CBC's Andrew Chang in Rio: What the media accommodations look like
Journalists have access to a pool, basketball court but who has the time in between all the work demands
Let me show you my home-away-from-home.
It's a little community known as BV2 — short for Barra Village 2.
Journalists from around the world are staying in these apartment-style buildings and there are more buildings spread throughout the four primary Olympic zones in Rio.
As far as amenities go, BV2 has just about everything you'd need: a snack bar, a swimming pool, a small gym, a basketball court, a convenience store and laundry machines.
Not that any of us have time to go for a dip in the pool or shoot hoops. Most of us wake up early and get back late.
What do the accommodations look like?
The furniture is nice, but the front desk is literally just a desk at the front entrance. I'd say half the time there's someone there watching movies on a laptop, but the other half of the time it's empty.
Unlike the main entryway, the hallways are quite dank and dark.
But once you get inside your room, it's well-lit, and again, everything you need is there: a fridge, a sink, a microwave and two desks.
Why two desks? Because all the journalists have roommates. Generally, it's a person from the same media organization as you, so it's another CBC journalist I'm rooming with, albeit one I hadn't met before.
And fortunately, we each have separate bedrooms (one of which is a complete mess, so I'll spare you the photos).
All in all, it's a pretty good setup and photos taken from the right angles can certainly make our accommodations seem resort-like.
But I've also heard my share of unpleasant stories from neighbours: cockroaches crawling in from the drains, roosters crowing at obscene times of day, brown water from taps, and strange, sewage-like smells coming from nowhere in particular.
Speaking of water, one of my colleagues had the misfortune of taking a shower the other day when the drains backed up.
She didn't notice it at first, because there's only a little lip about one-inch high that keeps the water in and wet bathroom floors are normal here.
But when the drain is actually clogged, that spells bad news. Her entire unit flooded.
Needless to say, she and her roommate had to change rooms.
For my part, I've had brown water, strange smells and insects but perhaps mercifully, my biggest problem is the air conditioner.
I don't even have mine plugged in, but the unit from the floor above me drips onto mine.
The dripping water is louder than you might think. It's as though my air conditioner is a giant speaker.
By my second night, I put a towel on top of the AC unit, which deadened the noise. But once the towel is soaked with water, the noise is back again.
Oh well. It's not like we came all the way to Rio to sleep anyway.
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