It’s Winter in Rio de Janeiro

and that’s not the most unfitting part of the 2016 summer olympics. Gang violence and Zika lurk in the city’s shadows. An economically conscious opening ceremony defied traditional, extravagant expectations for the occasion. President Roussaff is being tried for impeachment. Police tear gas protestors demanding societal reform directly outside stadiums and 2500 meter-long swimming pools. Athletes in open water events are advised to keep their mouths shut as they swim through polluted, disease-ridden cesspools. But still, it’s the olympic games. We only get to watch every four years, right?

In ten days the world will forget they ever had NBC SportsNetwork, stow away their national flags, and ignore stories about Rio de Janeiro on the news once again. In ten days, Rio will no longer be hosts of the olympic games, but will still be troubled with the issues it chose to briefly ignore. Beyond sunny Copacabana beach and samba dancers on lit city streets, there lies a city in turmoil, a city, facing its worst economic recession, just spent its last pennies on the world’s biggest spectacle.

While its public schools rot, unemployment rates skyrocket, and disease ravage those living in slums, Brazilians will be left behind when the rest of us leave. Warranted protests will be overshadowed by shattered records and breakout stars. Although there has been controversy surrounding each Olympic host nation in the past, I can’t remember one screaming so loudly that it wants out of the public eye.

This is not to say we shouldn’t enjoy the extravaganza we only get to behold every four years. After all, Brazil has gone dry investing in the games so it might as well not be for waste. But while you’re watching Symone Biles stick an impeccable landing off the balance beam and Usain Bolt shave seconds off his own times, watch, too, when the natives take to the streets, and keep watching after the next week and a half. Listen to their grievances, and understand that the issues they face aren’t foreign to most of the nations who marched in the parade. Follow the stories of the refugee athletes as they journey back to war-ridden corners of the Earth, hanging up their jerseys and medals for life vests and canteens.

Rio’s turmoil may also be a symbol of the times we currently face in the United States. Just in time for a contested election, it can show us that the more we bandage structural issues instead of calling for actual reform, the sooner those structures are going to give, causing catastrophic upheavel.

But here we are. Although the torch has been lit and there’s no turning back, there is room for reflection. The Olympics can serve as more than just the world’s greatest sporting event. It can be a wake-up call the human race gets every four years to empathize with faces we don’t see every day, to realize that there’s more to the planet than just our land, and remind us that even in the most trying times, human endurance prevails. In the most hopeless cities lies lessons to be watched by the entire world. After all, we’re already tuned in.