1) Rio de Janeiro is known for its spectacular beaches from Copacabana to Ipanema and Leblon. But if you are visiting a Carioca (someone from Rio de Janeiro) during the summer (which is their winter), don’t expect to go swimming in the ocean. They say it is too cold and wonder “what all the tourists are doing there” at the beach.

2) During the 2016 Rio Games, there was one guy on Brazilian television that was talking all the time. When I asked Eveline who he was, she said, “He is Globo TV commentator Galvão Bueno, and my friend’s mother wants him to keep quiet too.” She explained he was a bigger-than-life character in Brazil that fashioned himself an expert on everything — including all sports, even though he had never played a game in his life. I learned Bueno has been in media for over 40 years and has the penchant for exaggeration. During the Olympic Closing Ceremonies covered by Globo TV, Bueno would not keep quiet. In fact, he wouldn’t let any of his fellow commentators add anything. They watched him and smiled with deference. I learned later that he was told to “shut up” by a counterpart from the BBC during the final of the 200 meter Butterfly final won by Michael Phelps. He was “talking during the start when everyone is supposed to be quiet” said the BBC Commentator.

3) One of the television commentators on set with Galvão Bueno during the Olympic Closing Ceremonies was Gloria Maria, the first black reporter in Brazil. She has a beautiful smile and presence. In fact, she was the first black anchor to present the 7 o’clock news and the first one to host a show called “Fantastico” about “good news”. “She overcame a lot to become a television commentator,” Eveline said.

4) As a tennis fan, I was thrilled to see that Maria Bueno was given the honor of carrying the flag of Brazil during the Rio 2016 Closing Ceremonies. Maria, a Brazilian tennis player that won 19 grand slam titles in the 1950’s and 1960’s, was a tennis commentator for Globo TV during the Olympics in Rio. It was great to see a tennis legend’s star still shine bright in her native country.

5) Celina Braga, another Globo TV commentator made deep impression on me. With her husky voice, I would have never thought she was a woman. But Eveline told me she was. “I learned all my knowledge about diving from Celina,” Eveline said. “For the highest score, the legs of the diver have to go in first with the smallest splash.” After each dive Celina would describe the event, and then predict the judge’s score — and she was almost always right.

6) During the finals of the Men’s Volleyball when Rio took home the gold medal, Eveline was going crazy after Bernardo Rocha de Rezende known as Bernardinho. He is middle age cute — and one of the most successful coaches in the history of volleyball with more than 30 major titles. He played volleyball from 1979 to 1986 and competed in two Olympics, winning a silver medal in 1984. His son Bruno Rezende was on this gold medal team, having been a double silver medalist of the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008 and London 2012. Bruno is his son from a previous marriage to player Vera Mossa. Since 1999, he has been married to volleyball player Fernanda Venturini. “Bernardinho only dates volleyball players,” said Eveline.

7) Brazil’s Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze won the women’s 49er FX gold medal in sailing – the only sailing medal for Brazil. Grael is the daughter of Torben Grael, one of the most well-known Brazilian sailors who won a total of five Olympic medals including two gold. Torben, who coaches Brazil’s sailing team which also includes his son Marco in the 49er class, is a descendent of the Danes. He was first taken sailing by his grandfather when he was five years old — on the boat used by the silver medal winning 1912 Summer Olympics Danish sailing team. Torben and his brother, Lars Grael — who is also an Olympic medalist ― grew up sailing on the 2016 Rio Olympics venue of Guanabara Bay. Lars was sailing in Brazil’s national championships regatta in 1998 when his right leg was nearly severed by the propeller of a powerboat that had rammed his sailboat. The brothers would have competed together in the Star class at the Rio Olympics — with Lars as Skipper, but the competition was not included at the Olympics. Instead of competing, Torben coached the Brazilian team and Lars was a commentator for Globo TV. Look out for Lar’s son Nicholas at the 2020 Olympics in the 49er class.

8) “The Girl from Ipanema” is one of the world’s most famous songs and an anthem of the Olympics in Rio. It was composed at a bar in Ipanema, now called Garota. The song was inspired by Heloisa Eneida Menezes Paes Pinto (now Helô Pinheiro), a seventeen-year-old girl living on Montenegro Street in Ipanema. She would stroll daily past the Velosa bar café (at the time) — “each day when she walks to the sea.” The song was written by composer Vinicius de Moraes for a musical comedy titled Dirigível (Blimp), which was then a work-in-progress. The original title was “Menina que Passa” (”The Girl Who Passes By”). An English version of the song was made famous by João Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Stan Getz, along with João’s wife, Astrud Gilberto, who sang it. In “Revealed: The Real Girl from Ipanema”, Moraes wrote that the girl from Ipanema was “the paradigm of the young Carioca: a golden teenage girl, a mixture of flower and mermaid, full of light and grace, the sight of whom is also sad, in that she carries with her, on her route to the sea, the feeling of youth that fades, of the beauty that is not ours alone — it is a gift of life in its beautiful and melancholic constant ebb and flow.” The legacy of “The Girl from Ipanema” was acknowledged at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Rio — the Olympic and Paralympic mascots were named Vinicius and Tom after the song’s co-writers by a public vote.

9) During the Olympics there were many sunny and hot days, as well as several days of rain with giant waves at the ocean. I learned that these waves are called Ressaca. And by the way, it is the same word for hangover. Of course there were many of those during the Rio Games. Thank goodness for caipirinhas.

10) Once again, we were watching television and the Globo TV announcers were talking about the concept of Saudade, or remembering with longing. Saudade is a Portuguese word that supposedly does not have a direct translation in another language. It describes remembering something from the past in a way that fills you with pleasure, even bliss — sometimes with a sense that feeling will never return. I will certainly “Saudade” the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Thank you Eveline. Thank you Rio de Janeiro.