I have this dorky idea that since I was working as an elections observer I shouldn't write much about my feelings regarding the election. Of course know that no one actually cares what I write about in my personal blog, and given that at the UCCA training meeting one of the individuals on the panel went on an anti-Yanukovich rant, I know UCCA certainly won't be opposed. Yanukovich will be sworn in on February 25th, and Timoshenko is still promising to challenge the election in the courts. Certainly I am disappointed that Yanukovich won, but I suppose in terms of politics I'll just keep on posting trivial blips such as interesting campaign ads and leave the political commentary to others. Who am I to try to make sense of it all?
I was in Kyiv over the weekend for our Fulbright mid-year orientation, and the office organized for us to hear from some Ukrainian analysts their opinions and commentary on the political situation in Ukraine. We also saw the documentary The Orange Chronicles and had the opportunity to meet the filmmaker. It was interesting to watch it now, with the Orange fever broken and Yanukovich soon to take over the post of president. The documentary is a great glimpse at the events and energy of that time - would recommend it to anyone interested in Ukraine, Eurasia or political movements.
The screening and orientation were also interesting given the number of Fulbrighters who have some tie to Ukraine - many of this year's students and scholars are from the Ukrainian diaspora. So all though we are mostly a group of Americans sitting around talking about Ukraine, there is a lot going on in these conversations - many of my colleagues have a deep emotional connection to this country. When we first all met at the orientation in D.C., I was intimidated to join this group, many of which are native Ukrainian speakers and have been following events in the region all their lives. Now I realize what an opportunity it is to have such these people as my colleagues during my year here.
In other news, Kyiv is cold and snowy, and I have apparently turned into a winter wimp.
1 comment:
That sounds like a lot of fun to get to meet the maker of a documentary about the Orange Revolution.
Also, in The Michigan Daily they mentioned the Ukrainian election in a small blurb saying that Yanukovich won and that they were going to check the validity of the election.
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