Russian, Russian, Russian coach, Holly, Russian…

The other night we hopped on a very crowded bus #10 from the Athletes’ Village. Not only was it standing-room only when we boarded, more and more people piled on as we got closer to Whistler Village, and we were forced to walk further and further toward the back of the bus to accommodate the other passengers.

The next thing I knew, Holly was seated in the very last row of the bus, squished between the shoulders of a coach and player from Team Russia. I wanted to sneak a picture so badly because the sheepish look on her face was priceless, but I want to practice good etiquette around the athletes and so I refrained. On the same trip, Colleen was bumping elbows with a Norwegian athlete, and I think some Japanese competitors were sitting a bit further up.

The same night, once we got to town, we took pictures with the fake Olympic rings. Later we saw some athletes in red and white track suits climbing up into the rings and posing dramatically for pictures. We were all impressed and excited until one guy and his snowboarded toppled out of the ring and off the platform. There was a collective gasp of concern from the crowd that had gathered, but he got up and seemed unharmed. The two girls stayed in the rings posing a bit more, but the guy didn’t get back in.

The JWU Providence girls in the Olympic Rings