I was happy that my volleyball and shirt (that my team mates wrote on) were in another bag.

A bit later it was time for last hugs and goodbyes and then it was time to go back to the hostel.

Day

When I got back to the hostel, I told my roommates what had happened and then opened my computer. When I opened Facebook I had 2 new messages. From the police.

They told me that they have my bag and that I should go to the 13th precinct.

I was amazed, happy, surprised and still in Rio. As much as I had heard from the media, that never happens here. But once again the media was wrong.

When I got to the police station, I figured out how they found my bag. Apparently, there was a guy in a cafe next to the beach that saw the guy taking my bag. He then followed the robber and saw him taking things out and throwing the bag away. He picked it up and called the police. (They were near, as there is police everywhere in Rio)

It then turned out that they also caught the robber and asked me to identify him. Well… there was a small problem there. 😀 I never saw the guy, but luckily, the guy from the cafe did.

It still took around 2 hours of paperwork and sitting around and a fun thing with sitting around when you haven’t slept all night. You tend to fall asleep….

I believe it was a fun sight for the officer typing in my statement, but they were just taking a long time. 😀

I finally got my bag back. It was a bit lighter than before. 😀

The obvious things were missing: phone, camera and wallet (just cash, no cards). But once again, I prepared for that when coming to Rio. But…

I got back my accreditation and pins! And autographs from the Estonian rowing team. And the entry/exit card to Rio. 😀 So, exactly everything that I would actually have missed.

Evening

Now I was ready to go back to the hostel and sleep. 😀 I got 2 hours of sleep and then it was time to pack. My flight was at 09.00 am.

So, the day didn’t turn out exactly as I thought. The plan was to do some souvenir shopping and go to the Olympic boulevard. That didn’t happen, but I can’t say it wasn’t interesting. Luckily, I had backed up all my pictures from the trip (ofcourse not the last night, so I missed those) and never had much money or stuff with me when going out.

But it was the end of an amazing trip. I learned a lot and figured out that I want to do it again. The people and the moments, everything is unbelievable. The way a volunteer team works opposed to a team that gets paid to do it.

So, my biggest thanks goes to my team at Beach Volleyball. You are amazing and I hope that we keep contact and see eachother soon!