radish times

You don’t see Presidents (of countries) everyday. So I thought instead of reading “The Promise of Mediation” for my conflict resolution class, I would write to you about attending a speech by President Saakashvili this afternoon.

The first thing that I must mention, although I expect I am showing my low sophistication level, is the secret service guys. Of course, I knew I was in the right building when I saw these dead serious guys in black suits striding purposefully with clear telephone receiver wires (you know, the curly ones) running from their ears to their necks and possibly further, although it would cost you your life to find out for sure. Once we were in the lecture room, there were two of them that stood on either side of the stage. They never once changed their expressions or showed by any indication that they too communicate by hearing and speaking. Not even one hint of comprehension of any kind. Are they trained that way or selected from groups of naturally nerve-dead hearing-impaired persons?

So, President Saakashvili. He is the new president of Georgia, the small country bordering on the Black Sea, Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan whose capital is Tbilisi. Georgia is home to 3,479,000 Georgians, 300,000 Kingrelians/Lazs, 35,000 Svans, as well as several Ossetian communties, the largest one on its northern border with Russia. Georgia was first integrated into the Russian Empire in 1801. It formed an independent state for a short while during the Russian civil war and resumed that independence in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union. (You are benefiting from my History and Politics of the Caucasus class).

President Saakashvili is the youngest President in Europe. He was the minister of Justice in Eduard Shevardnadze’s government. However he resigned two years ago because he said that he could not work in such a corrupt government. In those two years, he built up an opposition party against Shevardnadze, which in November succeeded in persuading Shevardnadze to resign. Hence, Saakashvili was elected President.

Enough of the background! It was a really exciting speech to be at. Of course, you understand, Saakashvili is a Columbia Law School graduate. So he said lots of nice things about Columbia. He also said lots of nice things about Bush, Georgia’s supporter and close friend. He said that Bush, who he talked to yesterday about many things, really became engaged when they started talking about their shared values. Saakashvili said many nice things about freedom of speech, freedom of the press, end to corruption, free market economies. He didn’t say very nice things about Putin or the Russian Press, except that Putin was a very smart and able leader.

He made many jokes, which were, in fact, quite funny. He said that he met Colon Powell yesterday and they had a nice chat, as they both went to George Washington University. Saakashvili went there for a very brief time, which he called his aborted attempt to become an academic. Powell, however, stayed there. Somehow, Powell asked Saakashvili what his grades had been. Saakashvili said they had been very poor, mostly Bs and even some Cs. Powell said that he had gotten all As. Saakashvili said “And look where it got you. You’re still only a Secretary.”

He also said at the end that if any of the Columbia students were looking for a career, he would like to recommend “President” to their notice. He said it is not the most interesting job probably, but it if full of action and is never dull.

Anyway, I was certainly charged up by the time I left. He has a very strong idealism, which no matter what you think about it, is hard not to catch it at least while you are listening. It seems, though, that the challenges that he faces a GIGANTICALLY HUGE. I felt many times during the lecture that I almost wished I hadn’t come because if something bad happens to him I will feel very unhappy. Now its personal. The vision he paints for Georgia is really beautiful… I kept thinking of one family I met in the Czech asylum-seekers camp who were from Georgia. But can he do it? Will it work? It has only been three months. I don’t know.

Peter cooked a great beef soup for dinner for this week. We have not eaten it yet but it smells good and contains turnips. We are both tired after a weekend that didn’t give us enough time to do everything we needed to do.

“I should have’s” are running through my head. And at the end of this long day, I don’t have the strength to fight them off. Instead I thought that my best protection was writing this update and thinking about you all, who I love.

uh oh!
I should have read Free Trade Today by Jagdish Bhagwati I should have read about the history of Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Chechnya.

hmmm…
That’s not so bad. Those are the only two things that jumped to my head. Two is not bad at all!

Nothing to do with writing jumps to my head because somehow I know clearer how stupid it is to try to write an essay when you are tired than I know how stupid it is to try to read when you are tired.

I really want to write to you about work and school - but now is not the time. Maybe sometime soon. Things are very exciting. I am learning a HUGE amount at both places and it is stuff that I really need to learn.

An exciting thing in the news: Peter’s mother will be here (the US) for all of March. We are greatly looking forward to seeing her and hanging out.

Other news:
Peter just bought a new computer and a DVD writer. Both these things were necessary because he continues to increase and expand his photographic pursuits (the better the photos, the bigger they are, and the more space you need to store and work with them.)

Pippin is having a VERY affectionate day. This means that no matter where I am sitting or for how long, Pippin is there on my lap. He has gotten very cranky with me when I have tried to move him!! Why didn’t God create us so that we have laps at all times? That is what Pippin is asking!

P.S. Just so that you are clear: while a cabbage is really a turnip at heart, it doesn’t smell like one. If you think it does, you are wrong.

Today is valentine’s day. For Peter and I, that doesn’t mean much. We don’t really celebrate. Today we celebrated Paris. We went down to the village about mid-day to buy some cheese with a gift certificate to a gourmet cheese shoppe. And so began the celebration.

Of course, if you are in the US but have visited Paris and happen upon a gourmet cheese shoppe where price is no object, you will seek excellent brie. (This goes without saying, as the brie cheeses that the normal American can buy are so vile that as a rule they are not bought.) Therefore, as you have guessed, Peter and I sought and found an excellent brie. We also found some blue cheese and some smelly cheese which do not figure centrally in this story.

We, then, having purchased the said cheese, walked around the west village in search of photogenically interesting vistas. Very shortly after we left the cheese shoppe, we were standing in a small triangular island. Peter was preparing to take a picture. I was standing there trying to imagine the space as a stranger would see it if in New York for the first time. Perhaps Paris was already on my mind, on account of the brie. Or perhaps the place really does have a little bit a Paris in it. Which ever it was, I was strongly struck by the similarity of this square (or triangle, I should say) to the square where Peter and I sat to eat breakfast having just emerged into Paris from the metro for the first time ever at 6:10 am on a Sunday morning. I tried to recapture that overwhelming majestic new found feeling as I stood looking out from the square today.

Peter took some pictures of the buildings around. I asked him to take a picture of the pigeons on the window ledges, perhaps because they looked striking sitting there in a row, perhaps because I was remembering the pigeons who ate our crumbs as we crunched our Wasa bread that chilly Paris morning.

We walked on for a while, chatting, watching for interesting views. I was thinking about having kids and being happy. It is not so far off now. Springtime brings these kinds of thoughts to me. When I was single, I remember that springtime used to bring me thoughts of love. Now they bring me longings for babies. It isn’t spring yet, but today held the promise.

After a walk along the Hudson River, we returned home by way of the store. In order to really celebrate Paris, we picked up a bottle of Bourgeon to drink with our brie. That is the celebration we just finished. The brie and the wine are gone, as well as a small piece of the smelly cheese, but the memories and the pleasure still strongly linger.

I didn’t realize that I loved Paris as much as that.

An update. An update. Yeah. Yeah. An update.

There is not enough time for everything in the world! And there is not enough time to worry about there not being enough time for everything in the world. However, stand that as it may, there should always be time for an update. I just looked back through the old ones to see if I could find some information I needed about our stay in Prague. I realized while I was doing that, that if I don’t write updates I will not be able to see what happened in my life. Now I will have no idea what was going on during 2003.

But I am determined to write down what is going on during 2004. And this is the beginning!

I think one reason that it is hard these days to write updates is that there is so much going on. Every time I sit down, I do so with the intention of explaining it all. Since it is an overwhelming task I immediately give up before I have written one paragraph. Therefore, I do not promise that my 2004 updates will be informative, I only promise that they will be.

On that note, I was just trying to write an e-mail to invite a DJ that Peter and I know to invite him come to a conference we are holding at work on the connections between Hip Hop and youth development. I couldn’t get out a first sentence. I kept wanting to write something like “hello. I am a fan” or ” I am writing to you to request…” or “I would like to invite…” None of these is in the least inspiring - so I decided to write an update instead. (A wise decision - affirming and fun). Probably, I should write “Help. Help. We need your Help.” That should get his attention, yes?

Deans at Columbia University are not very very friendly. I apparently did a bad thing by not taking statistics in my first year - so I had to go to the Dean for a “behavioral check” meeting. In a “behavioral check” meeting the staff at Columbia University strive to remind Columbia students that no matter how old you are or what other responsibilities you hold in your life, that you are in fact taken by Columbia to be a stupid obstinate child bent on taking less than serious classes which will lead to a less than optimal future. I can’t imagine how they are able to treat all their graduate students like that. But they seem to.

For now, that is all. I must pay attention to Kisco who is getting on Peter’s last nerve by meowing repetitively.