Re the Sochi "digs" - this could get really amusing in the coming days...

[NRaleighLiberal]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/olympics/media-reports-sochiproblems-olympic-village-article-1.1602530

From Sochi, journalists report Winter Olympics woes: poor conditions and ongoing construction

"Don't flush the toilet, don’t drink the water and don’t expect a good night’s sleep.

These are just some of the bizarre problems guests and athletes can expect at Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Winter Olympics in Sochi.

With just days to go before the opening ceremony, the seaside city is a bit of a five-ring circus.

For example, some journalists found this advice in their bathrooms: “Please do not flush toilet paper down the toilet! Put it in the bin provided.”

snip.....

read it all - lots of good tweets and tidbits included!

[FSogol]

1. Anyone who has traveled a lot has come across the "no flushing toilet paper" rule.

Very common in South America. Not every nation/city has a sanitary system capable of handling paper waste.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. Agreed - that is only the tip of the iceberg, though....

[FSogol]

4. I'm not trying to become the guy defending Russia/Putin, since I think

Putin and his policies are vile and that the Olympics shouldn't have been given to Russia, especially Sochi.

However, the stuff we are hearing is typical of construction projects.

In another thread, I wrote:

Every large construction project has these same aspects:

behind schedule
over budget
has a lot of little incomplete items up to 6-24 months after it opens

The reporters showing curtain rods falling down, concrete floors in lobbies, and water pipes that haven't been flushed and disinfected are all things I see every day on projects. Not really shocking.

[Bluenorthwest]

5. 'Come see the show after it closes, it will be much better then'

6 months after the games, the village will be fixed? Will there be a special on NBC when they get the toilets to flush in August?

[canoeist52]

3. Their infrastructure was pretty primitive back in the 70's.

Toilet paper was unavailable - we carried our own - and the plumbing was sketchy. If you went into a public restroom, only a few of the toilets were functioning. I remember sunbathing on the beach at Sochi, and uncomfortably wondering if the towers with machine gunners were there to keep invaders out or to keep Russians from escaping. Or are there sharks in the Black Sea?

[Control-Z]

6. I really feel badly for the athletes.

Their rooms are, well, take a look:

[arikara]

8. Pretty spartan

but maybe these guys are lucky. The hockey players have 3 of those teeny beds to one room.

[Control-Z]

9. I saw a picture of the room with 3 beds.

All these rooms have the feel of a nice prison cell. No TV, desk, or other modern amenities unless you count the flushing toilets, I guess. I can't imagine the athletes performing their best after trying to sleep in these. Well, the American athletes, at least.

[Retrograde]

10. Spacious compared to my college dorm rooms

although we did have desks. What's the beef?

[SoCalDem]

14. I don't see anything wrong with them either

Most of the athletes will not be spending much time in the rooms anyway. They look clean..they have all the necessities, even if they are spartan in appearance.

[arikara]

7. No fishing in the toilet

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/olympics/media-reports-sochiproblems-olympic-village-article-1.1602530

Check out the bathroom etiquette instructions at this link

LO freakin' L!!!

[El_Johns]

11. I find that difficult to believe. What's the last one supposed to be? It doesn't seem to have

anything to do with the toilet. Please don't inject drugs while sprawled on the floor? I can't make it out.

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1602520.1391573044!/img/httpImage/image.jpg

[Egalitarian Thug]

12. Now show us Putin's equivalent of the luxury boxes built for his gangster friends. n/t

[davidpdx]

13. Aside from the toilet paper in the bin

There is no excuse for the water, half done hotels, etc. If you are going to have people pay to stay in a hotel finish the damn thing. It goes to show what a shitty job Russia has done (pun intended).