Syracuse.com - Syracuse graduate at Sochi Olympics: Surprising facts about Olympic Village

[HuntingNY-News]

None of the showers have shower curtains, which makes for interesting showers.

A 2013 graduate of Syracuse University who is pursuing a master's in Information Management, Brittany Legasey is currently working as a volunteer press assistant for the International Olympics Committee at the XXII Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

I asked her to list several things that might surprise folks back in Central New York about the Olympic Village in Sochi.

By Brittany Legasey, contributing writer

Of course, prior to the opening ceremonies there are many things that would surprise people about the Olympic Village.

1). There are actually a number of Olympic Village complexes that house athletes, staff, volunteers and others working here. The athletes are housed in the villages near their competition venues.

2) There is no alcohol allowed within the villages hosting athletes and smoking is restricted to a few select areas. (These rules don't apply to the Volunteer Village 'Omega' where I'm living. There is a market very close to my shared apartment within the village that sells both alcohol and cigarettes.

3). The security is not surprising, but I did have an interesting experience with their rules and regulations. I bought a hookah to send back to the states because they are extremely inexpensive and commonplace. When I first brought it back in its box the security didn't look twice at it.

I tried to send it at a post office not too far from my apartment but found out that the post office was only for domestic mail, so had to return to the village with the hookah which I had taken out of its original box so that I could send it more easily.

Going back through security the security staff had a fit. I couldn't understand much because of the volume and tone they spoke with but I did hear 'narcotika.' Apparently hookahs are prohibited and these security staff thought it was some contraption for narcotic drug use. Ultimately, they let me back into the village with the hookah as Natalya explained that I was sending it to the states. The next day there was a special notice posted that residents are not allowed to smoke hookahs within the residences.

4). None of the showers have shower curtains, which makes for interesting showers. Besides the shower curtain, the bathroom fixtures don't seem to be affixed properly, as our sink which appeared brand new and completely functional started leaking water out of the pipe the other day. We haven't been able to use it and instead need to use the spout in the tub for all things water-related. Since we don't have a shower curtain, the first couple of days the bathroom was a pretty wet place - especially since we weren't provided any bathmats or shower mats. We had to go out and buy one.

5). We have to check the keys to our apartments whenever we leave and the reception office has a tendency of losing the keys. They've lost the key to my apartment three times now and I've been here for a little more than a week. It's somewhat amusing, but when it happens after a 10 hour work day and factoring in the four- hour commute, it's extremely frustrating.

6).There are actually a number of Olympic Village complexes that house athletes, staff, volunteers and others working here. The athletes are housed in the villages near their competition venues.

Is there anything you'd like me to ask Brittany? Send your questions to [email protected].

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog