First Round

This past week I volunteered as an election observer in the first round of this year's presidential elections with the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. It was quite an experience, and I certainly don't regret it. I was told that I was free to post pictures and experiences in my personal blog, but will keep my comments limited here because somehow it seems wrong that an independent observer could publish their personal opinions about the election. Feel free to email me if you are curious about my experience and I'll send notes I kept that day, and also some more pictures.

Of course most importantly -observer missions in the country commented that the election was held in accordance to international standards. As expected, neither candidate received a majority of the vote, necessitating a runoff between Yanukovych and Tymoshenko on February 7th.

Some articles about the first round for those interested:

Elections in Ukraine signal important turn on the road to democracy - Christian Science Monitor

Ukraine Elections Go to Russian-Flavoured Runoff – Fears Abound for Crimean Tatar Population - Underrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization

Viktor Yushchenko's legacy for Ukraine? Smiling people - Times Online

Ukraine presidential vote headed to runoff - LA Times

Russia ends freeze in ties with Ukraine after election - AFP

Elections in Ukraine - Calm before Storm? - Ria Novosti

Election apathy

Although many speak of "Ukraine fatigue" as something in Europe and the US causing a decline in political interest in the country, perhaps the term should be broadened to explain the feeling many Ukrainians themselves are experiencing. With the elections on Sunday, there is no shortage of news items in the international press regarding how little ground has been covered since the 2004 Orange Revolution, the Russian-leaning perspectives of almost all of the 18 candidates, and the political apathy among the electorate.

The headlines are less than inspiring:

"The Orange Revolution fades to black as Russia rises again in Ukraine" (The Globe and Mail)

In Ukraine, '04 Euphoria Has Turned to Despair (The New York Times)

Ukraine's "Orange villain" seeks last laugh (Telegraph)

Despair in West Over Ukraine (The Moscow Times)

Apathy High, Expectations Low Ahead Of Ukrainian Presidential Vote (Radio Free Europe)

Many journalists have picked up on Protyvsikh, the candidate who legally changed his name to "Against everyone." The NYT article above describes him as follows: "A former customs official from the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk, he subscribes to no particular ideology, has the flimsiest of platforms and does not plan to tour the country before the vote, reasoning that 'these trips cost a great deal and the people are sick of them.'"

Another protest candidate - albeit satirical - has also made news: Yevhen Lupan. In the following video, he jokes:

I will steal. I am saying this frankly and transparently. But each month I will report how much I stole, and where the money went. (Translation from Radio Free Europe article above)

Also in the news this week are votes for sale online, but whether this is a sign of blatant corruption or an act of defiance in a corrupt system is open to interpretation. Regardless, 3/4 of Ukrainians say they would not sell their votes "under any circumstances." Voter turnout is expected to be low by Ukrainian standards - around 75 percent.

One of my favorite Ukrainian bloggers, Veronica at Neeka's Backlog, has the following to say:

It's hard to avoid mixing some unmixable things when using such a cursory approach to Ukrainian politics as mine is now: Kyiv used to be cleaner under Kuchma; Gongadze disappeared under Kuchma; Yushchenko has failed to solve the Gongadze case; streets might be cleaner under someone else than the current folks, but none of them are going to do anything about the Gongadze case.

Back to square one: whatever.

And I'm now late for breakfast, too: screw them all.

Here we come a-wassailing

I just arrived in Kyiv this morning - this weekend for the presidential election I'm volunteering as an election observer in Sevastopol and I'm in the capital for training. More on that in an upcoming post.

Walking around today near Zoloti Vorota I saw these carolers near one of the area's theaters. Perhaps the occasion is the Orthodox/Old New Year (a hold over from the Gregorian calendar) which takes place tomorrow. It isn't officially a holiday, but many still celebrate it. Why not? Definitely watch this video - it is only a minute long, and the music is beautiful and as festive as can be. Also I am aware that wassailing means caroling door to door, but I feared that if I didn't put it in the title of this post I'd miss out on the phrase all together this holiday season!

All about a fence

Now that I've upgraded my camera (Canon G11, and I love it, thanks for the advice, Dad!), I sometimes have the thought, "Which of my cameras shall accompany my walk today?" Until today the G11 has always won out, but today for some reason I wanted to keep my purse light and brought my PowerShot instead. Mistake! Today was an unseasonably gorgeous but grey day, and my PowerShot wasn't up to the challenge. Note to self - stash the old camera away, not because you'll use it again, but because if you give it away something horrible will happen to your new one.

I've already posted a few shots of the river that runs behind my neighbourhood and into town. As my "walk to the center," I've grown quite fond of this path. For starters, it is one of my memories of my first trip to Crimea in July of 2008; the geometric fence pattern was one of my first experiences with Soviet design, and I thought it was quite beautiful. Of course, as I now understand the pattern as an ubiquitous feature from Eastern Europe to Central Asia, it still has some emotional pull, but elicits something more like melancholy than admiration.

But I'm also realizing that on nice days, the river is quite a gathering spot. With yesterday the Orthodox Christmas holiday and today one of those lazy Fridays following such a big event, I've been out enjoying the nice weather (and to think, just last week we had both rain and snow!) and the holiday vibe.

There is just so much going on here:

The post-wedding "lock on a bridge"

Picnicking

Fishing (can't help but be reminded of walking down the Galata Bridge)

Cute couples on park benches

And of course there are also strollers, young boys drinking beer, friends eating sunflower seeds, reading loners, mothers and babies, and dog owners.

Unfortunately these black patterned fences are also being used as a source of scrap metal. Here's a section taken from behind my building in the past week:

In some places it is even quite a hazard -

It is sad to see these fence links disappear in such a lively public space, especially as there is no guarantee they will be replaced at all.

After seeing some of the new damage today, I made it a goal to find some older photographs of this space from throughout the years. Although with this developing interest, I'm afraid that when I'm old and gray (inshallah!), wherever I am, I'll become one of those volunteers at the local history museum, scaring children with my big, yellow smile and frightening well-meaning patrons out the door with my enthusiasm and musty brochures.

Memories of Georgia

Perhaps you remember my post about some of my travels in Georgia this June with Alex, a friend I met in Tblisi. He's just returned to Melbourne from his year long trip, and we caught up on Facebook chat. Somehow I hadn't been following his travel blog, and was happy to find his own accounts of our walk to the church in Kazbegi and our hike over the Juta/Roshka Pass. I can't wait to read about some of the other places he traveled over the last year.

(Edit: Alex actually took the photograph above that I use as my blog header!)

Ouch!

I just saw the following article, shared by a friend on Google Reader: Readers by Author. What does your favorite author say about you? An entertaining read, but being of the myspace generation I couldn't help but score myself a la Seventeen. I thus learned that that I am:

A person who "like[s] good music" (Murakami, and true I hope)

A person who "played Creep by Radiohead while having sex or smoking pot" (Vonnegut, not true, and so unfair!)

A man who uses "words like 'dubious' and 'tenacity'" (Nabokov, whatever)

and, apparently I've recently become

A liar (Twain, sure, why not)

What I did on Christmas Vacation

Today, on Christmas Eve Orthodox-style, I finally got around to organizing my photographs from my own Christmas vacation: I had a wonderful time with my mom and sister travelling in Crimea, Kyiv and Lviv. I hope to post more about it soon, but for now you'll have to do with some pictures I've just uploaded from the trip, found here. Perhaps it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to travel with family and relax during the holidays when we were all free of other commitments, but I hope that instead it was the first of many travels together.

Some highlights (edit: Blogger clips some of these images in a rather inconvenient way - unfortunately to see most of them you'll have to click through. Sorry!):

Nativity trivia, Lviv style: did you know that one of the three Wisemen and a few of the shepherds were Ukrainian? Another one of the Wisemen was apparently a Lvivite. (Notice the crest on hat of the Wiseman to the right, the Lion emblem on the praying Wiseman, and the traditional Ukrainian decoration on the shepards. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, however, do not appear to be Ukrainian)

Heidi is gorgeous, as if we needed more proof.

One of my favorite wedding traditions I've seen in Ukraine, this picture from Sevastopol (edit- thanks Blogger... you can click on the image to see the complete photo)

The climb to Chufut Kale near Bakhchisaray.