levan - studies in st petersberg where his parents live. he is georgian but went there when he was 12. he has learnt russian from scratch at a difficult age and is also picking up french and english remarkably well. he has a great many friends in st petersberg and is enjoying his course in global economics. after 2 years studying, he hopes to go to britain to do a masters course then come back to georgia to start his own business, following the family line, which he says will help georgia to grow.
he flies back to tbilisi in june every year to visit his extended family, go to the dacha in zugdidi and study in the relaxed environment.
only this time he came home he got trapped. the consul closed in august, he couldnt get a visa and he couldnt leave the country. he tried for 4 months to get back to st pertersberg to continue his schooling of year 2, with no success. his parents advised he stay in tbilisi, that they are planning to return to soon anyway and theywill close up the business in st petersberg. by the time he reaches his final year of university they will be united again.
levan thinks, why not enrol in a similar course in caucasus university, using the credits from the year he already has passed. but he has missed admission deadline. he also cannot get the right documents togetherm to satisfy the university bureaucrats that he shouldnt have to start from year 1. each time the education minister changes, moreover, a new policy on georgian students who studied in russia prewar (there are many thousands) is adopted. levan is falling further and further behind. chances are he will have to start again on another course. and it will be in georgian, not russian, which he has been studying in since he was 12, it will cost more money and his previous work will not count for anything.
I ask levan, are you georgian, or russian or what? he says - I was born in the SSR, thats all I knew. I am tbilisebs, and st petersberg citizen. and shrugs.
how confused would you be in this situation? russia and georgia were so interlinked and still are.... why do politics have to mess so many other things up?
Sunday, 26 April 2009
april protests
unknown cell like structures emerge and take over rustaveli avenue and the other main thoroughfare in some sort of protest, that is getting nowhere. best estimate i can come up with after 2 weeks of protests is that the anti saakashvili camp, the camp that actually desire his immediate resignation and are willing to push it by launching various pranks and troublemaking (civil disobedience, that famous tried and tested strategy- well i suppose it worked for Ghandi, but he was sitting on 100 million or so supporters)outside the parliament and public TV, has a popular appoval rating and body count of somewhere around 1% of the population. not many. certainly not enough to force anyone to resign. hell i wouldnt resign if that many people turned up at my house and my job doesnt pay nearly the same benefits as his. and defintely not enough for a new rose revolution, orange revolution, or in fact even to fill a club called Revolution (aaahh, those heady Reading days)
those in favour of saakashvili, think hes a stand up guy, that he handled himself brilliantly in august (presumably missed the tie eating footage) and that the war was neither his fault nor a bad idea, also confident that saakashvili is the right guy to lead georgia thru reforms and global financial crisis, um... 6% of the population. some could say the silent majority if it 6% vs 2% right?
the rest of georgia, those who are just trying to hold it together with a war not too long ago and a global slowdown bringing untold knock on effects in terms of rising unemployment, crashing foreign direct investment and consumer apathy, who frankly could give a hairy rats arse who took over from saakashvili, or about the opposition because the lot of then are nutjobs, who worry about other things, like health care and a decent education standard for their kids, who want to travel and supra, and have fun, and who though they would all probably like to see misha punished and at least repentant for the decisions made in that heady august time, would also like to see political stability and economic prosperity- 92%. the vats majority of these, professionals, taxi drivers, women who sell sesame seeds, will quite happily wait for the next election, to shift out this guy who flies massage thereapists across the world to stay with him. shift him out democratically, that is.
this is my straw poll- suspect not quite as reliable as CRRCs but its a lot cheaper and is based on a broad cross section of society, mostly the measuring of looks on peoples faces when they walk down the main street (you have to walk you cant drive being that its blocked and all) or watch the tv news.
for me, i think mishas easily going to have enough rope to hang himself on soon enough. who in their right mind would bid for a resignation and coup in a global financial crisis. why not walk in when hes left feet dangling off the stoop, neck broken, and look like the hero. why not? because that would be a logical strategy, and georgian politicians and logic dont much go together.
i work on rustaveli. the street is strewn with litter and starting to stink. soon it will be a public health hazard. idiots.
those in favour of saakashvili, think hes a stand up guy, that he handled himself brilliantly in august (presumably missed the tie eating footage) and that the war was neither his fault nor a bad idea, also confident that saakashvili is the right guy to lead georgia thru reforms and global financial crisis, um... 6% of the population. some could say the silent majority if it 6% vs 2% right?
the rest of georgia, those who are just trying to hold it together with a war not too long ago and a global slowdown bringing untold knock on effects in terms of rising unemployment, crashing foreign direct investment and consumer apathy, who frankly could give a hairy rats arse who took over from saakashvili, or about the opposition because the lot of then are nutjobs, who worry about other things, like health care and a decent education standard for their kids, who want to travel and supra, and have fun, and who though they would all probably like to see misha punished and at least repentant for the decisions made in that heady august time, would also like to see political stability and economic prosperity- 92%. the vats majority of these, professionals, taxi drivers, women who sell sesame seeds, will quite happily wait for the next election, to shift out this guy who flies massage thereapists across the world to stay with him. shift him out democratically, that is.
this is my straw poll- suspect not quite as reliable as CRRCs but its a lot cheaper and is based on a broad cross section of society, mostly the measuring of looks on peoples faces when they walk down the main street (you have to walk you cant drive being that its blocked and all) or watch the tv news.
for me, i think mishas easily going to have enough rope to hang himself on soon enough. who in their right mind would bid for a resignation and coup in a global financial crisis. why not walk in when hes left feet dangling off the stoop, neck broken, and look like the hero. why not? because that would be a logical strategy, and georgian politicians and logic dont much go together.
i work on rustaveli. the street is strewn with litter and starting to stink. soon it will be a public health hazard. idiots.
Sunday, 22 February 2009
Extracts to explain a bit of Caucasus life
from the recent lonely planet guide to caucasus
armenian joke : a boy asks his grandfather why the armenians havent sent a man into space. the grandfather answers, if the armenians sent a cosmonaut into space, the georgians would die of envy, if the georgians die of envy the armenians would die of pleasure. and if the georgians and armenians die, the azeris will be left with all the land.
armenian joke : a boy asks his grandfather why the armenians havent sent a man into space. the grandfather answers, if the armenians sent a cosmonaut into space, the georgians would die of envy, if the georgians die of envy the armenians would die of pleasure. and if the georgians and armenians die, the azeris will be left with all the land.
THE NEWS STORY OF THE YEAR - georgia and russia style
OK so forget what you knew about georgia, forget that serious events, war, drought, energy crisis, unemployment, political instability... all that you thought was going on over here, put aside all those concerns from my previous notes, this is the news story OF THE YEAR. and its hilarious
so as we all know, Russia won last years eurovision. If you dont know what im talking about then you may as well just go look at another blog because this will mean nothing to you. but if you want to ctach up you can google eurovision song contest. i believe also googling, "camp fest costumes and terrible music competition, held in europe, where absence of talent is ridden over by competing political loyalties with amusing results", or simply "terrible international music competition" also will take you there. being as russia won it, it will be held in may 2009 in russia. of course. what fun. what chuckles. what hilarity.
Georgia wanted to boycott the entire competition, due to the rather serious incidents which occurred such a short time ago, in this beautiful, vulnerable, slighly messed up politically, country, which was invaded and paralysed and generally stomped all over by our neighbour to the north. dearest unwelcome neighbour. go home now. yes there are still russian troops in georgia. politically correct terms used in this statement or not.
ok. well as i said georgia intended to boycott the competition. then, similar to the near boycott of the olympics by georgian athletes we had a bit of a rethink, realised that boycotting was unlikely to get us much publicity, surely better to a) win it and do so spitefully or b) make a point of participating in a 'we ave the moral high ground' sorta way.
georgia is not so moral high grounded. but very very very funny. yes thats right georgia has submitted a comedy entry. its called 'dont wanna put in'. a very charming and i think you will agree also clever play on the benevolent russian ex leader -now side kick's name. AND its actually rather good. contrary to the competitions usual pitch. i quite like it. see what you think. very easy to look it up on you tube.... "georgias 2009 eurovision entry"
russia is perhaps understandably rather put out about this. but i would like to point out that it doesnt actually say anything bad about the guy. just implies that he might be unwelcome. as you will know from reading previous blog posts of mine, i hope, georgians are usually incredibly hospitable people. they would usually make anyone welcome in their homes. even the french (hahaha) . they are pathologically hospitable. to the point of violence when you try to leave after just 5 hours of eating and drinking. well, apparently that hospitality has reached its limit. put-in is not welcome. a huge offense, ill admit, by georgian standards, but hardly hate speech. no bad words even hidden between the lines. just a song with a strange title in fact, to anyone but the discerning listener. not unusual for eurovision. this is the competition that brought us katrina and 'the waves' (1997), 'fangad av en stormvind' (1991), 'can i touch you.... there' (not very well thought out name for an international contest, 2007) and my personal favorite 'ding dinge dong '(1975)
so this became my favorite story of the end of last week, was celebrated the entire country over on the printed and tv media, talked about in schoolyards, around supra tables, on marshutkas all over the land, the new tune on everyones lips and discussed on every internet chat site from here to vladivostok. causing fierce arguments between pro russian and pro georgian supporters. to which my favorite friend did his favorite activity of reporting offensive comments on internet chat sites. this soon starting up a roaring political hoo-hah in russia involving just about everyone including the presidential office, pm and the contest organisers. AND if that wasnt enough, the world has picked up on it. today new york times online front page. brilliant.
the coverage of the russian response on civil ge however goes beyond the normal level of hilarity to something entirely new and different. this really is the story of the year. read below....
Putin’s Spokesman Slams Georgia’s Eurovision Song
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 20 Feb.'09 / 18:56
Georgia’s Eurovision 2009 song poking fun at Russia’s PM Vladimir Putin is “hooliganism,” Dmitry Peskov, the Russian PM’s spokesman, said on February 20.
The song called “We don't Wanna Put In” is a play on words with reference to Russian PM’s second name. “If it is really so, we should only regret that the contestants from Georgia instead of concentrating on the art, use such a popular contest in Europe for demonstrating their pseudo-political ambitions, or - simply speaking - their hooliganism,” RIA Novosti news agency quoted Peskov.
Then he added jokingly: “Anyway, I am sure nobody here will sing a song ‘Good bye our sweet Misha’” – verses from an official anthem of Moscow 1980 Olympic Games; Misha was the name of the Moscow Olympic Games mascot.
He also said that he hoped “the Georgian guests of the Moscow Eurovision will perform real beautiful music, which the Georgian people and the Georgian culture are so rich of.”
Although initially members of Stefane & 3G – the band performing the song – made no secret of their entry’s political context, on February 20, Kristine Imedadze, one of the singers in the band strongly denied there was politics or implications to Russia’s PM. The Georgian public broadcaster has also denied politics were involved. Before the selection, the song was advertised by the Georgian television stations as “a protest song.”
I think the spokesman has missed the entire point of eurovision. 'art'.. ?!?!
so as we all know, Russia won last years eurovision. If you dont know what im talking about then you may as well just go look at another blog because this will mean nothing to you. but if you want to ctach up you can google eurovision song contest. i believe also googling, "camp fest costumes and terrible music competition, held in europe, where absence of talent is ridden over by competing political loyalties with amusing results", or simply "terrible international music competition" also will take you there. being as russia won it, it will be held in may 2009 in russia. of course. what fun. what chuckles. what hilarity.
Georgia wanted to boycott the entire competition, due to the rather serious incidents which occurred such a short time ago, in this beautiful, vulnerable, slighly messed up politically, country, which was invaded and paralysed and generally stomped all over by our neighbour to the north. dearest unwelcome neighbour. go home now. yes there are still russian troops in georgia. politically correct terms used in this statement or not.
ok. well as i said georgia intended to boycott the competition. then, similar to the near boycott of the olympics by georgian athletes we had a bit of a rethink, realised that boycotting was unlikely to get us much publicity, surely better to a) win it and do so spitefully or b) make a point of participating in a 'we ave the moral high ground' sorta way.
georgia is not so moral high grounded. but very very very funny. yes thats right georgia has submitted a comedy entry. its called 'dont wanna put in'. a very charming and i think you will agree also clever play on the benevolent russian ex leader -now side kick's name. AND its actually rather good. contrary to the competitions usual pitch. i quite like it. see what you think. very easy to look it up on you tube.... "georgias 2009 eurovision entry"
russia is perhaps understandably rather put out about this. but i would like to point out that it doesnt actually say anything bad about the guy. just implies that he might be unwelcome. as you will know from reading previous blog posts of mine, i hope, georgians are usually incredibly hospitable people. they would usually make anyone welcome in their homes. even the french (hahaha) . they are pathologically hospitable. to the point of violence when you try to leave after just 5 hours of eating and drinking. well, apparently that hospitality has reached its limit. put-in is not welcome. a huge offense, ill admit, by georgian standards, but hardly hate speech. no bad words even hidden between the lines. just a song with a strange title in fact, to anyone but the discerning listener. not unusual for eurovision. this is the competition that brought us katrina and 'the waves' (1997), 'fangad av en stormvind' (1991), 'can i touch you.... there' (not very well thought out name for an international contest, 2007) and my personal favorite 'ding dinge dong '(1975)
so this became my favorite story of the end of last week, was celebrated the entire country over on the printed and tv media, talked about in schoolyards, around supra tables, on marshutkas all over the land, the new tune on everyones lips and discussed on every internet chat site from here to vladivostok. causing fierce arguments between pro russian and pro georgian supporters. to which my favorite friend did his favorite activity of reporting offensive comments on internet chat sites. this soon starting up a roaring political hoo-hah in russia involving just about everyone including the presidential office, pm and the contest organisers. AND if that wasnt enough, the world has picked up on it. today new york times online front page. brilliant.
the coverage of the russian response on civil ge however goes beyond the normal level of hilarity to something entirely new and different. this really is the story of the year. read below....
Putin’s Spokesman Slams Georgia’s Eurovision Song
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 20 Feb.'09 / 18:56
Georgia’s Eurovision 2009 song poking fun at Russia’s PM Vladimir Putin is “hooliganism,” Dmitry Peskov, the Russian PM’s spokesman, said on February 20.
The song called “We don't Wanna Put In” is a play on words with reference to Russian PM’s second name. “If it is really so, we should only regret that the contestants from Georgia instead of concentrating on the art, use such a popular contest in Europe for demonstrating their pseudo-political ambitions, or - simply speaking - their hooliganism,” RIA Novosti news agency quoted Peskov.
Then he added jokingly: “Anyway, I am sure nobody here will sing a song ‘Good bye our sweet Misha’” – verses from an official anthem of Moscow 1980 Olympic Games; Misha was the name of the Moscow Olympic Games mascot.
He also said that he hoped “the Georgian guests of the Moscow Eurovision will perform real beautiful music, which the Georgian people and the Georgian culture are so rich of.”
Although initially members of Stefane & 3G – the band performing the song – made no secret of their entry’s political context, on February 20, Kristine Imedadze, one of the singers in the band strongly denied there was politics or implications to Russia’s PM. The Georgian public broadcaster has also denied politics were involved. Before the selection, the song was advertised by the Georgian television stations as “a protest song.”
I think the spokesman has missed the entire point of eurovision. 'art'.. ?!?!
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
february
so it has been all too nearly a month since i last blogged. how remiss of me.
whats happened to me since then? well i got a new job. im staying in georgia at least for the foreseeable future. Adjusting back to a regular working day and a strict, demanding schedule has been a bit of a leap but i have the most wonderful flexible position, in a great place, with fantastic people. and i dont have to leave my beloved georgia to go home and fight for a job in a global economic crisis, frankly, im over the moon.
in other news on me. ive been trying to learn how to ski. unsuccessfully i might add. its bloomin hard work and it sort of goes against everything that feels normal and natural. by the time i fight through the georgian er... queue (read: disorganised rabble that upsets every british or colonial person) at the lift pass place, again fought and scrummaged my way to the non health and safety compliant lift with incredibly bad management (drunk and smoking) system, then gone up the beautiful but steep slope on the lift, fallen off it at the end (invariably), strapped on my skis and looked down (you cant see the bottom from there) it all seems a very bad idea. gudauri, for anyone visiting georgia, is just beautiful. its only 90 mins or 2 hours away from tbilisi, very much vehicle dependent, and it has a series of 5 lifts (the 5th being above cloud height,er are you mental?!) a couple of bars, few hotels (overpriced) extremely undisciplined well everything, and even the bottom slope is too hard for beginners, but its fantastic to be able to do it in a day trip. and its cheap (by any western standards)
what else. been hashing a lot. hashing is nothing to do with drugs. just to be clear. the hash is a drinking group, with a walking/running problem. basically a bunch of mainly expats gathers at a meeting place (big ben, 2 pm every other sunday) and go to a previously undisclosed location, where you then follow a trail of flour in a circular route, to bring you back to a place where drinking, forfeits, initiations, singing and other malarkeys will take place. its brilliant. so thanks to naomi and kate for finally getting me to go. I 'hared' the hash a few weeks ago- which means you have to discover and plot a route. disaster from minute one until the moment the hashers mounted the steps of the monastery to look at the spectacular view which none of them, not even the locals, had actually managed to find the route up to before. and then it was clear that the effort had been more than compensated for and that it was pretty much just meant to be, which seems to be the case with most of the things that happen to me in this blessed country.
what has happened in georgia? we have a (another) new prime minister. the idps are in a no better situation than they were a few months ago. the country is skirting the global economic crisis by the seats of its communal pants, pressure is on saakashvili to step down or call a new election and the osce is still set to walk in a matter of days. oh and sporadic shootings in various parts of the post (and possibly pre-) conflict zones, kidnapping of a football referee by some ossetians at the weekend, ongoing battles for attention and measly gains among the usual suspects in the region. nothing new here.
finally, as of this evening, we are putting on a show. a pantomine, no less, here in georgia, at the end of november. i will be assistant producing said show, which will be the bane of my life come october if not before, and our esteemed producer may at some point become the director, leaving me to lead production. this may just be the craziest of crazy ideas yet. but as i said, somethings are just apparently meant to be. if im discovering nothing else in this adventure of mine, im discovering faith just in the simple way things turn out. sometimes for good, sometimes for bad. in some fields more than others, the latter appears to be most prominent but i have to hope that some good will follow shortly after all the misadventures. we shall see.
so expect to see some updates, when time and business allow, which feature the pantomine.
whats happened to me since then? well i got a new job. im staying in georgia at least for the foreseeable future. Adjusting back to a regular working day and a strict, demanding schedule has been a bit of a leap but i have the most wonderful flexible position, in a great place, with fantastic people. and i dont have to leave my beloved georgia to go home and fight for a job in a global economic crisis, frankly, im over the moon.
in other news on me. ive been trying to learn how to ski. unsuccessfully i might add. its bloomin hard work and it sort of goes against everything that feels normal and natural. by the time i fight through the georgian er... queue (read: disorganised rabble that upsets every british or colonial person) at the lift pass place, again fought and scrummaged my way to the non health and safety compliant lift with incredibly bad management (drunk and smoking) system, then gone up the beautiful but steep slope on the lift, fallen off it at the end (invariably), strapped on my skis and looked down (you cant see the bottom from there) it all seems a very bad idea. gudauri, for anyone visiting georgia, is just beautiful. its only 90 mins or 2 hours away from tbilisi, very much vehicle dependent, and it has a series of 5 lifts (the 5th being above cloud height,er are you mental?!) a couple of bars, few hotels (overpriced) extremely undisciplined well everything, and even the bottom slope is too hard for beginners, but its fantastic to be able to do it in a day trip. and its cheap (by any western standards)
what else. been hashing a lot. hashing is nothing to do with drugs. just to be clear. the hash is a drinking group, with a walking/running problem. basically a bunch of mainly expats gathers at a meeting place (big ben, 2 pm every other sunday) and go to a previously undisclosed location, where you then follow a trail of flour in a circular route, to bring you back to a place where drinking, forfeits, initiations, singing and other malarkeys will take place. its brilliant. so thanks to naomi and kate for finally getting me to go. I 'hared' the hash a few weeks ago- which means you have to discover and plot a route. disaster from minute one until the moment the hashers mounted the steps of the monastery to look at the spectacular view which none of them, not even the locals, had actually managed to find the route up to before. and then it was clear that the effort had been more than compensated for and that it was pretty much just meant to be, which seems to be the case with most of the things that happen to me in this blessed country.
what has happened in georgia? we have a (another) new prime minister. the idps are in a no better situation than they were a few months ago. the country is skirting the global economic crisis by the seats of its communal pants, pressure is on saakashvili to step down or call a new election and the osce is still set to walk in a matter of days. oh and sporadic shootings in various parts of the post (and possibly pre-) conflict zones, kidnapping of a football referee by some ossetians at the weekend, ongoing battles for attention and measly gains among the usual suspects in the region. nothing new here.
finally, as of this evening, we are putting on a show. a pantomine, no less, here in georgia, at the end of november. i will be assistant producing said show, which will be the bane of my life come october if not before, and our esteemed producer may at some point become the director, leaving me to lead production. this may just be the craziest of crazy ideas yet. but as i said, somethings are just apparently meant to be. if im discovering nothing else in this adventure of mine, im discovering faith just in the simple way things turn out. sometimes for good, sometimes for bad. in some fields more than others, the latter appears to be most prominent but i have to hope that some good will follow shortly after all the misadventures. we shall see.
so expect to see some updates, when time and business allow, which feature the pantomine.
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
more political instability round the corner?
Three Opposition Parties Call for Saakashvili’s Resignation
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 14 Jan.'09 / 11:29
A group of three opposition parties has called on the rest of the opposition groups to join forces and launch protest rallies to demand President Saakashvili’s resignation.
The Conservative Party, the Movement for United Georgia and the Party of People, joined by an individual opposition politician Levan Gachechiladze, a former presidential candidate, issued a statement on January 13, saying that free and fair early parliamentary elections would be impossible under Saakashvili’s presidency.
“Therefore, the only solution is to achieve Saakashvili’s resignation through protest rallies and hold free elections afterwards,” the statement reads.
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 14 Jan.'09 / 11:29
A group of three opposition parties has called on the rest of the opposition groups to join forces and launch protest rallies to demand President Saakashvili’s resignation.
The Conservative Party, the Movement for United Georgia and the Party of People, joined by an individual opposition politician Levan Gachechiladze, a former presidential candidate, issued a statement on January 13, saying that free and fair early parliamentary elections would be impossible under Saakashvili’s presidency.
“Therefore, the only solution is to achieve Saakashvili’s resignation through protest rallies and hold free elections afterwards,” the statement reads.
Saturday, 10 January 2009
singing and sighnaghi
Dan had his housewarming party the other night. He has managed to get hold of a great flat above the baths with an awesome view over the whole city. It was a small gathering, just 7 of us, squeezed into his not excessively large lounge. It was a perfectly nice party, but it became something quite spectacular and unforgettable for an hour or so. This happened when dans neighbours and landlords came to join us. with a coupld of bottles of home brew wine, their spirit and a guitar. The landlord (ossetian), his wife (abkhazetian), and an unclear relation (his sister, her sister, random friend?). The latter had an incredible soulful voice that was unexpected, unprepared, well practised and touching to the soul. I smiled. In fact I beamed, throughout the performance of the megrellian, georgian and finally russian songs.
It was truly beautiful. 10 of us squeezed into one room, singing, clapping, fantastic atmosphere. They came, and then they were gone. like a dream.
Today we took a wee trip to sighnaghi, on marshutka of course (the only way to travel). Snow was pretty thick up there it was much higher altitude than i had thought. Sighnaghi is a town in the region of Kakheti, its very much a tourist project, money has been poured into it to ensure its pretty location is complimented by newly renovated buildings, the old (or not so old) rebuilt city wall, churches and restaurants, museums and all things tourists would like to see in a 'traditional' georgian town. Im sure its incredibly tacky in high season, when its busier, and theres something a little bit disney land about it. But it really was quite beautiful.
There are some things nature preserves even if the rest might be a little false. The majestic caucasus mountains overlooking the impossibly flat kahketi plain, the apparently straight snow line which the snow was glinting off. later a beautiful orange wide beamed sunset accompanied our trip back to tbilisi. ......Regular blog readers will not be surprised to find out it was neither a comfy nor a comfortably warm 90 minute journey back to the city. keeley if you see this, you will be aghast at the very idea of me travelling to sighnaghi on marshutka, let alone travelling back in the dark, in sub zero temperatures. Every time the thing stopped i had a reoccuring nightmare vision that we were sliding out of control across the ice. Maybe we were. Didnt open my eyes to check. Thank god for beer, so i slept. otherwise i would have been a lot more freaked out by the driving than i was.
It was truly beautiful. 10 of us squeezed into one room, singing, clapping, fantastic atmosphere. They came, and then they were gone. like a dream.
Today we took a wee trip to sighnaghi, on marshutka of course (the only way to travel). Snow was pretty thick up there it was much higher altitude than i had thought. Sighnaghi is a town in the region of Kakheti, its very much a tourist project, money has been poured into it to ensure its pretty location is complimented by newly renovated buildings, the old (or not so old) rebuilt city wall, churches and restaurants, museums and all things tourists would like to see in a 'traditional' georgian town. Im sure its incredibly tacky in high season, when its busier, and theres something a little bit disney land about it. But it really was quite beautiful.
There are some things nature preserves even if the rest might be a little false. The majestic caucasus mountains overlooking the impossibly flat kahketi plain, the apparently straight snow line which the snow was glinting off. later a beautiful orange wide beamed sunset accompanied our trip back to tbilisi. ......Regular blog readers will not be surprised to find out it was neither a comfy nor a comfortably warm 90 minute journey back to the city. keeley if you see this, you will be aghast at the very idea of me travelling to sighnaghi on marshutka, let alone travelling back in the dark, in sub zero temperatures. Every time the thing stopped i had a reoccuring nightmare vision that we were sliding out of control across the ice. Maybe we were. Didnt open my eyes to check. Thank god for beer, so i slept. otherwise i would have been a lot more freaked out by the driving than i was.
Friday, 9 January 2009
gas games
Putin: Russia Delivering Gas to Georgia Despite Political Problems
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 9 Jan.'09 / 11:49
Despite political problems with Georgia, Russia is still delivering gas there, Russia's Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, told journalists on January 8 while speaking about gas row with Ukraine.
“I want to draw your attention that we are still delivering gas to Georgia, regardless of political problems with that country. And Georgia – we have to note this with compliment to our relevant partners in Georgia – has informed us recently that it was ready to resume gas supply to South Ossetia. We are not linking political problems with the economic ones.
Meanwhile, Georgian Energy Minister, Alexandre Khetaguri, said in response that Georgia was not receiving gas from Russia.
“We are now fully receiving gas from Azerbaijan's various sources, including from Shah-Deniz and from [Azeri state company] SOCAR
Who put the eejit in charge of energy then? erm... yes georgia does get gas from russia, and oil, the russians control the infrastructure too- AND gas is currently affordable in georgia. the tv does not always tell the truth and also santa claus may not exist either. hate to burst the bubble but there you are.
opening scene- russia finds itself in charge of all the gas in the world. scene two- russia invades georgia after georgia tries to disobey russia. scene three- russia is using, on a grand scale, gas as the new political weapon of choice, scene 4 its a cold winter, snow in the wind which dashes around the georgian churches- cut to : the georgian ministry of energy appearing to think he can fight the big boys, which he cant--- if no more gas comes from russia to bulgaria, germany, czech- do we think they might start getting it from socar and pay a fair bit more than georgians can? er... yes we do.
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 9 Jan.'09 / 11:49
Despite political problems with Georgia, Russia is still delivering gas there, Russia's Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, told journalists on January 8 while speaking about gas row with Ukraine.
“I want to draw your attention that we are still delivering gas to Georgia, regardless of political problems with that country. And Georgia – we have to note this with compliment to our relevant partners in Georgia – has informed us recently that it was ready to resume gas supply to South Ossetia. We are not linking political problems with the economic ones.
Meanwhile, Georgian Energy Minister, Alexandre Khetaguri, said in response that Georgia was not receiving gas from Russia.
“We are now fully receiving gas from Azerbaijan's various sources, including from Shah-Deniz and from [Azeri state company] SOCAR
Who put the eejit in charge of energy then? erm... yes georgia does get gas from russia, and oil, the russians control the infrastructure too- AND gas is currently affordable in georgia. the tv does not always tell the truth and also santa claus may not exist either. hate to burst the bubble but there you are.
opening scene- russia finds itself in charge of all the gas in the world. scene two- russia invades georgia after georgia tries to disobey russia. scene three- russia is using, on a grand scale, gas as the new political weapon of choice, scene 4 its a cold winter, snow in the wind which dashes around the georgian churches- cut to : the georgian ministry of energy appearing to think he can fight the big boys, which he cant--- if no more gas comes from russia to bulgaria, germany, czech- do we think they might start getting it from socar and pay a fair bit more than georgians can? er... yes we do.
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
voices of freedom- going off air
RFERL - radio free europe- radio liberty, and the voice of america, were broadcast in the soviet union to spread propaganda messages on behalf of the 'free world'. The soviets would actively jam the broadcasts. RFERL is funded by US congress and broadcasts in 20 countries - as you see, like NATO, RFE has outlasted the cold war. since 1989 these radio frequencies have been home to independent (or at least alternative) news stories. It would be a bad thing if europe and asia were to lose these broadcasts in supposedly free-er times.
Russia doesnt have to jam the airways, just pressure companies who legally broadcast it, to take it off. Arrest them if necessary. Charge them with corruption, following the Yukos pattern. This is exactly what has happened and broadcasting rferl is looking like an increasingly risky business. but Russia isnt the worst offender- Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have outright banned the radio broadcasts- Baku did it in December. This adds to Belarus, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan- and the Kyrgyz also banned it temporarily in the autumn.
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOL/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=303&NrSection=1&NrArticle=20281
I know those who live in glass houses shouldnt throw stones, but... I have a feeling some countries mentioned in the article should to be going a few steps down in the press freedom index.
Russia doesnt have to jam the airways, just pressure companies who legally broadcast it, to take it off. Arrest them if necessary. Charge them with corruption, following the Yukos pattern. This is exactly what has happened and broadcasting rferl is looking like an increasingly risky business. but Russia isnt the worst offender- Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have outright banned the radio broadcasts- Baku did it in December. This adds to Belarus, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan- and the Kyrgyz also banned it temporarily in the autumn.
http://www.tol.cz/look/TOL/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrIssue=303&NrSection=1&NrArticle=20281
I know those who live in glass houses shouldnt throw stones, but... I have a feeling some countries mentioned in the article should to be going a few steps down in the press freedom index.
asking questions about gas supplies
Putin Briefed over Gas Supplies to Georgia
............HOW LONG BEFORE GAZPROM TURNS OFF SUPPLIES TO Tbilisi? .... and remember, that Russian interests own not just 60% of georgian energy supplies, but also over 90% of the delivery infrastructure -since Misha helpfully privatised it. I ask this question with my gas heater on in the lounge, its pretty nippy this orthodox christmas day.
| Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 6 Jan.'09 / 11:06 | |  |  |
Gazprom chief executive, Alexei Miller, told Russian PM, Vladimir Putin, at a meeting on January 5, that the company had “just learnt that Georgia is prepared to resume gas supplies to South Ossetia.”
Russia has accused Tbilisi of cutting gas to the breakaway region following the August war. Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, said while addressing the OSCE ministerial council on December 5 that the Tbilisi’s move was “inhuman.”
Georgia says that gas supply was suspended as the Agara-Tskhinvali pipeline was damaged during the military actions in August.
During the meeting with Gazprom chief executive, during which mainly gas dispute with Ukraine was discussed, PM Putin also asked Alexei Miller to brief him about gas supply to Georgia.
“How are we working with the Georgian partners?” he asked the Gazprom chief executive in remarks aired by the Russian television stations. “At present it's a normal working mode,” Miller responded.
“In other words, you do supply gas to Georgia?.. I understand that in general, the entire volume contracted by Georgia is being delivered to the republic,” Putin asked. “Yes,” Miller responded.
CONTRAST THIS WITH :-
Five months after sending Russian tanks into Georgia, Vladimir Putin has turned his sights to another pesky democratic neighbor, Ukraine. His weapon of choice this time is natural gas.
Mr. Putin, who has no formal oversight role at Gazprom, nonetheless ordered a 15% cut in gas deliveries to Ukraine on New Year's Day, amid a contractual dispute over prices. Russia used the same crude pressure tactic in January 2006, when Gazprom first cut supplies and destroyed its once stellar reputation for reliability.
But the impact down the line on Europe, which gets a fifth of all its gas through Ukraine, appears more pronounced than three years ago. Amid freezing winter temperatures, six European countries yesterday reported a halt in gas supplies while five others saw significant reductions. Tens of thousands of people were left without heat, including two mid-sized cities in Bulgaria.
Moscow learned from 2006 and launched a propaganda blitzkrieg in the run-up to this winter war. A lobbying firm in Brussels was hired to reassure Continentals about the security of their supplies -- at least until yesterday -- and pin the blame on Ukraine's refusal to pay a "market price" for natural gas and keep up payments. The Russians even created a Web site -- www.gazpromukrainefacts.com -- that yesterday noted that, "Ukraine is responsible for everything that has happened."
Atop a new Russia determined to rebuild its old empire, Mr. Putin decided to go for the jugular with Ukraine -- cutting off the gas, in the middle of winter, just before the Orthodox Christmas.
The Kremlin's goals in Ukraine are transparent. Kiev's support for Georgia in the August war, and its ambitions to join the EU and NATO, is a thorn in the bear's paw. In Europe, Russia wants to reassert itself as the dominant power in the east, feared if not respected. Germany's establishment is all too happy to kowtow and urge the EU to do the same, at Ukraine's expense. The EU spokesman this week could have been reading from Gazprom talking points, saying that the block believes this is a "commercial dispute [that] has to be solved by the two parties."
............HOW LONG BEFORE GAZPROM TURNS OFF SUPPLIES TO Tbilisi? .... and remember, that Russian interests own not just 60% of georgian energy supplies, but also over 90% of the delivery infrastructure -since Misha helpfully privatised it. I ask this question with my gas heater on in the lounge, its pretty nippy this orthodox christmas day.
Sunday, 4 January 2009
from exploited to exploited - makin a day of it
From exploited to exploited, is how a friend described my day yesterday. i felt that it was rather apt. After all, i began the day touring IDP centres in Tbilisi suburbs, visiting children on a rented blue marshutka with misha, the santa-costumed armenian, and our band of helpful elves, delivering toys, sweets, silly music, balloons fireworks and even sillier dancing. Was a nice day, we made a few people smile. It was exhausting, being so enthusiastically happy, totally out of character for me of course but it was nice to see some small people laughing, and to hear them singing.
This one child, i found it impressive but was since told its not so much of a big deal, was about 5, he sang us a song entirely in english. he lives in Uznadze, in a centre with 12 other families, an abandoned school building in a construction area very close to my office. its remarkable to me because a child who has no home, has probably never had regular schooling and has parents and grandparents who cannot speak a word of english, has learnt how to say hello, how are you, my name is goga and all of that, plus sing a fairly tuneful song about flowers.
We visited the place, up in varketili, that had got me so upset when we were giving out emergency aid in september. regular blog readers will remember this place, with the floor of drying out stale bread, no windows or doors and all the balshoebi (children) crowded into 7 cots in a tiny room. Im glad to say that there was windows and walls now, more beds, blankets and stoves. It wasnt clear how much of it they had done themselves but i know my organisation, plus rebecca and her crew at the hangar bar, plus a few favours we brought in with igos, must have taken care of a fair bit of it.
In fact i was pleased to see everywhere we went was better insulated than previously, had windows, stoves and other such luxuries. Depressingly enough the same people were still there, i recognised many of them. The expressions were the same, the same resignation and depression, intermixed with hopeful desperation. the elderly women were there, very few men around and most of the children had been moved or were visiting relatives for the holidays. those that were there were all incredibly grateful to see us, joined in the dancing round to jingle bells, posed for photos and generally had a good time. we asked each to sing a song or say a prayer, or ask what they wanted from santa. sad thing is, and my georgian isnt great but i get a bit, most said they wanted to go back to their villages, they wanted (other) children to be happy and they wanted peace. out of the mouths of babes....
not a bad day, exploitation-wise you might think? well the reason my friend commented on it being a day of exploited to exploited was that my day began with these kids, exploited by all sides for political gain, and ended with strippers and prostitutes, at a bar we visited much later in the evening- but thats a whole other story.
This one child, i found it impressive but was since told its not so much of a big deal, was about 5, he sang us a song entirely in english. he lives in Uznadze, in a centre with 12 other families, an abandoned school building in a construction area very close to my office. its remarkable to me because a child who has no home, has probably never had regular schooling and has parents and grandparents who cannot speak a word of english, has learnt how to say hello, how are you, my name is goga and all of that, plus sing a fairly tuneful song about flowers.
We visited the place, up in varketili, that had got me so upset when we were giving out emergency aid in september. regular blog readers will remember this place, with the floor of drying out stale bread, no windows or doors and all the balshoebi (children) crowded into 7 cots in a tiny room. Im glad to say that there was windows and walls now, more beds, blankets and stoves. It wasnt clear how much of it they had done themselves but i know my organisation, plus rebecca and her crew at the hangar bar, plus a few favours we brought in with igos, must have taken care of a fair bit of it.
In fact i was pleased to see everywhere we went was better insulated than previously, had windows, stoves and other such luxuries. Depressingly enough the same people were still there, i recognised many of them. The expressions were the same, the same resignation and depression, intermixed with hopeful desperation. the elderly women were there, very few men around and most of the children had been moved or were visiting relatives for the holidays. those that were there were all incredibly grateful to see us, joined in the dancing round to jingle bells, posed for photos and generally had a good time. we asked each to sing a song or say a prayer, or ask what they wanted from santa. sad thing is, and my georgian isnt great but i get a bit, most said they wanted to go back to their villages, they wanted (other) children to be happy and they wanted peace. out of the mouths of babes....
not a bad day, exploitation-wise you might think? well the reason my friend commented on it being a day of exploited to exploited was that my day began with these kids, exploited by all sides for political gain, and ended with strippers and prostitutes, at a bar we visited much later in the evening- but thats a whole other story.
press opinion has truly turned- RFERL 4 Jan
From RFERL today-
'Disaster' Coming?
The global financial crisis has compounded the damage inflicted on the Georgian economy by the August war. Projected GDP growth for 2009 is just 2.5 percent, compared with 12.5 percent in 2007 and 8.5 percent for the first six months of 2008. The Georgian currency, the lari, has lost 14 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar since September.
Saakashvili acknowledged on December 11 that Georgia will face economic "difficulties" in 2009, but he affirmed that they will not be of a magnitude comparable to the "disaster" of the early 1990s. Former Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli, however, has challenged that argument, predicting on December 26 that failure to correct the government's monetary policy will result in a further depreciation of the lari.
In what appears to be a belated response to Western criticisms of the sluggish pace of democratization, Saakashvili submitted to parliament in mid-December proposed constitutional amendments that will marginally increase the powers of the legislature at the expense of the president.
But successive cabinet reshuffles have left unscathed powerful Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili, whom Subari has implicitly accused of presiding over a death squad that operates outside the law. And Bacho Akhalaya, a Merabishvili protege who is believed to have provoked a prison riot in March 2006 by his sadistic treatment of prison inmates, has been promoted to deputy defense minister.
In other respects too, Saakashvili seems to be living in a fantasy world. "The New York Times" on December 31 quoted him as saying that the Georgian people still support him. The weekly "Kviris palitra," by contrast, reported on December 22 that 24 percent of a total of 395 respondents it recently polled are "angry" with Saakashvili.
And on December 23, Saakashvili assured the Georgian population that the country is on the road to recovery, and that Abkhazia and South Ossetia will "be liberated far sooner than people think."
In 2003 Saakashvili was the blue eyed boy, the democrat hero, the anti fascist, the clean politician, the popular revolutionist, and our hope for the future of the post soviet space. Is it true that that the higher you climb, the harder you fall?
'Disaster' Coming?
The global financial crisis has compounded the damage inflicted on the Georgian economy by the August war. Projected GDP growth for 2009 is just 2.5 percent, compared with 12.5 percent in 2007 and 8.5 percent for the first six months of 2008. The Georgian currency, the lari, has lost 14 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar since September.
Saakashvili acknowledged on December 11 that Georgia will face economic "difficulties" in 2009, but he affirmed that they will not be of a magnitude comparable to the "disaster" of the early 1990s. Former Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli, however, has challenged that argument, predicting on December 26 that failure to correct the government's monetary policy will result in a further depreciation of the lari.
In what appears to be a belated response to Western criticisms of the sluggish pace of democratization, Saakashvili submitted to parliament in mid-December proposed constitutional amendments that will marginally increase the powers of the legislature at the expense of the president.
But successive cabinet reshuffles have left unscathed powerful Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili, whom Subari has implicitly accused of presiding over a death squad that operates outside the law. And Bacho Akhalaya, a Merabishvili protege who is believed to have provoked a prison riot in March 2006 by his sadistic treatment of prison inmates, has been promoted to deputy defense minister.
In other respects too, Saakashvili seems to be living in a fantasy world. "The New York Times" on December 31 quoted him as saying that the Georgian people still support him. The weekly "Kviris palitra," by contrast, reported on December 22 that 24 percent of a total of 395 respondents it recently polled are "angry" with Saakashvili.
And on December 23, Saakashvili assured the Georgian population that the country is on the road to recovery, and that Abkhazia and South Ossetia will "be liberated far sooner than people think."
In 2003 Saakashvili was the blue eyed boy, the democrat hero, the anti fascist, the clean politician, the popular revolutionist, and our hope for the future of the post soviet space. Is it true that that the higher you climb, the harder you fall?
Monday, 22 December 2008
the eternal optimism
at this festive time of year, and at a time when a lot of people are probably neither feeling particularly festive, nor optimistic about the prospects for 2009 (director of uk high street brands woolworths, whittards, also the owner of ford, toyota, former formula 1 drivers for honda... everyone in iceland or japan.... the list is long) i thought i should share with the world a very special thing. its the eternal optimism of the georgian taxi driver.
a) there are far far more taxis pootling around tbilisi than could be filled by demand. they work every minute of the day, great for us expats with a penchant for late nights, the only time ive actually seen a shortage was when a foot of snow fell in a few hours the other night and lots of people were stuck out. in that case the only taxi cars that could make their journeys were the better built mercedes or something with suspension. so most taxis had to give up and accept that pehaps their 1981 soviet model was not going to get up the snow covered hills. because of this general oversupply, all of the taxi drivers have to hold onto the eternal optimism that they will pick up enough fares to cover their expenses.
the second thing is that there is no license system for taxi drivers, so anyone can put up a handwritten sign in the windscreen and begin collecting fares. sound dangerous? luckily tbilisi is pretty safe, for the moment. this means that should you be a guy in a car driving to varketili from saburtalo (across the city), sure why not put up a sign and pick up some cash on route. the optimism belongs to everyone with access to a car.
the third aspect of their optimism, is their eternal unshakeable and incomprehensible belief that a foreign woman who gets into their car will want to be with them, or their son. the son offer rests on the assumption that as a lone foreign woman you must, if unmarried, be in want of a husband. also that georgian husbands are the best husbands. and that as a 20something year old woman, anyone in the age 20-40 must be attractive for you. also the wrongful assumption that you would make a good daughter in law. they say, "ah, you must meet my son, he knows better english than me, he wants a wife, you should marry him, look..." a photograph will get thrust at you or this unknowing young man, the ubiquitous dark eyebrow(s) and dark hair, name giorgi, irakli or dato is almost certain.
however the more offensive optimism, luckily that not directly expressed by all taxi drivers, is that you, as a 20-something year old foreign woman, no doubt brought into his taxi by fate, luck, or by their faithful prayers to god, would be interested in having a romantic affair with an overweight, 50 or 60 something year old taxi driver, who smokes, smells perhaps, and again, just to remind you, im a well educated, not unnatractive woman from britain, and yes i would want to marry someone who drives a taxi in the middle of the night, is married with 5 children, is a mysogynist fat old man and doesnt speak a word of english. this leads to the occasional letching stare, offers of taking you for a drive in the countryside (at 4am), the occasional frightening offer directed towards their trousers and zipper, giving you their phone number, accepting the fake one you give them with naive glee, and every other offer of entertainment which asks you to abandon the destination to which you were originally heading to and required a taxi for, in order to head with him to dinner, drinks, tea....
this eternal optimism, should be admired the world over.
a) there are far far more taxis pootling around tbilisi than could be filled by demand. they work every minute of the day, great for us expats with a penchant for late nights, the only time ive actually seen a shortage was when a foot of snow fell in a few hours the other night and lots of people were stuck out. in that case the only taxi cars that could make their journeys were the better built mercedes or something with suspension. so most taxis had to give up and accept that pehaps their 1981 soviet model was not going to get up the snow covered hills. because of this general oversupply, all of the taxi drivers have to hold onto the eternal optimism that they will pick up enough fares to cover their expenses.
the second thing is that there is no license system for taxi drivers, so anyone can put up a handwritten sign in the windscreen and begin collecting fares. sound dangerous? luckily tbilisi is pretty safe, for the moment. this means that should you be a guy in a car driving to varketili from saburtalo (across the city), sure why not put up a sign and pick up some cash on route. the optimism belongs to everyone with access to a car.
the third aspect of their optimism, is their eternal unshakeable and incomprehensible belief that a foreign woman who gets into their car will want to be with them, or their son. the son offer rests on the assumption that as a lone foreign woman you must, if unmarried, be in want of a husband. also that georgian husbands are the best husbands. and that as a 20something year old woman, anyone in the age 20-40 must be attractive for you. also the wrongful assumption that you would make a good daughter in law. they say, "ah, you must meet my son, he knows better english than me, he wants a wife, you should marry him, look..." a photograph will get thrust at you or this unknowing young man, the ubiquitous dark eyebrow(s) and dark hair, name giorgi, irakli or dato is almost certain.
however the more offensive optimism, luckily that not directly expressed by all taxi drivers, is that you, as a 20-something year old foreign woman, no doubt brought into his taxi by fate, luck, or by their faithful prayers to god, would be interested in having a romantic affair with an overweight, 50 or 60 something year old taxi driver, who smokes, smells perhaps, and again, just to remind you, im a well educated, not unnatractive woman from britain, and yes i would want to marry someone who drives a taxi in the middle of the night, is married with 5 children, is a mysogynist fat old man and doesnt speak a word of english. this leads to the occasional letching stare, offers of taking you for a drive in the countryside (at 4am), the occasional frightening offer directed towards their trousers and zipper, giving you their phone number, accepting the fake one you give them with naive glee, and every other offer of entertainment which asks you to abandon the destination to which you were originally heading to and required a taxi for, in order to head with him to dinner, drinks, tea....
this eternal optimism, should be admired the world over.
Thursday, 18 December 2008
ho ho ho
My christmas card is a video. check it out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1lODoHeAdk
Have a very merry christmas and, i hope, a peaceful new year
Sian
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1lODoHeAdk
Have a very merry christmas and, i hope, a peaceful new year
Sian
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Mid december
Its been a while since ive blogged. Partly thats because ive just been having a lot of fun, far too much to spend long staring at a computer. partly because ive scaled back my activities aimed at supporting IDPs and my work has taken a very definite down turn as a consequence. partly because things that have been happening wouldnt be that interesting for anyone to read.
But Tbilisi saw its first snow yesterday. after an extraordinarily mild winter so far it felt like this might be an appropriate time to send some thoughts out to the world.
Tbilisi is a place full of loved up couples, at any time of year. not unusual, you might think, for a big city. and maybe i just notice it more because im not in love.... but in georgia the situation is a little special, because theyre on the street far more than in other places. this is because almost every young person lives at home. when they get married, if they are a girl, they will move into her new husbands house with his parents. men stay at home indefinitely, women stay until someone marries them. there are some glimmers of modernisation here in this field, you occasionally meet a woman who has moved out and is therefore known as being modern (code for she is not the virginal type, a state from which, rather obviously, it is impossible to return). some men are affluent enough to have their own places. it is a matter of culture and practicality, as its a fairly pricey city.
the implication of this, added to the no sex before marriage general rule that the vast majority of women have to comply with (although there are innovative ways and means of getting round it) is that men and women dont date here in the same way they do in the uk. it is not the done thing that a date could take place in an enclosed space, such as your home. because if it did you would have to encounter your or their parents. noone goes round for dinner, or to watch a film, especially if they are young and their parents will usually disapprove anyway. parents might give permission for a woman to go out with a man on a walk, if it is agreed that a chaperone will accompany them. so we often see 'couples plus one', which is a common three person walking arrangement.
this has created the impetus for unique business initiatives. in parts of the city, and you would have to know someone to know where these places are, you can rent an apartment, for an hour, an afternoon or a day. its not as seedy as it sounds, the places are not draped with dodgy red lights, they have tvs, games consoles, a decent sound system, stocked kitchen and bar- in fact its a pretty good place for foreigners like me to have a party, added bonus that you dont have to clean up. but for the youth of tbilisi that have disposable income but no place of their own, or a girlfriend they can never just sit around and watch a movie with, this is the answer.
and the reason i say the city seems to be full of lovers is because, this is why, in all weathers and through all seasons, couples can be found cuddling on park benches all over the city. even after the first snow of the year. brrrr.... the things we do for love.
But Tbilisi saw its first snow yesterday. after an extraordinarily mild winter so far it felt like this might be an appropriate time to send some thoughts out to the world.
Tbilisi is a place full of loved up couples, at any time of year. not unusual, you might think, for a big city. and maybe i just notice it more because im not in love.... but in georgia the situation is a little special, because theyre on the street far more than in other places. this is because almost every young person lives at home. when they get married, if they are a girl, they will move into her new husbands house with his parents. men stay at home indefinitely, women stay until someone marries them. there are some glimmers of modernisation here in this field, you occasionally meet a woman who has moved out and is therefore known as being modern (code for she is not the virginal type, a state from which, rather obviously, it is impossible to return). some men are affluent enough to have their own places. it is a matter of culture and practicality, as its a fairly pricey city.
the implication of this, added to the no sex before marriage general rule that the vast majority of women have to comply with (although there are innovative ways and means of getting round it) is that men and women dont date here in the same way they do in the uk. it is not the done thing that a date could take place in an enclosed space, such as your home. because if it did you would have to encounter your or their parents. noone goes round for dinner, or to watch a film, especially if they are young and their parents will usually disapprove anyway. parents might give permission for a woman to go out with a man on a walk, if it is agreed that a chaperone will accompany them. so we often see 'couples plus one', which is a common three person walking arrangement.
this has created the impetus for unique business initiatives. in parts of the city, and you would have to know someone to know where these places are, you can rent an apartment, for an hour, an afternoon or a day. its not as seedy as it sounds, the places are not draped with dodgy red lights, they have tvs, games consoles, a decent sound system, stocked kitchen and bar- in fact its a pretty good place for foreigners like me to have a party, added bonus that you dont have to clean up. but for the youth of tbilisi that have disposable income but no place of their own, or a girlfriend they can never just sit around and watch a movie with, this is the answer.
and the reason i say the city seems to be full of lovers is because, this is why, in all weathers and through all seasons, couples can be found cuddling on park benches all over the city. even after the first snow of the year. brrrr.... the things we do for love.
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
5 years on from the rose revolution
the megobrebs round table yesterday began with the question ' what are you doing in georgia and what were you doing 5 years ago today?'.
the topics to then be discussed included, is it better than before the revolution, have the old cadres been turfed out or just replaced by a new vanguard, what has changed for the better, why has judiciary reform proved so difficult for georgia and was the confrontation with Russia inevitable.
Of course it was an interesting dicussion, especially illuminating on life before the rose revolution, which i hadnt known much about, being as i was just a 2nd year undergraduate at the time. Listening to those sitting round the room sharing their bios reminded me how much of a novice i am to georgian analysis. Ive only been here 9 months, but so much has happened already. Ive seen georgia display awesome signs of modernisation, economic growth and normalisation, but i have also seen corruption, political crises war and stagnation. Flickers of hope have been lit and I have seen the flame of modern woman extinguished in someone close to me. If so much has happened in 9 months, what on earth will the next 5 years hold for this incredible nation.
IN recent news... the georgian president travelled up to the conflict zone with the polish president at the weekend and was allegedly shot at in his motorcade from a s ossetian administrative border post. dunno what to say about that little publicity stunt except, what were they thinking? and when i say THEY i dont mean saakashvili, or his entourage, i mean what were THEY thinking, THEY being pres Kaczynski's security detail?? daft daft daft. What on earth would have happened if the polish president had been shot in Georgia?!
It is thanksgiving this week in the USA, and among the American community in Georgia of course. Im planning to attend some sort of thanksgiving gig. Traditionally this is the day when we should say what we're thankful for. British people dont have a thanksgiving, but I think we have something similar in November 11th, Remembrance Day. Oddly, on that day and on every day since I have been thinking about what Im thankful for, or to be more precise, reflecting on my enormous good fortune. Yes, August was not fun. September left a little to be desired. October i was both working hard and getting lost. But November has been brilliant. Georgia is going to see tougher times but the odd thing is that the longer I spend here the more thankful I feel for what I have, and where I am. Part of this is seeing people less lucky than myself, noticeably more so than before. Only a few steps from the ministry of foreign affairs that I passed today, where fancy mercedes' pull up to collect grey suited diplomats, elderly women, their faces wrapped against the cold, beg for a few tetri near the metro station. But the second part to this is I actually feel luckier than those in the grey suits, because firstly I somehow ended up living in this great and crazy place called Tbilisi, and secondly because I see those people, instead of looking past them.
the megobrebs round table yesterday began with the question ' what are you doing in georgia and what were you doing 5 years ago today?'.
the topics to then be discussed included, is it better than before the revolution, have the old cadres been turfed out or just replaced by a new vanguard, what has changed for the better, why has judiciary reform proved so difficult for georgia and was the confrontation with Russia inevitable.
Of course it was an interesting dicussion, especially illuminating on life before the rose revolution, which i hadnt known much about, being as i was just a 2nd year undergraduate at the time. Listening to those sitting round the room sharing their bios reminded me how much of a novice i am to georgian analysis. Ive only been here 9 months, but so much has happened already. Ive seen georgia display awesome signs of modernisation, economic growth and normalisation, but i have also seen corruption, political crises war and stagnation. Flickers of hope have been lit and I have seen the flame of modern woman extinguished in someone close to me. If so much has happened in 9 months, what on earth will the next 5 years hold for this incredible nation.
IN recent news... the georgian president travelled up to the conflict zone with the polish president at the weekend and was allegedly shot at in his motorcade from a s ossetian administrative border post. dunno what to say about that little publicity stunt except, what were they thinking? and when i say THEY i dont mean saakashvili, or his entourage, i mean what were THEY thinking, THEY being pres Kaczynski's security detail?? daft daft daft. What on earth would have happened if the polish president had been shot in Georgia?!
It is thanksgiving this week in the USA, and among the American community in Georgia of course. Im planning to attend some sort of thanksgiving gig. Traditionally this is the day when we should say what we're thankful for. British people dont have a thanksgiving, but I think we have something similar in November 11th, Remembrance Day. Oddly, on that day and on every day since I have been thinking about what Im thankful for, or to be more precise, reflecting on my enormous good fortune. Yes, August was not fun. September left a little to be desired. October i was both working hard and getting lost. But November has been brilliant. Georgia is going to see tougher times but the odd thing is that the longer I spend here the more thankful I feel for what I have, and where I am. Part of this is seeing people less lucky than myself, noticeably more so than before. Only a few steps from the ministry of foreign affairs that I passed today, where fancy mercedes' pull up to collect grey suited diplomats, elderly women, their faces wrapped against the cold, beg for a few tetri near the metro station. But the second part to this is I actually feel luckier than those in the grey suits, because firstly I somehow ended up living in this great and crazy place called Tbilisi, and secondly because I see those people, instead of looking past them.
Monday, 17 November 2008
stalin and stalin
so the november 7th marches were a bit of a pooph. no big news there. except some elderly people seem to prefer the idea of stalin to saakashvili. by the way theres a theory held in some circles, it will be easy to guess which, that the georgians attempted to blow up stalin, well not stalin really but his statue, in gori, during the war. presumably this monstrous task was either to blame it on the russians and therefore justify blowing up s ossetia - crime against heritage property or something, maybe it was hoped that woulf turn the citizens of gori into a premium resistance force because theyre such big stalin fans, or because theyve been desperately waiting for an excuse to tear down the statue anyway and this way they couldnt get in trouble. its entirely possible the whole august war was created just as a roundabout way of blowing up that statue.
sounds ridiculous?- well it is kinda embarassing, that this great nation of wine, poetry, dance, singing, rugby, not to mention sword fighters, wrestlers and numerous invasions, (a few not successful) is best remembered for nasty soviet leader responsible for the deaths of what, 53 million people?
i can see saakashvili sitting in his office saying to the minister of defense, 'now how can we get rid of that bloomin stalin statue?' 'eureka, i know, we'l start a war with whatever is close enough to Gori. who is that again? oh yes the ossetians. no problemo.'
only problem is that rather like their alleged attempt to blow up the roki tunnel, and the attempt dion told me about the other day to assassinate george dubya when he visited, by throwing a defunct hand grenade onto the stage, .... the explosives kinda didnt work out.
Ok just to be clear im not saying thats why the war started and falling in line with the new york times article published a couple of weeks back, which is the press story that just wont go away and has led to a fairly constant 'who started it' debate, which apart from anything makes the osce look a bit daft.
by the way i know about the abovementioned theory because it was on a picture drawn by a 10 year old child. maybe we should just all stop with the conspiracy theories, the press manipulation, lobbying foreign governments with expensive propaganda tactics. Either way this was a nasty war and had no real purpose, in some ways it doesnt matter who started it. it certainly doesnt matter to me, to about half the IDPs living in Tbilisi, and it shouldnt matter to a 10 year old child. every day i watch the news showing more economies going down the tubes. maybe its a good time to be grown ups and focus on something else?
sounds ridiculous?- well it is kinda embarassing, that this great nation of wine, poetry, dance, singing, rugby, not to mention sword fighters, wrestlers and numerous invasions, (a few not successful) is best remembered for nasty soviet leader responsible for the deaths of what, 53 million people?
i can see saakashvili sitting in his office saying to the minister of defense, 'now how can we get rid of that bloomin stalin statue?' 'eureka, i know, we'l start a war with whatever is close enough to Gori. who is that again? oh yes the ossetians. no problemo.'
only problem is that rather like their alleged attempt to blow up the roki tunnel, and the attempt dion told me about the other day to assassinate george dubya when he visited, by throwing a defunct hand grenade onto the stage, .... the explosives kinda didnt work out.
Ok just to be clear im not saying thats why the war started and falling in line with the new york times article published a couple of weeks back, which is the press story that just wont go away and has led to a fairly constant 'who started it' debate, which apart from anything makes the osce look a bit daft.
by the way i know about the abovementioned theory because it was on a picture drawn by a 10 year old child. maybe we should just all stop with the conspiracy theories, the press manipulation, lobbying foreign governments with expensive propaganda tactics. Either way this was a nasty war and had no real purpose, in some ways it doesnt matter who started it. it certainly doesnt matter to me, to about half the IDPs living in Tbilisi, and it shouldnt matter to a 10 year old child. every day i watch the news showing more economies going down the tubes. maybe its a good time to be grown ups and focus on something else?
Thursday, 6 November 2008
november 7 protests- part II
tomorrow will be the anniversary of last years protests which were fairly brutally crushed by the president's special security forces, with tear gas, batons and rubber bullets. A dejavous protest will begin at 2pm at parliament and march towards avlabari. Noone is sure whats going to happen, but we expect a very low turn out. Some people are duly concerned though. The republican party today said they wouldnt be participating officially as a party but some of their members will attend. what does that mean?
All this against a backdrop of worrying events in Russia and other parts of the caucasus. As ian rightly pointed out, didnt the war in chechnya begin with some 'terrorist attacks'? am i really going to see two wars in this region within one EVS project?? lets hope not.
will be updating to twitter whats going on tomorrow if anyone is interested to follow.
All this against a backdrop of worrying events in Russia and other parts of the caucasus. As ian rightly pointed out, didnt the war in chechnya begin with some 'terrorist attacks'? am i really going to see two wars in this region within one EVS project?? lets hope not.
will be updating to twitter whats going on tomorrow if anyone is interested to follow.
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
november 5th. momentous day in usa. getting colder in tbilisi
Why bother falsifying a ballot that no one cares about, doesn’t mean anything, and was an assured victory for the national party anyway? Just one of the many questions that hits you repeatedly in Georgia. I was election monitoring in the coastal region of Adjara during the last few days, which merely served to add a new helping of perplexed and hilarious memories to the eclectic fabric of my Georgian experience.
On the way back to Tbilisi on the coach (this takes a painfully long time, as anyone who has visited Georgia will confirm) I found myself strangely articulate in reflecting on what, in the world according to Sian, is wrong with Georgia and Georgians. Anyway who reads my blog alot will know that there’s not, in my estimation, an awful lot that is wrong with Georgians. They’re awesome people and I clearly love Georgia, in every way except the political of course. But it’s just the absence of something crucial which I became, as I said, unnaturally eloquent about for a epiphany filled 20 minutes. So ill share some of these epiphanies with blog readers, in case anyone is still bothering to check this blog- although I realise that since tanks left Georgia proper and things got a bit less scary, my traffic has become less frequent.
The epiphanies led on from chatting about Georgian domestic politics. Which is, as ever, generally entertaining but completely extraneous. In the last week the prime minister has been fired, to be replaced by a former ambassador who has no domestic policy experience, the cabinet has been re shuffled and misha’s crowd of often frighteningly young & lithe ministers have been shifted about. The head of the army has been pushed out, because, no surprise, some doubts were raised about the efficacy of the august mobilisation effort. Apparently using reservists didn’t work out too well. Who knew?! Who would think that the call to arms for 5000 spotty under-trained 19 year olds to head towards to roki tunnel and with few weapons, munition, or even proper clothing and basic support or direction, would not quite manage to halt the influx of 80,000 russians?
But back to the point. The fact that the government is constantly morphing into an increasingly peculiar disjointed government that will take some of the heat off whilst not actually posing a threat to its illustrious leader is not unexpected. And it’s not even disappointing actually. What is a shame, I mean a tragedy, is the reaction of the Georgian people to the mess that was august and the perhaps even greater mess that has followed it. But this is also nothing new and has been common fare for the Georgian people since independence, nor is it unique to Georgia, its just annoying because I can see it, and cannot reconcile it with what I know about these people and this country.
2 facts.
One. The Georgians are so unbelievably proud, so patriotic -not in an uninformed foolish way but in realising where they come from, cherishing their history, their culture, their differences and their wars. They know their tenuous position and they celebrate the victories which have maintained them, while admitting the defeats they have suffered. The question every foreigner is asked, by every Georgian, probably including Saakashvili despite his Harvard education, is ‘do you like Georgia and Georgians?’ The answer, inevitably positive, prompts a shy smile, a thank you and usually an offer of a supra shortly after.
Two. Georgians are generally aware of the crap their government is doing. But no one complains about it in a proactive way.
But. Ah heres the rub. We have no effective political discourse here. I mean there’s just no debate. Elections are governed and won on personality issues, on dirty politics and accusations that one or another candidate is corrupt, a thief, a spy, or a dog of another country. Opposition politicians don’t discuss monetary policy, tax, the environment, international trade, the health service..... there are no media outlets covering any of those issues. This is despite the fact that in a country of 4 million at least 1 million are without regular basic services, including healthcare, running water, sanitation and sewage, reliable power. Dont even get me started on unemployment, the judicial system and education. No one speaks out about their living circumstances. No one says, yes well youve done a pretty good job since 2003 mr president because we don’t have civil war on the street anymore, but please, have u thought about doing something thats really going to improve the education system and revitalise the employment market? Have you thought to, instead of starting a war we couldn’t win, investing that money in making us a competitive market economy?
In the uk, our school system used to be the envy of the world. Maybe not so much now, but compared to a lot of nations its very good. Do british voters, ngos, the mass media and politicians look at the schools and say, well hey theyre a fair bit better than 4 years ago. Good job. Or do they say well great but.... sort out inner city schools, tighten up the use of weapons, improve the curriculum, make school dinners nutritious? Critically, this is not because we want schools to be abolished or because we are shouting the war cry, ‘off with his head’. But I suspect that in Georgia criticism and revolution have become inseparable in peoples understanding. Criticism is thought to mean revolution and collapse. It is assumed that as things are better than 8 years ago, there’s no need to rock the boat. How else to explain the silence of the educated modern middle class? Everyone I speak to knows where the government messed up, but no one does anything and we eventually return to resignation, ‘well its better than it was in 2003’....
Following the august war, when we had 130,000 displaced people milling about various parts of Georgia, and until now, when we still have 45,000 or more, I have not seen one single article, speech, paper or political actor that has challenged the government’s handling of the post crisis. Yes, the focus of the media and the oppositions rallying cries, are on the war itself, who started it, why, how, what went wrong. All important issues, no doubt. But as ive said before, why did we have mass stop Russia rallies, without a single question being asked about how the authorities were doing on the humanitarian front (nb. Generally, extremely badly). All that mobilisation and still we have hardly any active ngos in Georgia. There’s literally less than 10 active ngos here, only a handful of which regularly formulate reports that constructively criticise government policy. Only a few good people doing the work of hundreds.
Why? Well now people are primarily frightened of doing anything which would further destabilise this country. A recent series of focus groups (the results of which I had to sit through so I know) revealed the total lack of support for any kind of protest action. Even if they agreed with the cause the people don’t want to give Russia any more ammunition to attack us. Good, protests are a huge waste of time and resources anyway (this Friday will see protests to mark the anniversary of the special police attacking peaceful protestors last year). But there are other ways to criticise. Criticism does not necessitate a coloured revolution. Criticism is healthy. Criticism, and from a range of sources, can push the government to do things better, not stop and collapse.
A second reason is THERE IS NO FREE MEDIA IN GEORGIA. I mean there are no tv channels which aren’t owned by the authorities, and show anything but soaps. How to get that message out there even if it would be said? If ur not familiar with this country and you think it sounds like a tip top place that the western world should support then ul have to take my word for it about the channels but the last one to show televised debates, even of a moderately pro government orientation, was shut down a few months back. When was the last time, I asked my companion, you saw a documentary or any piece of film evaluating education reform, featuring street children or showing a rural hospital? Never. That was the answer.
She said something that really hit me. Patriotism is not just about supporting your country and your leader but should also start at home, should entail providing a good life for and protecting your family, ensuring your community is well and being proud of that too. Without that we do not have real patriotism here.
................ ................... .................
Over 64% turnout in American elections yesterday. There’s something appropriately encouraging and shaming in that, and we brits would be lucky to see a political environment in which an ethnic minority candidate and female vice candidate (however frightening she may be) run for the prime minister, even a subordinate post. Should we have such a level of participation and enthusiasm, should we see our democratic processes revitalised to anything like the extent America did yesterday, we would be very proud. I'm not actually a huge fan of the victor even if this sounds like it, but regardless of his colour, party or orientation, regardless of the excessive financial frivolousness of the us elections or the nature of their political structure, sen obama mobilised the young, poor, elderly and dispossessed, and made it almost seem like the values we spend too many lives and money promoting in fights across the world actually matter to us. And that is the true victory of the so called historic day. By the way since when did ...an historic..., not ...a historic..., become the popular grammatical way of saying it?
On the way back to Tbilisi on the coach (this takes a painfully long time, as anyone who has visited Georgia will confirm) I found myself strangely articulate in reflecting on what, in the world according to Sian, is wrong with Georgia and Georgians. Anyway who reads my blog alot will know that there’s not, in my estimation, an awful lot that is wrong with Georgians. They’re awesome people and I clearly love Georgia, in every way except the political of course. But it’s just the absence of something crucial which I became, as I said, unnaturally eloquent about for a epiphany filled 20 minutes. So ill share some of these epiphanies with blog readers, in case anyone is still bothering to check this blog- although I realise that since tanks left Georgia proper and things got a bit less scary, my traffic has become less frequent.
The epiphanies led on from chatting about Georgian domestic politics. Which is, as ever, generally entertaining but completely extraneous. In the last week the prime minister has been fired, to be replaced by a former ambassador who has no domestic policy experience, the cabinet has been re shuffled and misha’s crowd of often frighteningly young & lithe ministers have been shifted about. The head of the army has been pushed out, because, no surprise, some doubts were raised about the efficacy of the august mobilisation effort. Apparently using reservists didn’t work out too well. Who knew?! Who would think that the call to arms for 5000 spotty under-trained 19 year olds to head towards to roki tunnel and with few weapons, munition, or even proper clothing and basic support or direction, would not quite manage to halt the influx of 80,000 russians?
But back to the point. The fact that the government is constantly morphing into an increasingly peculiar disjointed government that will take some of the heat off whilst not actually posing a threat to its illustrious leader is not unexpected. And it’s not even disappointing actually. What is a shame, I mean a tragedy, is the reaction of the Georgian people to the mess that was august and the perhaps even greater mess that has followed it. But this is also nothing new and has been common fare for the Georgian people since independence, nor is it unique to Georgia, its just annoying because I can see it, and cannot reconcile it with what I know about these people and this country.
2 facts.
One. The Georgians are so unbelievably proud, so patriotic -not in an uninformed foolish way but in realising where they come from, cherishing their history, their culture, their differences and their wars. They know their tenuous position and they celebrate the victories which have maintained them, while admitting the defeats they have suffered. The question every foreigner is asked, by every Georgian, probably including Saakashvili despite his Harvard education, is ‘do you like Georgia and Georgians?’ The answer, inevitably positive, prompts a shy smile, a thank you and usually an offer of a supra shortly after.
Two. Georgians are generally aware of the crap their government is doing. But no one complains about it in a proactive way.
But. Ah heres the rub. We have no effective political discourse here. I mean there’s just no debate. Elections are governed and won on personality issues, on dirty politics and accusations that one or another candidate is corrupt, a thief, a spy, or a dog of another country. Opposition politicians don’t discuss monetary policy, tax, the environment, international trade, the health service..... there are no media outlets covering any of those issues. This is despite the fact that in a country of 4 million at least 1 million are without regular basic services, including healthcare, running water, sanitation and sewage, reliable power. Dont even get me started on unemployment, the judicial system and education. No one speaks out about their living circumstances. No one says, yes well youve done a pretty good job since 2003 mr president because we don’t have civil war on the street anymore, but please, have u thought about doing something thats really going to improve the education system and revitalise the employment market? Have you thought to, instead of starting a war we couldn’t win, investing that money in making us a competitive market economy?
In the uk, our school system used to be the envy of the world. Maybe not so much now, but compared to a lot of nations its very good. Do british voters, ngos, the mass media and politicians look at the schools and say, well hey theyre a fair bit better than 4 years ago. Good job. Or do they say well great but.... sort out inner city schools, tighten up the use of weapons, improve the curriculum, make school dinners nutritious? Critically, this is not because we want schools to be abolished or because we are shouting the war cry, ‘off with his head’. But I suspect that in Georgia criticism and revolution have become inseparable in peoples understanding. Criticism is thought to mean revolution and collapse. It is assumed that as things are better than 8 years ago, there’s no need to rock the boat. How else to explain the silence of the educated modern middle class? Everyone I speak to knows where the government messed up, but no one does anything and we eventually return to resignation, ‘well its better than it was in 2003’....
Following the august war, when we had 130,000 displaced people milling about various parts of Georgia, and until now, when we still have 45,000 or more, I have not seen one single article, speech, paper or political actor that has challenged the government’s handling of the post crisis. Yes, the focus of the media and the oppositions rallying cries, are on the war itself, who started it, why, how, what went wrong. All important issues, no doubt. But as ive said before, why did we have mass stop Russia rallies, without a single question being asked about how the authorities were doing on the humanitarian front (nb. Generally, extremely badly). All that mobilisation and still we have hardly any active ngos in Georgia. There’s literally less than 10 active ngos here, only a handful of which regularly formulate reports that constructively criticise government policy. Only a few good people doing the work of hundreds.
Why? Well now people are primarily frightened of doing anything which would further destabilise this country. A recent series of focus groups (the results of which I had to sit through so I know) revealed the total lack of support for any kind of protest action. Even if they agreed with the cause the people don’t want to give Russia any more ammunition to attack us. Good, protests are a huge waste of time and resources anyway (this Friday will see protests to mark the anniversary of the special police attacking peaceful protestors last year). But there are other ways to criticise. Criticism does not necessitate a coloured revolution. Criticism is healthy. Criticism, and from a range of sources, can push the government to do things better, not stop and collapse.
A second reason is THERE IS NO FREE MEDIA IN GEORGIA. I mean there are no tv channels which aren’t owned by the authorities, and show anything but soaps. How to get that message out there even if it would be said? If ur not familiar with this country and you think it sounds like a tip top place that the western world should support then ul have to take my word for it about the channels but the last one to show televised debates, even of a moderately pro government orientation, was shut down a few months back. When was the last time, I asked my companion, you saw a documentary or any piece of film evaluating education reform, featuring street children or showing a rural hospital? Never. That was the answer.
She said something that really hit me. Patriotism is not just about supporting your country and your leader but should also start at home, should entail providing a good life for and protecting your family, ensuring your community is well and being proud of that too. Without that we do not have real patriotism here.
................ ................... .................
Over 64% turnout in American elections yesterday. There’s something appropriately encouraging and shaming in that, and we brits would be lucky to see a political environment in which an ethnic minority candidate and female vice candidate (however frightening she may be) run for the prime minister, even a subordinate post. Should we have such a level of participation and enthusiasm, should we see our democratic processes revitalised to anything like the extent America did yesterday, we would be very proud. I'm not actually a huge fan of the victor even if this sounds like it, but regardless of his colour, party or orientation, regardless of the excessive financial frivolousness of the us elections or the nature of their political structure, sen obama mobilised the young, poor, elderly and dispossessed, and made it almost seem like the values we spend too many lives and money promoting in fights across the world actually matter to us. And that is the true victory of the so called historic day. By the way since when did ...an historic..., not ...a historic..., become the popular grammatical way of saying it?
Friday, 31 October 2008
halloween
halloween and a beautiful autumn day in tbilisi. Photo exhibition was a success two nights ago, we raised something like 900 lari for spending on projects to suppory reintegration and recovery of idps. just about to start getting ready for the party this evening, will is hosting at the bar formerly known as traffic. im going in a dress rented from the opera house, with a crown, shield and sword. in deference to my forefathers i will be a welsh heroine tonight, princess gwenllian, (12th century), daughter of gruffwdd ap cynon, king of gwynedd, who rebelled against the normans and was killed at kidwelly castle. a true feminist. and i get to have a sword.
10 minutes ago receievd a desperate call to help a group of IDPs, so that will be some of my saturday. this thing doesnt go away.
watching horrific coverage now of the displacement in DR congo as rebels march on the privincial capital. Obviously anything in this area last august is miles away from what theyre living through now, but it somehow brings back bad memories. wish i could do more to help the people here, wish i could do something, anything atall, to help them in DRC.
one last thought? ... is it a bad or a good omen on halloween that on the way home before the party a black cat crossed my path, in a way that nearly sent me flying into the middle of the road?
10 minutes ago receievd a desperate call to help a group of IDPs, so that will be some of my saturday. this thing doesnt go away.
watching horrific coverage now of the displacement in DR congo as rebels march on the privincial capital. Obviously anything in this area last august is miles away from what theyre living through now, but it somehow brings back bad memories. wish i could do more to help the people here, wish i could do something, anything atall, to help them in DRC.
one last thought? ... is it a bad or a good omen on halloween that on the way home before the party a black cat crossed my path, in a way that nearly sent me flying into the middle of the road?
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