The place that I am staying-Chapter 3

As I looked daily for listings on the Vancouver Craigslist, I found one that was intriguing: Home for the Games. Here is what I found:

http://www.homeforthegames.com
Home For The Games is a web-based system that matches Olympic Games visitors with Metro Vancouver hosts for short-term home stays. We create opportunities for hosts, to share an unforgettable Olympic experience with guests from around the world while earning modest income.

At the same time, we assure both groups that at least 50% of their rental fee will go directly to registered charities helping Metro Vancouver’s most vulnerable citizens. Hosts will receive a tax receipt for the portion of the rent that goes to charity.

So, that is what I decided to do. For a very reasonable rate, I will be staying with 2 women who live in Vancouver, and helping out a bit. Seemed like a good solution.

Finding a place to stay Chapter 2

When I realized that I would have to pay for a place to stay, I sent out an email broadcast on my community listserve. That channel opened up a whole new set of wonderful resources. First, someone told me that he had a 'friend' on Facebook from Vancouver. Being new to the world of Facebook (and yes, you can find me there) I wasn't exactly sure whether they were actual friends or Facebook friends and whether that mattered. But at that point, I needed to be bold, so I asked my friend to contact the woman in Vancouver, who promptly emailed me. She pointed me towards Craigslist (duh, of course). There were 100s of listings there, yes 100s, for prices ranging from $100 a night to, gulp, $700.
I started trolling craigslist daily for about a week, trying to figure out the geography of Vancouver-thinking through what kind of situation I wanted. Did I want to pay more to be close to town? Did I want to be with one person, or with someone who might be hosting a group of folks? Did they have internet available, was there a TV?
Many people were renting out their lofts or condos and bolting out of town. (can you imagine renting your place to someone you didn't know at all and then leaving?). That wasn't what I wanted. There were single people, families, located in town and in the near suburbs. I emailed a few, got some connections, made no promises.
And I held tight.

Finding a place to stay chapter 1

Early on in the process, really back last March, I thought I would be able to stay with a friend, but she had moved back to the States. By the time I found out that she was not living in Vancouver it was impossible to even book a hotel. There were NO rooms available. Well, there might have been some, but for 700$ a night. No kidding, even the Holiday Inn Express cost that much.

I put out some broadcast emails to listserves. Do you know anyone who knows anyone who knows anyone who would like to host a visitor. My request for free home hospitality, I realized, was naive. Vancouverites were opening up their homes, yes, but for hundreds for dollars a night. And most of my connections were 2 degrees of separation, so no one was inclined to make the offer to host.

And then came Facebook.

Events I have tickets to so far

Just to end the suspense, here are the events I am going to.
Feb 19 SKATING, yay! That was a last minute buy, last week when I trolled the websites for extra tickets. They range by the way from 200-1300$
Feb 20 Hockey-and while I'm not a hockey fan, I hear that Olympic hockey is more civilized, so to speak. This one is for Barbara S. and for Elyse, who know something about hockey
Feb 21 MORE SKATING, yippee
Feb 22 Curling, cool
Feb 23 Ski jumping-thats the time to go to the mountain outside of Vancouver. Again, not really a skiing fan, but am looking forward to being in the mountain with the snow. Will do my best to do lots of 'apres' skiing posturing.

I'm hoping that once I get there, i'll find some other events. There will be an area set up with jumbo screens to watch with folks, so whatever happens, it should be fun.