(2 of 2)
In a deeper sense, though, the weathered, down-to-earth city seemed too rooted and too various to be greatly transformed by pervasive Cobi (as the Olympic mascot is called). Barcelona appeared ready to take over the world, and not the other way round. In Seville, when the Olympic torch arrived on its way to the opening ceremonies, crowds flocked into the Plaza de San Francisco to snap up Cobi dolls, key rings and T shirts, and catch a flash of history. In Barcelona, by contrast, life continued as usual. It flows and crests from dawn to dawn here: sunny Sunday mornings watching the albino gorilla in the zoo; early evenings in the stained-glass quiet of Santa Maria del Mar; late, late evenings with thrashing guitars at the penumbral nightclub KGB. Old women dance stately sardanes in front of the cathedral, and men in silk ties ride scooters to the office. Smiling pickpockets filch bank notes from the wallets of sightseers while placing roses in their hair.
In the balmy beach-front Olympic Village, as the teams began arriving, 50 or more Iranians could be seen sitting in rows in dull beige uniforms, like nothing so much as condemned POWS, fending off questions about why their team consisted of 40 men and zero women ("Their records are not strong." "Women are not interested in sports"). On the other side of the room, Enos Mafokate, the lone black member of South Africa's equestrian contingent, was red-eyed with exhaustion and excitement. "For 30 years," he said, "I have dreamed of this. When they told me I was going to the Games, I could not open my mouth for three hours. I could not even move my jaw. This is something I will never forget!"
Around him, other athletes were pounding away at a Super Monaco GP video game, driving through a simulated Monte Carlo, even as the stars of the U.S. basketball team were in the real Monaco, driving the lane. Their performances were eagerly anticipated. Along the main promenade of town, the tree-lined Ramblas, sidewalk artists had already added Magic Johnson's face to the standard repertoire of Marilyn Monroe and Emperor Hirohito, and copies of Magic's biography were piling up next to canine pianists, peep shows and Ecuadorian panpipers.
Meanwhile, more and more newcomers could be seen trying to figure out a city where pijamas are desserts and streets have periods in the middle of their names (Paral.Lel). Journalists were struggling to work out why three different coins were worth a peseta (less than a cent) and whether the regal Placa de Catalunya really was enhanced by an enormous inflatable M & M. More than a half-century ago, Barcelona, the city of seasoned oppositionists, had been all set to hold the "People's Games," to counter the Hitler Olympics of Berlin. But civil war interceded. Now, as fireworks lighted up the sky above the pulsing stadium and competitors consulted Video Tarot screens in the glittering subway stations, prospects all round seemed bright enough to bring a confident smile even to the face of a grizzled old man.