More revolutions, and also, the redcoats came...

This is a political rally about the recent dissolution of parlament in the center of Kiev this weekend. The state department told me not to go because of the danger of politcal turmoil and civil unrest...


...but I showed them. It turned out to be about as dangerous as this bucking, metal lion...


So this past weekend my 3 friends from Britain came to visit me here in Kiev. (front to back: Jared, Matt, Lucie, Liz) Liz and Lucie came from England and my friend Matt is working in a small russian town called Armavir. I met these guys last year when I was doing some training in Oxford and it was a pretty sweet time.

Anyway, while they were here we got to walk around the city and do some touristy stuff. All this in the middle of town where there was a political rally for the pro-Russian, Regions Party. We walked in and out of the crowds that were gathered on the main square as well as throughout the underground mall underneath the square.



The people in these pictures are mostly old women and working men from the East of Ukraine, where the pro-Russian sentiment is strong. I didn't know this at the time, but just about all the people at this rally were paid like $20-$30 per day to stand out here. The pro-Western party also pays it's "protestors", but only along the lines of $10 a day. This is pretty good money here in Ukraine...especially for not having to do anything but listen to music...

They have some small tent cities set up and a large stage where there was Ukrainian hip/hop, Elvis impersonations, and myriads of dancing girls clad spandex. I mean, nothing says "I love Russia" like Western inspired hip-hop, Elvis and scantily clad women....Daaaahhhhh.

I took some video of our days around town and I'll get them up here as soon as I have a chance to edit them. Probably this coming weekend.
From Left to Right: Me, Lucie, Amberly, Matthew, Liz


Anyway, I was really blessed by having "the brits" come to visit. We talked about a lot of stuff while there were here. From personal catch up to major spiritual issues, theology, philosophy...why Americans are better than Brits...I mean, you name it we talked about it. We also worshiped together adn and prayed a good bit. It was friggin' awesome to have that many people crammed into our apt. Joel, Amberly (American missionaries here) and I really got reenergized by these peppy people. It was a really sweet time for me to catch up with friends and act like a loud, obnoxious tourist for once :-)


I do enjoy the brit sense of humor...

Anyway, there are some warnings about violence and whatnot, but really life is just going on here as normal. Except for a few rallies and a few more Easterners...life is pretty much the same.

It's wierd when your government can be in a state of upheaval but life can still continue on as normal... I guess Ukrainians are just used to it...



I'll end this blog with a sad but true snapshot of Kievian life...

If you are a foreigner, and you want to get married to a Ukrainian girl...just walk the main street. Sad but true...

Discover

Now you too can discover the newest tunes that are setting the recording industry on it's collective ear. Yuse these sights to help you figure skate you're way into the future of music.


Pandora


The Hype Machine


If you use these sites, you'll become so cool that all the girls will flock to you and point at you when you think they are pointing cause you are awesome but really they are because your shirt came slightly untucked while you were greasing the dance floor with your smooth moves and some of the red from your british flag boxers sticks out of and makes everybody think that you think that you are way cooler than you really are while at this wedding I went to last weekend where I got 3 day food poisoning from eating some bad fish.

You really should listen to these sites.

You've got mail...

So this was there waiting for me in my inbox. Kyiv might get a little crazy this time around.
I actually hope that this will get people worked up. There seems to have been some politcal apathy as of late. Imagine if Bush just up and decided that congress sucked and that he wanted to disband them and get a new one...strange. I'll keep you posted...

Dear friends and Wardens,

In light of press reports of possible demonstrations in central Kyiv, the Embassy would like to remind Americans to be aware of their security and to avoid large public gatherings and demonstrations. Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence. You are therefore urged to avoid the areas of demonstrations if possible, and to exercise caution if within the vicinity of any demonstrations, as well as assess their impact on traffic and transportation. Americans witnessing violent or unusual activities should leave the area and then report any potentially illegal activities to the police or to the Embassy. The Embassy's 24-hour telephone number is +38 044 490 4000.

The Department of State has issued the following Press Statement yesterday, April 3, 2007:

Press Statement
Sean McCormack, Spokesman
Washington, DC
April 2, 2007

Decree of President Yushchenko Disbanding Ukrainian Parliament

In light of President Yushchenko’s decision today ordering the dissolution of Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, the United States calls on all Ukrainian political leaders to take full responsibility for their supporters’ actions and to maintain calm. We are monitoring closely developments in Ukraine and urge all parties to respect the rule of law and resolve disputes nonviolently, in a manner consistent with Ukraine's democratic values and national interests.

End of statement text.