too many angry journos are scary

listenin to: nothing
workin on: wsis tunis agenda production day 1

so i'm glad to know that many back home are enjoying the 'delights' of tunis. so far today has proved to be rather stressful and very tense in the newsroom. many things have led to this, the main issue being the printer. let me break it down for you. cas and i went off with a french translator to meet the printer at 7pm last night. we met him in the middle of tunis centre, got out the taxi, got into his van, drove to his press which stood in a dark back street... and so began the drama. what should have been a big help, turned into a complete raging nightmare- our french translator's rude attitude managed to annoy the printer (Bassem). we were not allowed to try and speak to the printer. cas and i even resorted to drawing clocks on a page to try and communicate deadline times. the pc used at the offices has the most outdated version of acrobat reader and runs on windows '96- that's when you know you are in trouble. the main problem is that delivery will not be allowed within about 2kms of the venue due to the super tight security. the solution? we are going to meet Bassem at 8pm every night to drop off the cd, on a dirt road just outside the first police barricade. We will meet him there again the next morning to pick up the newspapers.

it took us two hours for this whole debacle to end- the drive back to the hotel was adventurous to say the least- and after promises of free trips to tunis, stories about his life as an economics teacher at high school, lessons in german and french, and one free sim card later, we finally got to the hotel at 10pm, ran in and headed straight for the food.

the drive to the kram conference centre this morning proved to be as frustrating and exhausting. steve (our editor), rebecca(journo) and myself happened to stumble upon the crookest and most annoying taxi river who basically took us into the suburbs, acted like he had no idea where the venue was and stopped the car. so we got off and walked away. i felt like swinging that heavy backpack on my back across his nasty mug.

but in order to survive tunis, i know there must be positives. so let me find them.

1- we have found the outlet that has free coffee all day, tucked away in the media centre.
2- we have internet access which is fast.
3- i have a liqui fruit from home with me and it tastes nice right about now and everyone else is jealous.

will report on how the 'drop off' went in tomorrow's post. shukran (thank you in arabic) to all who read my posts and continue to keep in touch. don't foget india vs. south africa hyderbad first one day tomorrow. let the games begin ;)