listenin to: hum of the newsroom
workin on: nothing at the moment
hello everyone. dont be scared, today's post is relatively safe for the fainted heart. day 6 of my journey and i am actually beginning to familiarise myself with tunis. the streets are looking familiar, i can safely direct myself and a lost taxi driver to the nearest schwarma and pizza place(open till 5am daily), this newsroom is beginning to feel like home and even the multitude of policemen stationed all around are beginning to look like they are just part of the scenery. okay i still take exceptional disklike to their guns, but hey i guess the fact that this city has appr. 2% major serious crime, must be due to something.
many issues have been raised at the conference and at events such as these, many people have asked me, "with all this talk, is there ever any real action?". the general thoughts are that these high level meetings that involve politicians, statesmen and large companies have surplus amounts of discussions, debates, panels, forums, committiees and yet very little action at the ground level. true... but in some cases as with most things in life there are individuals who care to actually do something about the situation, especially on our continent. and those are the people who we actually need to listen to and work with.
tomorrow will be our last day in tunis. here are some of the fantastic and not so fantastic items before the final wrap up:
the fantastic:
1- super clean streets, everywhere
2- the lamb schwarma place- lima
3- best newsroom i've ever worked in
4- having front seat to a meeting of the world
5- policemen minus their guns
6- working with some fantastic people
7- consistent broadband and fantastic desktops
not so fantastic:
1- the policemen with their guns
2- the toilets... worst ive ever experienced... engen one-stops step aside
3- consistent stress
4- news of the human rights violations within the country
5- people who act as if these do not exist and sweep sweep sweep it all under a very big carpet
6- the realisation that i want and must have a bigger camera, than has massive shutter speed. i want one of those you see at wimbeldon in the front row.
7- the need to censor material at an open conference
8- hotel la tour blanche; toilet does not work, bathroom is rusted, blankets look dodgy, tv is broken. i.e. it is bad
9- printer pick ups and drop offs
10- the psycho bus driver
11- more people of the world who do not think i am south african.
12- my jeans are hanging off me
13- colin got his bag lost by air france and has kicked, screamed, cried, laughed in agony. it is sad . please go and suppourt his therapy at Do Not Fly Air France
i am certain there is much more to tunis and what is great about this place. but i have not had the time to find out. next time. funny thing happened, i walked past the South African stand in the exhibitions hall and they were playing some music from home. and in a loud hall packed with people as far as my eyes could see, i missed home just by hearing the music. the music was not by any particular artist, nor did it belong to a definite genre, but it was 100% south african. and that was a great feeling.
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