Memories Great and Small

From kayak to track, Barcelona's sparkling Olympics leave various and multihued images projected on the split screen of the mind's eye

In Bhutan arrows whistle through the silent air. Citizens, dressed by law in medieval robes, saunter past buildings, constructed by law in traditional fortress style. There is no television yet in the Hidden Kingdom, and airlines first arrived during the '80s. Last year the country saw scarcely 1,500 tourists (or roughly the same number that pour into Disneyland every hour).

Imagine, then, the sensation for three teenage archers -- half of the third Olympic team ever sent from the Land of the Thunder Dragon -- as they stepped out of their landlocked Himalayan kingdom and into the flashbulb glare of Barcelona's...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!