...... again vienna-zagreb-vienna by car. two and a half days of travel, meetings, boring lunch buffets and intensive work. and going home we all dream about countries we would like to visit. sauseschritt remembers an interview with a famous mongolian writer (what was his name?) in which he stated his belief, that nomadism is a basic form of existence: we all do proof it, even in the western world.
c. macht mich auf den schatten unseres minibuses aufmerksam, am späten nachmittag, als wir bereits wieder auf dem weg nach wien sind. on mission ....
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...... a present from a friend in Oslo! thank you so much, t.! [but, where exactly do they come from ....]
steine aus chile, vom schwarzen meer, den österreichischen alpen und nunmehr auch von den flüssen, seen und bergen norwegens!
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sauseschritt wishes to thank 
ostracised for the reference to neeka, who blogs exciting politics from kiev:
it snowed all night and all day, so khreshchatyk is a real mess now. very slippery, too, which is the mayor's fault (it was his idea to lay those crazy bricks/tiles/whatever-it's-called everywhere).
2o many people by the tents, they stand with posters every few meters or so, facing the passer-by. on the posters there's information on where they are from (many many regions of ukraine) and slogans, some quite funny, others straightforwardly pro-yushchenko.
many buses are now lined up for a whole block on both sides of khreshchatyk - some must be from the regions, others are probably local. I was glad to see the buses - it means these people will have a place to get warm during the night. I saw a woman with a huge poster of yushchenko pasted on her back scrawling the name of the town she must've arrived from - vinnytsya - on one of the buses, dirty as hell.
the protesters have also moved into the european House (former lenin museum) – there are about 3,000 of them inside – they can sleep and eat there, and there are also doctors there in case someone needs help.
some links:
der standard (german);
the guardian (english);
bbc (english);
interfax (english).
also yorkshire ranter reports
looking at this house brings back memories:
in first half of 2001 sauseschritt visited skopje. sitting together with friends on the balcony of a house close to the city park of skopje (see below), enjoying their hospitality and the warmth of the early summer sun. nevertheless, the situation in macedonia at that time was very serious. one could hear the noise of military conflict (bombing) only a few kilometers from there. you could not only hear, but also "feel" the explosions on that balcony. for months my friends were ready to escape a possible war in the city via the southern route to skopje. and they were waiting what would happen next: doing their jobs with their things packed and their car ready to leave. well, the conflict was settled before the war really broke out and nowadays a fragile peace, which is sometimes in question, can be sustained. we tend to forget these things very quickly .....
ach ja, da war damals noch dieser junge mann aus österreich, der sich zunächst weigerte, mit mir abends über die [steinbrücke ....] in das albanisch/türkische viertel von skopje zu gehen, um zu abend zu essen. er vertraute mir auch an, dass er eine kugelsichere weste mit im reisegepäck habe, für alle fälle. er war sichtlich in einer stimmung zwischen angst und (abenteuerlicher) erregung, wie so oft, wenn mann dem krieg begegnet.
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an easy question, maybe: where would you like to stay in skopje?
hotel kanet: euro 45.- per night
hotel aleksandar palace: euro 170.- per night
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did you get hold of your most wanted person during your last conference? it was difficult, you were not successful? other mighty persons joined mr. and ms. wanted and didn´t let you enter their circle? you succeeded and you could finally talk to him/her and he/she answered that he/she has already answered your urgent request? negatively, of course! you do know, that this is a lie? welcome to the club!
prominenten podiumsdiskutant/innen scheint ein wichtiger wesenszug gemeinsam zu sein: jene des latenten wie manifesten wunsches nach flucht vor den teilnehmer/innen einer konferenz. denn was bislang durch brief, fax und email nicht erreicht werden konnte, versuchen letztere durch die persönliche begegnung im rahmen der konferenz nachzuholen. bevor jedoch der/die gewünschte von einem schützenden ring gleich prominenter umgeben ist, der nur schwer von weniger mächtigen durchbrochen werden kann, muß die persönliche begegnung erfolgen. überall wird derzeit der mythos vom gestaltungsspielraum beschworen, in wirklichkeit sind (fast) alle getriebene ihres berufes. die natürliche folge: flucht- oder jagdverhalten. wohlan .....
jagdszenen aus skopje
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