Honestly, shit here is coming together so fucking fast, my mind is blown.
There has been nothing but mud the last few days and suddenly, 1 day of sun and there is grass sprouting pretty much everywhere, and FAST.
In regards to the manholes and what not... Yes, there is a ton of construction going on and not too much "safety" stuff around it. That did surprise me. But at the same time, they aren't babying their citizens. If you are dumb enough to fall in to a hole... well...
The highway opened today fully and it's been a mess because no one knows how to get around any more since it's everyones first time using it, but the traffic will settle in a few days.
There are literally many stores popping up daily. It's weird. I'll walk by one day and a spot will be empty, the next day there is an open sign and someone ringing people up at the register.
What I have noticed is that paid employees aren't getting the best treatment. They are sort of getting the shit hostel quality where it's enough for Russian standards, but not what most are used to. The Volunteers have pretty great housing situations and the athletes housing situations are fantastic. The new hotels are lovely as well and the old, well they are same as they were before.
The prices here are quite high. If you know you are coming though, you can expect it. It's just like many places in Europe where a restaurant is significantly more expensive than the grocery store and since the games are going on, the prices are even higher. I think a big mac meal sets you back about $11 right now. I think I paid around $14 for a panini and soda at a cafe the other day.
The airport is lovely and there are signs everywhere in English. There are also volunteers everywhere in English with more showing up by the day. By next week, the International forces will be out and the quality of service will go up with it.
It seems odd how much construction is still happening, but at the same time, they pretty much built an entire city. In the past games, the cities existed and they mainly built out venues. Here they are building everything. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of the environmental stuff and how corrupt everything is, but they have done a TON and are finishing really fast.
There is snow in the mountains. They actually got a lot of snow yesterday. I've been seeing non stop photos as I was in the coastal cluster today, but tomorrow I'll be up in the Mountains and can snap some photos.
Its hard to be optimistic when you read things like that, but that's from a worst case perspective. There will be a lot of different experiences here and hopefully his ends up getting better. It really does sound like a shit situation, but think of it like any job, when you post shit about your work and they find out, they aren't happy. For both parties it's a shit situation.
