Once more on my way

So there are only three more days to go. Till Wednesday I have to make my loundry, pack my suitcase, buy a lot of stuff (I still need a bra, shoes as always, cosmetics, medicines), meet with few people, because ones are leaving and new are coming back. The list is much longer, I bet I will be preparing myself to go in the last seconds before leaving.

1. My next destination - Alexandria, Egypt

This is really an amazing city on the Mediterranean Sea two hours by train from Cairo. I was already in different places in Egypt, but I have to say that Alex is the only place I can live, I mean I can feel comfortable and not feel like a tourist. This is the only place were I can feel comfortable while walking down the street and even people are not attacking me and forcing to buy something.

I simply love to set in the local place, smoke shisha and chat with people around me. I still remember when I was alone in one of those places. And there was manager coming to me, offering me free drinks to taste (same special kind of sweet tea), then someone wanted to play taula, so I took a challange. Unfortunately I was not able to make any move by myself, because there was 10 people advising me what to do.

2. My work over there

So I am not going there for 3 months to lay on the beach and drink beer. Those who knows me a bit will know that I will be bored after two days. I am going there to make so called internship (but it won't be really). This time I will work with kids. With three more girls I will be organizing birthday parties for kids (mostly between 4 and 12 years old). As far as I know I should have fun with them, take care, suggest plays, play with them.
Te best in this work is that I will be all the time outside. The organization has a special center for kids. It is placed in the gardens next to the beach. They do have a lot of fun stuff for kids. It really looks it might be a lot of fun. Although I have never worked with this target group.

3. Living in Alex

I just realized that I am startin each new thought from "so", and I have to change it;) "So" I will be working and living in el Agamy, that is in the south from Alex, the summer place there rich egyptians have their summer houses, there are beaches and bars. I talked with few people and same of them told me it's really nice place, and same of them said it's awful.
I will share flat with 3 other girls - two from the Netherladns and one from Greece. I just have seen them on facebook, and talk with them a bit, but it looks fun, and I guess it might be really cool. I simply love having roomates. I was missing it since last December.
Right now I have to think what to take to decorate my place to feel good over there. My idea was to make home-warming party and ask all my friends to bring one photo with them, which can be after move to my other "homes". I think I will start this in Alex, developing and collecting cool photos on my walls. This might be something stable in my life:D

European elections - chances for a great turnout?

I shouldn't write this post today, because it is already the voting day in most of the European countries. And it is a common rule that the day before elections nad during the election day it is not allowed to promote any of the candidates. I would like to concentrate on the turnout and the general engagement in the elections then on concrete people, but unfortunately I will have to write down few names.

First, European Elections are always counted as this second category ones. In my textbooks I have found information that only people who had their political careene behind them, and those who don't have enough experience to get to the national parliament are the candidates to EU parliament. It has changed in Poland. I would suggest that the only, or the main reason why the most famous politicians want to get into the EU Parliament is only financial - MEP's are getting much higher salaries and much more money for their offices then the politicians in the country. Therefore today we will see many famous names whila casing a vote.

But I would like to focus rather on the expected turnout. During the last elections in 2004 we had almost the lowest turnout (20,42%), just after Slovakia (16.66%). There were of course countries with tunrout over 80% like Malta (82.37%), Luxemburg (90%) or Belgium (90.81%), where the voting is mandatory, and I want to compare Poland to those countries, but the avarage turnout was 45,5% and unfortunately Poland was very far from this result.

This time the turnout in Poland might be high. Under "high" I understand high for the Polish conditions, it means for sure lower then in the national elections, but not that low as last time. In 2007 in the parliamentary elections we have turnout: 53,88%, in 2005 it was only 40,57%, and in 2001 it was 46,29%. Looking on those numers, taking into the account that the elections to EP are still new and not so many people (especially older generation) doesn't understand that, I would say that the high turnout we can have will be over 35%.

What are the reasons, why I think that this time there will be bigger interests then last time:

1. a lot of famous candidates - this campaing started already very dynamic with the question who will candidate. And from the very beginning all the political parties in Poland were presenting very famous people, even those who are right now having important functions in the country. There was already a lot of discussions about Zbigniew Ziobro, who was in the last goverment very controversial Minister of Justice, but on the lists you will find a lot of people from the current parliament and the local goverment structures.

2. There was no campaign to European Parliament, it was the national campaign - unfortunately the public discussion about Europem and EP was almost not existing. But I still have in my mind the TV spots of conservative party, who was refering to the national elections of 2007, and saying that till not the liberal party haven't done nothing for Poland, and therefore we should vote on conservative one. Acctually almost all spots was about the current situation in Poland, what the current goverment haven't done and how this party will fight for Polish rights in european parliament. I have to say it - was really disgust with all this campaign

3. The 20th universary of polish freedom - on 4th of June we had 20th universary of the first free elections in the whole Central adn Eastern Europe which tool place in Poland. That time in 1989 the society could organize themselves, go to vote, and thanks to them 99% of seats in Senat and 100% of seats (those which were the subject of the elections) went to the opposition. It was only possible becouse of the huge turnout and peoples involvement. And this year during this universary it was the popular slogan, that we got already rights, and right now we have to use those rights. And how the future will look like depends on us, therefore we should go and vote. Maybe when I am writing this, it sounds obvious and silly, but what I have seen that day was really impressive and this message got to a lot of people

4. People's engagement - I doon't know what is the general involvement in the elections. I suppose it is a bit higher then last time, and people knows already a bit more, what MEPs do, and how does it works. I don't see a lot on streets, but two days ago I was really nicely surprised. There was an old lady in the bus with the small leaflets with the candidate's name and list. And she was giving out them to the people in the bus and talking to her. When we got out I had to say few words, simply get to know for whom is she aggitating. Well obviously she was for the conservative party, and it was hard to talk to her, when we get into the topic of values (because it is all about what is more important for you - I was talking about human rights and development aid and she was talking about subsidies for children and families). What I was amazed about, is that she was doing it. I told her that maybe I have different candidate, but appreciate her work, becuase it is what civic society is all about.

Maybe this story with this lady will be described later on, the contend of our conversation etc.

Right now is time to go and vote:)

20 years of freedom

Exackly 20 years ago there were first free elections in Poland, and in the whole Central and Eastern Europe. 20 years ago we made comunism collapsed. Many people in the world associate end of comunism with the fall of the wall. For me it was the 4th of June 1989. This is a date of the first free elections.

How does it happened? I don't want to go very deep into the history, although it is very interesting. Worth mentioning is that the process of liberalization of the system looked totally different from country to country. Taking the example of hungary this process started after 1956, the similar situation was in Czechoslovakia, where after the Prague Spring in 1968 there was no big crisis. In Poland there were very visible changes in the system in the beginning of 80's, for example the trade unions were legal, as well many other things. In 1980 the Solidarność (trade union) was created. But in December 1981 the home war in Poland started, the goverment attempted to destroy the union and the years of repressions began. This is the main difference between comunism in Poland and other countries (I am not talking about Balkans and countries in Asia).

Then in late 80's there was a huge consolidation and union of people. The very strong movement around Solidarity became once more active. This forced the goverment to start talking with Solidarity-led opposition. The talks tool place on the famous round table, and there was the agreement to organize the first free elections.

Those elections wasn't totally free, in the literature they are called semi-free, but it was already the important step, because for the first time in the history comunists let opposition run to the parliament. The election to the lower chamber (Sejm) were not totally free. During the round table, both sides agreed that 65% of Seats in Sejm will be for Communist Party and its satellite parties. Only 35% of remining seats were a subject of election. For all those seats both communists and the opposition could compete, but there was no competition. Polish society decided that all those 35% of seats will be given to Solidarność. Similar things happened in Senate (higher chamber), where we had totally free elections. 99 out of 100 seats won people from Solidarity. Therefore the first non-communistic goverment in the Central and Eastern Europe was created.

I am really praud of this history. I was watching news all the day. First when the president of my city with few people involved in the elections in 1989 announced that they want to establish the day of 4th of June the Day of Freedom.

In the evening there were plenty of concerts from different cities - Gdansk, where of the shipyard everything happened and Warsaw. Listening to those concert I realized that I know what is my culture. I have always had this problem - what to do during international evenings (during different international events). I was having problem to define in what kind of country I live, what is typical. Right now I have a hint. That are all those bands and songs created in the 80's and beginning of 90's. All of them political, all of them went through cenzorship, all of them amazing and so meaningfull. I love this polish rock with the deep meaning of lirics.

In the end of one concert there was Scorpions playing the song "Wind of change". I am not sure how many people is aware that this song was created in 1990, after what have happened in Poland and the other countries. And this change in the title, it is the end of communism, the new era in our lives, the end of repression, end of cold war, and FREEDOM and PEACE.

Here are the few songs, which are very important for me, and are ery connected with this day.

Wind of Change - the Scorpions


Po co ta wolnosc - KULT


W życiu piękne są tylko chwile - DZEM