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University of Arizona graduate has London eye

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LONDON– Marissa Feiwus didn’t need a ticket to catch Olympic fever Saturday.

Hours after arriving from Germany, where the University of Arizona graduate works as a paid intern for the federal Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) and an employee of the chaplain’s office of the U.S. Army’s Installation Management Command-Europe in Heidelberg, Germany, she bought a ticket on the London Eye.

While riding the largest Ferris wheel in Europe along the River Thames, she spotted a beach volleyball event underway at a nearby stadium.

“The stadium is packed!” she said. “I would like to go take pictures at the stadiums to show that I was really here.”

Since arriving in Germany in March, she has made weekend trips to Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, France and Spain.

This weekend is like no other. “It’s a once in a lifetime experience being here during the Olympics,” she said. “So far I really like it. It’s very different than Germany because of the hustle and bustle.’’

When Feiwus, 23, of West Caldwell, N.J.,planned her two-day trip, she researched historic places to visit in London as well as Olympic venues. As an avid fan of basketball, gymnastics and swimming, she hoped to purchase tickets to an Olympic event this weekend.

“They had weightlifting for $250, and that was the cheapest thing for while I was here. If I was here for longer, I would try harder to get tickets to an event,” she said.

After traveling all over Europe, this stop in the U.K. was a welcome change for Feiwus.

“Everyone’s speaking English and I’m not used to it. I definitely feel a lot better and more comfortable being here.”

Feiwus plans to meet with friends who live here, including two from the University of Arizona who want to give her a tour of the city.

But they’ll be hard-pressed to show her anything more exciting than what she saw on the London Eye.