A LITTLE SOCHI and a GREAT POLICE BROTHERHOOD

Todays post is a bit long as I am actually off today finally and really wanted to provide a little insight into the last few days.  Please read it all as I believe you will all appreciate it.

Well I have been here since Jan 20 th and I have to say I have seen and met many wonderful people and I have seen the world change before my eyes.  When I left Canada I was excited about the adventure that was presented to me and was so looking forward to the adventure that I believed would change my life and maybe pass on a little of "Dave Swaine".  I came to Sochi Russia to see the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic and to live a childhood dream which was to see the Russia, however I can say after one week I have done a lot more than that.

The land around Sochi Russia is one wonderful seaside to steep and majestic mountains.  When I arrived here I arrived by train from Moscow and I was so excited and I did not have a chance to look up as I was in another world(HAHA).  To those that are using my blog to educate I want to add a little bit of info I gathered from the internet to describe the area.

Orientation

Greater Sochi occupies 105 km along the Black Sea coastline and most of the population is along the coastline, however Sochi does include a large mountain area.  The Greater Sochi area officially includes four administrative area which are Central Sochi District, Lazareveskoye District, Khosta District, and finally the Adler District.

The two area that are a part of the Sochi Olympic are Central Sochi District and Adler District.  Sochi is the main city area and is the most developed and populated part and is about a 1 hour train ride from Olympic Park.  I have travelled to Sochi and it is a beautiful city with European charm with many nice stores, businesses, parks and it also has a waterfront area that has boardwalk that has many unique shops and there was one shop where a few of my friends and I had for a FISH MASSAGE.  During the olympics there are many Live Sites where there is music and events leading up to the games themselves.  

The Adler area is where the 2014 Sochi Olympic games are actually being held and this is the area in which both the area international airport as well as the train station.  When I come here next time I shall remember that when booking train ticket tell them Adler not Sochi train station.  This area has grown greatly due to the olympics as it is this area that contains all the olympic venues.  The Coastal Cluster is about a 15 min bus ride from where we are living in Vesyoloe and the weather is about 10 C and is either overcast or damp as we have only ha one really nice sunny day.   The Mountain Cluster is about 1 hour from Adler by the new train and is referred to as Krasnaya Polyana and is where many of the outdoor events are held as there is snow unlike Veyoloe where I live.  I leave to go to Krasnaya Polyana( Endurance Village) in a light hoody and then sometimes need to add a heavy jacket due to the weather which can change by 10 C when I arrive or leave.  I have added photos on Facebook in an effort to show the contrast in the two areas.

The people of Russia have been wonderful and have done everything that they can do be gracious host to both myself as well as those visiting the 2014 Olympic games.  During my struggles getting orientated in Moscow I spoke to many people that reached out a helping hand and to that I say "thank you".  While here in Sochi I have also met many wonderful and helpful people who have gone out of there way to help the international volunteers feel welcomed.  I know the stereotype is that the people of Russia are cold, however I have seen met many warm hearted people.  The volunteers here are eager to speak to Canadians and I have done my BEST to leave a great impression.  Due to my outgoing personality and my desire to trade pins I have met many people.  

Well I am sure many of you are totally bored and want to do something more with your winter but I really want to tell you all about AN AMAZING SIDE OF MY VISIT LIKE NO OTHER VOLUNTEER.

As many of you know that are reading this blog I am a very proud CANADIAN POLICE OFFICER and am proud of where I have come in my life and at this time would love to say thanks to my wife (JoAnne), my boys (Michael,Trent, Jeff), and to many people with the Durham Regional Police  as without them this trip would not have been possible. 

During my first few days I made my occupation unknown as I did not want to draw any attention to myself`(honestly I am in Russia), however I did bring a number of DRPS and DRPA items to give away later on in my stay aswell as patches to trade if possible.  One day I was travelling through the security checkpoints going up the mountain and I had my wallet in the basket and one of the officers on the desk saw the metal of wallet and asked to view the inside and then they saw my badge and were all quite surprised.  There was a lot of Russian conversation and then a officer approached and we began a conversation through one of my new friends who likes to help translate.  My travels up and down threw the checkpoints are quite interesting now.  I recently gave him a golf shirt as we have seen each other regularly and yesterday he reached inside his winter police jacket and took his shoulder flash from his shirt and gave it to me.  We exchanged numbers and at the end of this blog I will be meeting him as we are both of today.

The next interesting story I want to tell is how I managed to(Kevin and Mark you will love this)  meet the head of the security for the Endurance Village and surrounding ski events.  I usually work on the INFORMATION booth in the village due to the number of english speaking people here, however I was asked to work one of the checkpoints to help out. While there an officer approached and did not have his acrediatation on him and as stated he forgot it and of course I with the help of my translator explained to "Nyet".  He left and game back a few moments later with his ID and pulled out his wallet and explained that if it looks like this they are ok to come in at which time I showed mine badge to him.  Wow that certainly made for interesting conversation as he later stated it was great to know that there was a Canadian officer here.  Serkey and I have met at least four times since and have traded both patches and I have given him some DRPS clothing items.  Last night I was shocked when he came to the EVS headquarters to find me and took of his old CCCP army dog tag with his badge number  attached off his chain and presented it to me.

What a first week  .......thank you everyone....