survivor tunis begins

listenin to: nothin... sound of newsroom
workin on: wsis tunis agenda edition one

wsis, smsci, internet governance, icann, eca etc etc etc. it seems that acronyms dominate the face of ict (oh look another acronym) debates and meetings wherever we go. hi to all from the second phase of the wsis from the northern most tip in africa. the ride to tunis has been long, exhausting and yet fantastic experience. 4 flights, 5 airports, 1 famous actor, 1 pair of adopted twin babies, 1 mega box of smarties for energy and countless queues later, i find myself in an awesome newsroom. there must be about 250 flatscreen monitors in the media centre, 5 plasma screen tvs and many many network points for laptop, 20 printers and even fax machines. sounds pretty conventional for an ict conference, but trust me it is not.

the hotel is a bit too basic-i don't feel like showering but well it is a necessity so ill survive the daily cringe as i step into the bath. would rather wrap myself in plastic before i fell into bed. but the food is good. language has been a huge issue- much french and arabic and v v little english. the rate of flawless basic communication of everyday phrases like "can i have some water please" reaches new levels of frustration. high exchange rate- almost on par with the dollar. many policemen everywhere, with guns. you all know how i hate (more than dislike) guns. surplus checkpoints everywhere, at every door. at the press accreditation centre, paranoia reached a whole new level, when i was asked to remove even my belt. tunis is abuzz with flags, guns, policemen, blockades, suits and over zealous statements about women and their overly crucial role in the information society and tunis in general.

everyone is paranoid about 'the media'. journalists are watched, filmed, searched, ordered to declare, checked at every tun. rather flattering if you liked being stalked. but amidst all of this, the life experience puts much about my life and country in perspective. i miss the luxury of being able to come home at the end of a long day, collapse and spill news about many adventures. but im sure all the usual drama and laughter at home will swallow up time as fast as i left.

stay tuned for more daily updates from survivor tunis.