All downhill after this

Even more than Christmas, this is the day I dream about: once we’re past it, there’s promise of longer days. It was like this in North Dakota, and I’m not sure if it was better or worse there, but it’s just super bleak when you can get up, hit the treadmill for a solid hour, shower, eat breakfast and check email – and it’s still not even close to sunrise.

Today, the sun rose at 9:26 and will set at 4:49. I can’t confirm that because it’s also 30 and cloudy all day, but that’s a step up from the last day I checked, when it was 28 and cloudy all day.  And what’s really sad to a native Floridian is that at this point, 30 – or even 28 – as downright balmy, at least if it’s not humid and snowing.

At the chocolate factory store

 So, like when I lived in Minot, I view it as once I make it through the winter solstice, I can make it through winter. Yeah, it only gets more and more cold after this, but at least the days get longer. Right now, I commute to work in the dark both ways. It’s just bleak.

 I’m intent on getting my steps in and an easy, but sometimes bitterly cold, way to do this is by walking home by the river, which I love. I normally take a one-hour walk home if it’s not too bad, but one day recently I took the really long way, which is an hour and a half. That was a mistake because not only was it extremely dark and cold but also because the stretch after Gorky park had a layer of ice on the walkway. This is not a detriment to Belarusians; they hustle right by me. But I am terrified of slipping and falling, and both my lack of balance and the residual knot on my head from last year’s fall and subsequent concussion remind me I am not as sure-footed as everyone else.

October Square near my house.
This was at 7:45 a.m. on my way to work.

This December 21 feels like more of a milestone than the last one because it’ll be my last one in Minsk. I love Minsk but man, it’s dark in the fall. I cannot understand how people in Scandinavia, Alaska and Siberia must feel. So far this year, I haven’t had to drag out my happy lamp – starting the day with 2 miles on the treadmill gets the endorphins going – but as lovely as sundown at 10 p.m. is in June, it is not worth the tradeoff. I wake up in the middle of the night and have absolutely no feel as to what time it is. Could be 1 a.m.; could be 5 a.m. This morning, I managed to sleep late and woke up at 7:50 a.m. but I seriously thought it was the middle of the night. Nope. By that time in summer, I would have 7k steps and would still be walking.

But I’m doing the best I can still. Last week, even after doing four miles on the treadmill, I walked down to the chocolate factory to buy my Secret Santa gift. There’s a store essentially right across the street from my apartment, but I like the factory store better because I can just reach in and get how much I want instead of trying to explain to someone what I need – my Russian is terrible. Plus, I don’t want half a kilo of any given candy; I want two pieces of this, two pieces of that, etc. And man, it was the place to be, which make me want to speed through there. I’d been there a couple times before but there were quite a few people in there. Everyone was wearing masks – they’re finally enforcing that here – but basically it was just people on top of people and I hate that. Plus, I bought these awesome overpants that I wear outside – gamechanger! – and although they make walking even an hour and a half by the river totally bearable, they turn into thigh saunas when I am inside. I went to the big market a few weekends ago and couldn’t have been inside 10 minutes but I felt sweat running down my legs as I crammed my cartons of eggs into my bag. Great for the outdoors, but miserable indoors.

I'm a cliché

After spending my R&R in America, I came back to COVID raging and a required-for-work two-week self-quarantine. I wasn’t forbidden to go to the store or anything but couldn’t go into the office. For me, this may have well of meant no human contact because I can’t communicate with anyone else. 

To counter it and to do something productive, I signed up for an online class, and in participating in it, became a cliché. Yes, I gave a presentation while wearing a bathrobe.

The first week of working from home was brutal due to the class, which was 5 p.m. to midnight my time, which fell, theoretically, 7.5 hours into my normal workday. This was especially nightmarish on Tuesday when, due to local time zones elsewhere, I also had a 4:30 a.m. webinar.

These are the times when I am really glad I don’t use the camera on my laptop, because no one needs to see me straight out of bed (or even in bed) while wearing a “Peace Corps – We Run the World” jogging tank top.

Since the class was a solid eight hours, I didn’t mind if I took it easy during the day’s work, so suffering from both jet lag and something I’m fairly confident was(/is) a cold, I alternated checking emails with crashing on the sofa and watching “Schitt’s Creek.”

This, as many now know, is an awesome show that ran on the CBC in Canada, home of Hockey Night in Canada. (It never occurred to me they did other programming.) The episodes during its six-season run were under 25 minutes each, so it was fairly easy to crash and watch one and somehow, a mere two hours later, have completed half a season’s worth.

“Schitt’s Creek,” for those who don’t know, is the story of a family that loses its money and relocates into a small town the patriarch bought as a gag gift for his adult son. The actors who portray the father and son are real-life father and son and the mom is the Beetlejuice/Home Alone mom. There’s also a daughter and several other main characters. It’s all Canada nice; I was struck that the socialite daughter, who’s probably in her 20s, said please and thank you – something that would not ordinarily be written into most shows. Mostly I liked the fact that it went somewhere – there was a definite progression and growth of the characters. You don’t see that much in TV, and that made it a reason show. (Looking at you, Conners.) The son, who was pretty flamboyant, reminded me very much of a roommate I had in Detroit, who was one of the best roommates I’ve ever had.

Even including work and the class, completing that show was probably the most productive part of that first week back. I was just exhausted, even though I still walked every day. I just couldn’t get out of bed.

We’re in the crappy part of the year where the sun doesn’t show itself much. If it comes out at all, it’s not until after 9 a.m. and then it is gone by 5 p.m. It’s just bleak, but at least as of today I tell myself the days will start getting longer soon. (Countdown: 20 days!)

By the weekend of week 1, I decided that I could leave the house and took a long walk on Saturday, I think it was. Even hit a grocery store, but I had previously decided to do most shopping on Thanksgiving, after my massage. (Remember: it was self-quarantine, and I wore a mask the whole time.)

Shopping on Thanksgiving was fine here; obviously it’s not a holiday. But I was struck by two things: there appears to be no spinach in Minsk right now and, for some reason, there were Black Friday sales. Really? Black Friday is an American thing. How have we infected other countries with our commercialism?

Thanksgiving itself, the food part, as a sad little affair. I had decided to splurge and go to TGI Friday’s to get American food, but when I looked online at the menu, I saw that Tuesday is 2-for-1 burger day, so it seemed like if I got a burger it should be that day, and I saw the chicken – the closest I can get to turkey right now – came with sides of mashed potatoes and broccoli. Well, I make good mashed potatoes and have broccoli (but no spinach), so I just couldn’t justify an overpriced meal, especially at a dine-in restaurant during COVID. And why would I take chicken, broccoli and mashed potatoes home when I had chicken, mashed potatoes and broccoli at home?

In the end, it was tasty but still quite sad. I miss people. I can’t say I miss wearing a bra, but I miss people.

Belarus tractors ... so sexy!

Couple of weeks ago, I was out walking and passed by a display of a tractor show. I had been on my way to an event when I passed it and was running late, so I couldn’t stop and get photos, but after the event ended, I went back again for a closer look. Why, well, like #PaulOverstreet points out, tractors are sexy!

Tractors are a big deal in Minsk and Belarus; there’s a factory here: Minsk Tractor Works.  As my Russian skills are … lacking, I don’t really know if the exhibition was specifically for that factory or not, but I was totally sucked into the show, which, fortunately, was outside so I could wander around without feeling like I was risking COVID, although I did wear a mask.

Here’s a bit from their site:

Minsk tractor works was founded on May 29, 1946. Today the works, which employs more than 16000 people, has turned into one of the largest manufacturers of agricultural machinery not only in CIS countries, but also worldwide. And the famous trademark “Belarus” is of great value to us — not only commercial, but also to a certain extent patriotic.

Unfortunately for my photo ops, I wasn’t the only one sucked into it I think every little boy under the age of 5 was there with his mom or dad. I saw a few little girls, but it there were mostly boys interfering cheerfully with my attempts to take pictures without anyone in them. (And yes, I would have totally taken a turn at the wheel myself had I had the chance, but it seemed kinda mean to shove the little boys out of my way.)

According to the one tractor’s paint job, it was the 75^th anniversary of something, but I’m not entirely sure of what since the company was founded in 1946. But it was really cook to browse around and see the old-timey farm equipment, which went beyond just tractors. 

Although Minsk is a European capital, the tractors are prominent here. The actual factory is in the area somewhere – the workers went on strike in protest of the elections at one point – and tractors are seen frequently on the streets. I can’t help but wonder if once in awhile in Paris or Madrid people see tractors in the middle of town, but we sure do here.

I see them outside my window. The photo of the orange one was taken outside my window, and today another one chugged by. At this point, I’m getting used to it but the first time it happened, I had been on the phone and was so surprised I think I broke my friend’s eardrum. I’m not sure how often people get a view of a KGB building and a tractor in one glance.

White, red, white

Today’s the day that the Belarus opposition, whom all but the current president recognize as having won the August 9 elections by collecting at least 60 percent of the vote, set as the day the current president resign from office. The current president, who is no longer considered president by the overwhelming majority of Belarusians and … well, pretty much most people, didn’t resign. No surprise there. He’s held onto power for 26 years – “Europe’s Last Dictator”—and claims to have won 80 percent of the vote.

Deadline time has come and gone, so we’ll see what happens next. The opposition leader, who is exiled in Lithuania, has called for strikes. What that means, I don’t know, but I’m staying by my phone in case we have any alerts of anything.

 here’s no expectation of violence, but it could be that people don’t go into work tomorrow and continue to protest. (NOTE: reiterating again that “protests” here equate people walking along the sidewalks with flowers. These are not violent protests whatsoever.) I may not have internet and there could be police standing around tomorrow.

They do that every weekend and today I realized I’ve become somewhat immune to it. I walk early on the weekends to be in by the 2 p.m. protest start – Saturdays there are women’s marches and then the general ones are on Sunday – to walk. This morning I’d walked by several of the pro-government trucks that carry the enforcers before realizing they were there. I guess it’s just a given that the squares will be blocked off and there will be uniformed thugs every so many meters. I just walk right by them.

The pro-government buses are distinguished by the Belarusian flags. The pro-opposition protestors have adopted the “white, red, white” flag. It was the official flag when Belarus was declared a republic in 1918. The whole republic thing didn’t last long, but the flag re-emerged after the fall of the USSR. At this point, it basically means “not Lukashenka.”

It’s everywhere, too. Once you realize what to look for, you see white-red-white all over. People very subtle intertwine it sometimes, but often it’s boldly displayed. In those cases, the pro-government gets out really quick to paint it over or remove it.

Still, white-red-white persists. I have no idea where people buy red and white umbrellas, but I see people using them every day. (It rains here as much as it does in London.) The funny thing is, once you start looking you can find the pattern in lots of weird places. You know the road barricades that normally come in orange in America? They come in both red and white here, and normally they alternate colors. I found it funny that in the construction across from the sitting president’s palace, there is a half-kilometer stretch of white-red-white-red-white barricades.

Red and white ribbons hang from trees; rogue graffiti artists spray paint red stripes on the signs featuring white-painted silhouettes that mark which sidewalk lane is for walking and which is for bikers. (The school crossing sign, which has a big person walking a little person, can be found with a police stick added to the big person, giving the illusion of that one beating down the little one. I haven’t seen one of those but have seen them in the press.)

 I snap photos of all I run into and am constantly surprised by the creativity – and the ballsiness. Of the three pictures in this post, the flag – I couldn’t rotate it on the blogspot software – was on a walk by the river and was painted over fairly quickly.

The series of planters have been covered up as well; they are off the beaten path and lasted a little longer. They’re in the courtyard area of my apartment building.

The big-ass flag wasn’t near my house; a colleague saw it as he set out on a bike ride; it was gone by the time he came back. Word had it that firemen were dispatched to take it down; the fireman who wound up with it tossed it off to a protester, who ran off with it. Maybe we’ll see it again. If not that, I’m sure there will be plenty more.

No idea how this is going to turn out, but it really is fascinating witnessing a revolution.

Up, up and away

Weekends have been fairly boring for awhile. The days are getting a lot shorter, the sun goes missing, rain threatens and it’s normally bleak looking outside. Summer is definitely gone and the prelude to winter that’s fall is kind of depressing.

And then there are still protests, meaning I really can’t exit my apartment courtyard after, say 1 p.m. The protests are peaceful but I never know where they are going to be. Saturday’s protests are women’s marches, which means today I can peek out the window and see women wearing white-red-white scarves or carrying white-red-white umbrellas out for a walk. Occasionally, a driver will go by and lay on the horn, but for the most part, I see women carrying flowers, which are a symbol of protest.

There’s no telling when – or how – this is going to end, but it seems like it’s going to go on for awhile. The president here inaugurated himself a couple of weeks ago, prompting weekday protests in addition to the weekend ones, but nothing is resolved. Belarus un-invited several EU countries’ ambassadors, leading a couple of others to depart in solidarity.

Meanwhile, we’re still without an ambassador. There’s one lined up but still has to be confirmed by the Senate, and, let’s face it, as much as we need an ambassador here, there are more pressing domestic issues. At this point, no one expects her to arrive until mid-November at the earliest.

That thwarted my hopes of taking off the first two weeks in December. I had no place to go, but if I don’t use just over a week of annual leave, I will lose it and I don’t want to that happen. Considering we’re supposed to “quarantine” where we go, I figured I’d just have to be gone two weeks. I have a virtual class planned for the third week in December, so taking off the first two seemed reasonable.

Now, though, knowing we *might* get an ambassador soon after, I can’t count on that. My additional wrinkle is that so long as the ambassador doesn’t have an assistant, I will fill in. Essentially, I’m pretty much counting on not going anywhere from the time she arrives – whenever that might be – for at least a month after and possibly longer. I’m perfectly fine with that; it’s just that I don’t want to lose my week of vacation.

Still, knowing I’m trapped here makes me kind of want to get out, so it was a relief when we got a TDYer who came to post by car. She hoped to explore a bit on weekends and I offered to tag along. (So considerate, I know.)

We’re limited in range because of the time; she needed to be back by 2 p.m. or something, so I got on Viator and poked around for a place to go and came up with a little outdoor museum that’s only a half-hour from the central part of the city, if that. IT’s called the Belarusian State Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural life, and it mainly consisted of wood buildings depicting life in the late 1800s in Belarus. I love stuff like that, and it was a non-crowded area in which to walk around.

They had little homes and buildings set up to show what life was like throughout the country during the late 19^th and early 20^th century, including a little tavern, a couple windmills, a church and a school.

Just as we were getting ready to turn into the place, Colleague saw an ultralight flying around, and we thought, wow, that’s pretty cool; I wonder where they take off from. Immediately upon entering the museum, we discovered it: right there.

My Russian isn’t good enough to query about it, but Colleague discovered it only cost about $20 for a 10-minute ride and asked if I wanted to do it. She said she didn’t because she’d been up in a little plane and had gotten sick.

Me? YES. Absolutely.

My only hesitation is that it was chilly and a bit overcast, but the place had this giant jacket for me to borrow so I tossed it on over my LL Bean barn coat. (Upon return, I learned I could have borrowed snow pants, too, and should have – it was COLD.)

Oh, it was so much fun. All we did was a giant circle but it was beautiful. I thought I’d be able to take photos, but they – fortunately – also loaned me some gloves in Shaquille O’Neal’s size. Trying to take a photo would have put either the phone at risk due to clumsiness or my fingers from frostbite, so I just took it in. There was one shot I regretted missing – an overhead (obviously) view Belarusian tractor working a field – but other than that, it was mostly just pretty landscape. Seeing the little open-air museum from the air gave me a good perspective of how big it was, too.

If you’d have asked me on Friday what I would do this morning, that would have been a blip on the conscious-o-meter, but boy, it was fun.

Dog gone

 Well, I’m dogless again, and it’s going to stay that way. Shelby isn’t in America yet, but she’s going to catch a ride with a colleague on October 1. The colleague covers Belarus but lives in Vilnius and last week he made his last trip here and took Shelby back. It was pretty hectic down the line to get her ready but we did and she’s gone. At the minute, she has a temporary stepbrother and they’re having a ball.

I miss her but there’s just no way I can get a dog in this lifestyle. Shelby’s mom is paying close to $1k to get her back to America and let’s face it, I’m too cheap for that.

She left me on a Thursday and that night I washed the blanket I kept in the window for her and then Friday I spent several hours cleaning the rug she’d been sick on the previous week. It looks perfectly fine now, but I’m not going to eat off of it, that’s for sure.

And I miss her. For two days, I kept looking for her and it took longer than that to remember I shouldn’t leave a spoonful of food to mix with her kibble. Today I dropped popcorn on the floor and looked around for the canine Hoover before I realized I’d have to pick it up.

But as a result of not having a four-legged dependent, I can take longer and farther walks than I did before. Yeah, I could have technically done them with her but not without carrying her backpack with water and bowls, plus I make better time without her because I don’t stop and sniff every nine inches.

Last Sunday, I took 20k steps before 1 p.m. I went up the river from my house all the way to Victory Park, which is much farther than I’ve been so far, at least on foot. I found a little island in the river that boasted of being a good bird-watching spot. I didn’t see any birds, but I didn’t see any other humans, either. It was entirely peaceful and I’d totally do that walk again, although I’d pack my own water bottle. I was gone much longer than I anticipated.

When I popped back up on the main road, I realized I was about out book fair had been way back when people were allowed to go out in public without masks.  At that point, I decided I’d hit a grocery store and grab a candy bar and then head back, but when I followed the directions from the phone to the grocery store, I found it wasn’t open that day. I wasn’t the only one trying to get in, so I think it might have been a protest game-day decision to close.

At that point, though, I was tired but had talked myself into a candy bar, which at that point I felt I deserved. I headed home by way of another grocery store and got luckier when I ran into a different store that worked out. It had some of the really good Ukrainian chocolate (Roshen) and I got some frozen Thai veggies to mix with my rice at lunch.

So life is fairly boring without a dog, but I’ll adjust. The weather is changing – already – and I am honestly glad to not be walking her at 6:30 in the morning. It’s already pretty chilly outside and I do not look forward to winter.

With Shelby, I was easily able to get in 10k steps a day, but now that’s a challenge. Fortunately, I now have a hand-me-down treadmill and have finished out evenings trying to get in a little workout before bed, which sometimes means walking at a brisk pace in my PJs and slipper feet. I’m vowing to start running again but that doesn’t sound like the best of ideas at put-up-ot-shut-up time. Walking is so much easier, and since it appears the Minsk half-marathon was canceled this year – it was supposed to be last Sunday ... there’s no incentive.

But walking is something I’m pretty faithful to and it’s certainly helped me keep off the COVID-15.Protests continue but the government is shutting down many of the areas where people protest so they’re not walking by my window anymore. I do, however, see various types of trucks and vans parked outside my window on Sundays, where the “OMON” and other enforcers hang out.

People are still being rounded up and detained, but I no longer have a front-row seat for it. I’m not sure how to feel about that.

It's fairly easy to see how Belarusians still feel, though. See the photo taken of a cartoonist's rendition of the "OMAN" enforcers. I saw it on the sidewalk on my way to work one morning this past week. It was thoroughly covered by the time I went home.

Dog days of summer

 

 

 

Summer is winding down buy my loaner canine and I are out making the most of the days that are left, covering at least 10k steps a day but usually more. On weekends, we tend to hit 10k steps by 9 a.m.

I call this park Squirrel Park

 The rain’s come again and between that and the protests, it’s hard to get out much later in the afternoon. It’s raining now. Shelby just asked to go out and I figured she needed to pee but she had me standing in the rain for 10 minutes but she just sniffed.

 She’s quite a sniffer. She’s a Ukrainian street dog and they must be sniffers. She roots out street food constantly and I wonder if that’s what caused her little stomach problems earlier this week. 

 Sunday, with the protests in full swing, she got the runs. I could see riot police out my window but when the dog needs out, she needs out.

 I’d run out of one of her brands of food – I’ve been mixing two – and gotten a Purina kind. She does not like it and stalls eating it. The pieces are bigger than the other food I mix in but I notice that she eats around the Purina to get to the other. I also loaded her Kong with it and she’s ignored that for days.

 Sunday night, we went to bed after a late walk and I hoped she would wake me up in case of emergency. She did not, but when she wasn’t in my room in the morning, I knew something was wrong. Indeed, my embassy-provided rug looked like it lost a paintball game.  The poor baby.

 So this week, in my spare time, I’ve been scrubbing the carpet. We made it through Tuesday, but the same thing happened on Wednesday. I think she is doing better now, though, and she is on and off eating the Purina.

I got her a couple of other treats from the pet shop on Saturday, including this bone that I thought was rawhide but appears to be indestructible. I figured, much like this bacon-looking stuff I also got, that one would last maybe an afternoon so I got two, but a week later she hasn’t even dented the first one.

I have taken up all of my rugs and locked them in the guest room, so the floors are all hardwood. When I throw the bone down the long hall, she just skids down the length of it. We do that over and over, so that’s why I’m thinking she’s all right now. She loves it and it’s a fairly good indoor workout.

She also loves to sit out on my balcony. She came with a lounge chair cushion and that’s where I tossed it; she just loves to sit in the sun, when there is sun. It faces east, and when I finish breakfast and start walking back there in the morning, she runs ahead and dances at the sliding glass door so I can let her out. She lays on the cushion like a queen and allows me to brush her. We do it every morning and normally at least once more during the day. It’s kind of incredible that she still sheds.

We do long walks in the morning and I’ve come to realize that there are some really idiotic dog owners out there. One morning, probably 7 of the 10 other dogs we ran into were not leashed and the dogs just came running up to us. I really try to steer Shelby away from other dogs and it gets annoying when you see another dog and owner and try to avoid them but they see you and come over anyway. But the unleashed ones are the ones that are really annoying because they are unpredictable.

Sunday's reality show

Shelby has made lots of friends, though, and there’s a big area we pass where a lot of people run their dogs. There is a couple that have two dogs, a Lab-ish and some kind of Corgi/terrier-one. We’ve seen them there on weekends at about a certain time, and Shelby has it figured out. Saturday she almost jerked my arm out of the socket trying to get to them. She runs wild after them and tires herself out quickly, which is fortunate for me.

We also met a Great Dane who slobbered all over her. Shelby is very spooky and the Great Dane owner thought she was intimidated by her dog, but in reality, she’s just as spooked by a Yorkie. Recently, she went up and sniffed a fisherman’s bag and jumped back as something in it flapped around. I laughed and laughed, and so did the fisherman.

Other than Shelby, it’s just protests on the weekend. They continue to be peaceful, with people holding hands in a line or carrying flags, flowers and balloons. The president is pulling out the intimidators, who are unloading outside my window, but for the most part, it’s just masked men standing around with shields and sticks. I see the media reports where people are reporting around my neighborhood, but I don’t see it from my window, which is where I’m planted on Sunday afternoons.

Yesterday, the protests went up a road that runs perpendicular to mine a block away. (The president is now having one of the big squares cordoned off early in the mornings, so the crows divert to other places and no longer parade down the main road.) Shelby was still feeling a bit wonky and I had to take her out during the time when the “police” were standing around. I just said “excuse me” and went around them.

You say you want a revolution

Unless you’re been living under a rock, you’ve seen what’s been going on in Belarus. The elections were last Sunday and on Monday it was announced that Europe’s last dictator, Lukashenka, won with 80 percent of the vote. And people say there’s no way that happened.

BBC News photo

Election observers, of which I was one, saw things that were highly irregular. Independent observers weren’t allowed in and were hanging outside. We talked to them and they said their numbers, especially for early voting, were well under the announced numbers. Their informal polling also had the opposition candidate, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, winning by 70-80 percent, whereas Lukashenka announced she’d gotten less than 10 percent of the vote. He also said, “Our society has not matured enough to vote for a woman.”  

Tikhanovskaya is not a career politician. For those who haven’t been following, she jumped into the race late in the game and only because her husband, Sergey – who’s a popular blogger in Minsk – was set to run and then Lukashenka had him detained, as he did with another one of the opposition candidates.

 

ABC News photo

Tikhanovskaya’s entire platform was “I will free the political prisoners and in six month we will hold free and fair elections.” Her rallies drew thousands upon thousands. By all independent accounts, she won by a landslide, but that’s not what was officially announced. She went to file a formal complaint, was in the building for hours, then resurfaced in Lithuania, where she’d apparently fled.

 

Initially, there was a video described as a hostage video with her seeming to read a script saying not to protest, but two days later she called for peaceful protests, which have been going on since the election.

They’ve been peaceful on the part of the protestors, anyway. The riot police, who are straight out of The Hunger Games’ District 12, have been accused of torturing some of the 6700 people who have been detained. There have been lots of pictures of people who have bruises like the one I had when I had thrown off a horse. Just incredible, to the point where Amnesty International has spoken up.

On Friday, some of the detainees have been released and – and this is heartwarming – some of the riot police have been laying down their riot gear and embracing the protestors, saying they no longer will answer to Lukashenka and consider Tikhanovskaya as president.

Some major companies have gone on strike, including the tractor company, which has thousands of employees. (Lukashenka is on record as saying there were 20 people.)

CNN photo

Immediately following the election, the government shut off the internet, with I guess the assumption that people would not be able to assemble and protest, but that didn’t work. You hear car horns constantly and apparently that’s the signal. Whatever, the protests haven’t stopped.

Since we had no internet at home, most everyone went into work. (I’ve no understanding how we have internet there, but we did although it was slow.) My apartment is smack in the city center and it’s about a mile from work. On my walks home, I passed the riot police setting up on Monday and Tuesday. There were 10 minivans parked in a row in one area, all filled with cammo-wearing clothes. I  had to pass through a police barricade to get home, which really wasn’t a problem but was a bit offputting.

From my apartment, I can see the main road and I have been watching groups of people go by with the opposition flag, which is a white stripe, a red stripe and then a white stripe. On Thursday, the women came out, wearing white and carrying flowers. This is how the protests have been. There’s no looting, no one turning cars upside down or anything like that. It’s people standing side by side, holding up the “V” sign when cars drive by with horns blaring, and women wearing white holding flowers in a salute.

Daily Express photo

It’s a really powerful thing to watch, and I feel like I am observing history unfold. The people here want change – Lukashenka’s approval rating was 3 percent (yes, one digit) during his horrible COVID non-response – and there is a generation that’s come of age with only him in power.

Here’s Pompeo’s statement, which has been echoed by other heads of state in the region and elsewhere in the world:

The United States is deeply concerned about the conduct of the August 9 presidential election in Belarus, which was not free and fair. Severe restrictions on ballot access for candidates, prohibition of local independent observers at polling stations, intimidation tactics employed against opposition candidates, and the detentions of peaceful protesters and journalists marred the process. We regret that OSCE/ODIHR observers did not receive a timely invitation to monitor the vote. Free and fair elections, genuinely contested, are the basis for the authority and legitimacy of all governments.

We urge the Belarusian government to respect the rights of all Belarusians to participate in peaceful assembly, refrain from use of force, and release those wrongfully detained. We strongly condemn ongoing violence against protesters and the detention of opposition supporters, as well as the use of internet shutdowns to hinder the ability of the Belarusian people to share information about the election and the demonstrations.

As friends of Belarus, we support Belarusian independence and sovereignty, as well as the aspirations of the Belarusian people for a democratic, prosperous future. To achieve these goals, the Government of Belarus must prove through action its commitment to democratic processes and respect for human rights.

Your vote counts

 Florida’s primary is this month; I’ve already mailed in my ballot. I’ve been absentee voting since Peace Corps in 2007 and have never had a qualm with my vote not being received in time. Usually, though, I wind up getting my ballot well in advance of the spam I get from candidates. I mailed in my ballot a couple of weeks ago and just a couple days ago got an email from someone running for public defender. I don’t remember who I voted for.

 Today is election day in Belarus. The incumbent will win in what many will deem unfair elections. As it, a couple of the opposition candidates have been thrown in jail or run out of the country. In a couple of cases, the spouses of the candidates are running. It’s a big thing right now and there is going to be a country of unhappy people in about 48 hours when the winner is officially announced.

 For the first time in my Foreign Service career, I am in line to be an election observer. This means I’ll be dispatched to a couple of voting sites and I’ll simply report on what goes on. If I see anything wrong, I am to note it but not to try to correct it or anything. Just observe. I talked to someone who did this in another country and she observed people stuffing the ballot. No idea what might happen today, but I think it will be fascinating.

 COVID throws a wrench in it because I’ll have to do this masked. Masks in themselves are fine but oh man, they are awful to wear with glasses. I’ll be observing cool and then my glasses will go foggy and I won’t recognize what is going on.

 Other than work, we’re not supposed to leave the house today or tomorrow just in case. No one expects violence but when the protests gather (again, here that just means “a lot of people standing around clapping or honking cars horns) the police bring out the paddy wagons and start willy-nilly throwing people in jail. They stressed that we need to bring out diplomatic credentials and passport to the polling places today. Tomorrow I will work from home so there’s no concern there.

 My biggest concern today is leaving poor Shelby at home. She’s fine by herself but it guilts me. She loves to sit on my balcony in the morning and just soak up the sun. I discovered a fun podcast – Rewatched or something like that – that goes back and dissects movies that people watch over aand over. I sat out there brushing her for half an hour listening to one on “The Shawshank Redemption.” It’s a pretty fun podcast. I went over “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” this morning, too. It’s kind of addicting.

We thought for a hot minute that Shelby would be able to go home next weekend but it fell through. Her mom found a possible pet shipper but there was no room for her on the flight. Looks like it will be a couple more weeks.  I am thoroughly enjoying her, but her mom is going to get her back way less trained than she is. Her mom is pretty strict on her sniff time during walks and I just let her track whatever it is she’s tracking. As a result, I’m catching her eating street food a little too much. She looks like she’s just sniffing and all of a sudden I realize she’s gulped something down. There is an astounding amount of what appear to be chicken bones all over the green spaces in Minsk.

 Off to observe elections. Be sure to vote. At least in America, your vote counts.

This bitch sleeps around

 

Currently and for the indeterminate future, I am a dog mom. Really I’m only an aunt but it’s full custody until Shelby’s mom can figure out how to get her back to America.

Due to COVID and United Airlines’ current dog policies, she’s stuck being a Minsk mutt for at least a few weeks and more likely a couple of months. My hope is that she’s home in September or so but it’s likely going to be a little while longer. There are a couple of options to get her home, but until United says go, she stays.

It’s been a week, and so far, she doesn’t suspect anything; she has stayed with me this long before. She’s got to know something is up, though, because for the first time, her crate is over here, too.

It’s the dog days of summer and she is living it up. We go on at least four walks a day, two long and two short and we do at least 10k steps a day, usually more. Today, Sunday, we had that many in by breakfast.

In between walks, though, she has nothing to do and just sleeps. The walks tire her out, I think, and for the rest of the day, she just moves from one place to another, closes her eyes, and dozes off. Right now, she’s on the floor next to the kitchen table. In 10 minutes, she’ll probably move to under the table.

She’s sleeping all over my apartment, rotating through about seven spot in the TV area before lumbering off to the bedroom.

It’s hard to look at a domesticated dog like Shelby and think her ancestors used to spent all day hunting and scavenging. In between walks, all she does is sleep.

The most excitable it’s been was after a short rain. For some reason, that electrified her and she started darting around the apartment and kicking up my rugs. (Nonskid rug pads, my hind end.) We found a ball near the dog park and she had a lot of fun chasing it, but only for about 3-4 throws. She lost interest at that point.

Poor thing. Her life is in upheaval. She got baffled when she came over the first time, because we’d all been on the road trip and she got left with me and not her mom. She then went back to stay with her mom, but the house had been packed out and it looked different. Then I took her to work and, since my old office was being renovated, we worked out of a different building.  She didn’t like that much and barked at far more people than she usually barks at.

Now, my office is redone – and missing walls – but, other than tomorrow, she probably won’t be coming in because my new boss has arrived. I’m not sure how he feels like dogs, so between that and the new carpet, she will likely just sit at home all day and sleep. Not much different than now, but this way she’ll be excited when I come home. Now, I am basically furniture that feeds her.

Update: It didn’t take 10 minutes. I leave a window open so she can people-watch and a fly came in. It buzzed by and she leapt up to chase it. Now she’s curled up into her crate. She’s not a bad fly-catcher.

Got out of town

 At this point, everyone has cabin fever of some sort, so for the long Fourth weekend, three of us and Shelby the dog took a short road trip to Brest, which is right close to the border with Poland. (Brest, Belarus, nor Brest, France.)

We mostly wanted to go the forest and see bison, which are one of the animals that are well-known in Belarus. Stork and red foxes are a couple of others, but I really wanted to see the bison. In a perfect world, we could have spent days in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park and seen some in the wild, but it’s hardly a perfect world, so the three of us and Shelby went to the zoo in the park to see some caged bison. It was still very cool and maybe one day I can return and better explore the park, which dates back to the year 953. That’s three digits.

The zoo was over a fairly wide area, but it was still kind of sad to see. We’d heard tales about the bear who would open candy that people tossed at them, and people brought or bought all kinds of foodstuffs to feed them and all the other animals. There weren’t a wide range, really, because it was only animals that were found in the park.  We saw lynx (a “kitty kitty” that threw off Shelby), some boar, deer and some kind of horses that were a bit smaller than American horses. I’ve never seen any kind of horses in a zoo, so that was weird.

There were also two wolves in a rather large area, but not an area nearly large enough for wild wolves. The wolves, like most of the animals, were hovering near the fence for handouts, and our little quartet was away from the others because we had no interest in A) feeding wild animals or B) catching COVID. Shelby caught a glimpse of the wolves and was entranced. She stood on her hind legs with her front paws on the fence, just looking at her cousins. Suddenly, they caught a whiff of her and came bounding over. All the people feeding them became highly interested in Shelby, too, as both wolves rushed over to her and excitedly tried to make friends. My guess is they were saying “Get us out of here, Cuz!” But it was really cute. I’ve never seen a wild animal (such as they were) as interested in a domestic critter.

Grandfather Frost, otherwise known as Santa Claus, is from Belarus and has his home in the forest, so we went to that, too. He was there, wearing his summer outfit and greeting guests. Other than that, the park was a nicely shaded area with all kinds of fairy tale things, like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (remember, Disney didn’t create the story, he only cartoonized it), the Russian version of Pooh and Piglet, and things like the Chinese New Year animals and the like. We had a nice picnic lunch at one of the rustic tables before heading back to the entry area, which was where the museum and zoo were. The park is huge – it took about 20 minutes by bus to get there, and that was the only time we were in the company of others and wore masks.

The park was the main point of the trip, but we also went to the Brest Fortress, which is now a WWII museum. WWII – known as the Great Patriotic War in former Soviet countries – is really big here and it was nice to see the area. Here’s the Wiki description: “In the late 1960s, the construction of the war memorial complex Brest Hero Fortress was started. The complex was opened on September 25, 1971. The memorial complex is a national place of grief and pride, a popular tourist attraction. It comprises the barracks, gunpowder bunkers, forts and other fortifications, the museum of the defence, located on the site of the old fortress, along with the new monumental structures: the main entrance, the obelisk, the main monument, the sculpture ‘Thirst’.”

It was in an area with lots of bike paths and green space; there was another fortress-type area outside the main fortress. I was able to explore it pretty well because Shelby wasn’t allowed in the main area, so we took turns hanging on to her. I took lots of pictures of the dilapidated brick buildings, which I never tire of, before handing off Shelby and going into the main area.

The “Courage” memorial was the most imposing, of course, just because of its sheer size, but the “Thirst” one was most haunting. It had a soldier, body outstretched, panting for water and reaching for his helmet, which was filled with rainwater. But he’s frozen in time, so he’ll never be able to drink it.

Hopefully, I will get back, and if I do, assuming I am without a dog, I’d rent a bike and bike around. This is very much a biking country.

That day, we didn’t bike at all but walked A LOT and were dead tired. We were staying at someone’s guest house and the host was also a physiotherapist who had a sauna. Well, we were all over that. I got my first Russian massage – where you are beaten by branches and leaves. It  was super hot and kinda painful but man, I enjoyed it. And then I slept like a rock. Shelby, who did not get a massage, also slept like a rock and her poor mom had to sleep around her in a twin bed.

On the way home, we took a different route, stopping in three different communities. At one, we saw the ruins of … something. I didn’t have the guidebook so I don’t remember, but I love ruins. That’s one of the reasons I adored being in Istanbul. I had no idea I’d happen upon some in Belarus, so that was really cool. We also stopped at the hometown of Thaddeus Kosciuszko, who was a Polish-Lithuanian-Belarusian (borders have shifted through the years; several people lay claim to him) who fought in the Revolutionary War. He signed on with the Continental Army and fortified, among other cites, West Point. We have a bust of him on the compound, and there’s a bridge named after him in New York.  And now I’ve seen his homestead. Not bad.

 

Now, though, it doesn’t look like I’ll be going anywhere anytime soon. The elections here are mid-August and there are growing protests here and elsewhere in the country. When they’re here, they’re right out my window, so when I say I am not going anywhere, that includes to the grocery store.

Yesterday was the day the Belarusian government “certified” the people who will run against the incumbent (in 26 years) president, and two of the frontrunners were inexplicably left off the list, so that was the reason for the protests. Depending on what happens, it could get very touchy here for the next month.

But if I am locked in, I will have Shelby. Her mom departs post this week but right now United isn’t taking pets in cargo so she’s stuck here. My guess is I’ll have a dog for probably at least a month and more than likely two. I feel like summer is not a good time to put doggies in the belly of planes but I don’t know the rules. Either way, on Friday I’m getting what is undoubtably one of the sweetest, smartest and most diplomatic dogs in the world. Her momma will miss her, but she’ll be in good hands.

Paddle, paddle, clap, clap, splash

On a lovely Saturday, I met a colleague and Shelby her pup for a morning walk by the river. We’d planned to try out the paddleboats, as both Colleague and Pup will (hopefully, for their sake) be leaving Minsk soon. There’s a bucket list of things to do, and paddleboating on the Svislach river is a must.

We met before the paddleboats opened, so I took the opportunity to film this Facebook post marking U.N. Public Service day. (That’s the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit’s bells ringing in the background.) I’d tried to film it the day before at home but had to rig up a backdrop and arrange the phone and wound up with what someone kindly described as a “hostage video,” so that got deleted.

That's her guilty face.

The Svislach River itself is wonderful and I am keeping up with the walks up and down various segments of it, but until Saturday I hadn’t gotten on it. We decided to get the four-seater “catamaran” so Shelby could have a place to sit ($6 for an hour), but she wound up mostly standing on the divider between the seats, which held the rudder control thing.

The part of the river we were on is the view on the way to work; there are a bunch of boring buildings on one side, slightly less boring buildings on another plus a domed concert venue of some sort, a place to go go-karting and the Isle of Tears.  You can also see a bit farther down to the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, too.

The Isle of Tears is a peaceful little island that commemorates Soviet soldiers from Belarus who died in the war with Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989, and there are lot of ducks that call home.  We circled it about three times, and on the second, we were just relaxing and watching the ducks. There are lots of mama and baby ducks all over and they would swim up to us because people tend to feed them.

Shelby is a really good diplo-dog, and she is a good rider in the car. She was also really good in the boat, right up until she took a flying leap off after the ducks. She sunk, then rose to the top, quite bewildered, and her mom hauled her back in, laughing hysterically. Shelby kept shaking off and both humans just laughed and laughed. She was really wet and all three of us smelled like wet dog.  No duck feathers were ruffled whatsoever. She didn’t even get close to them.

In other news, the Belarusian elections are scheduled for August 9, and there’s all kinds of stuff leading up to them. The president has been in power for 26 years and there’s a growing sentiment that it’s time for a change. Meanwhile, the president’s opponents are winding up being detained by law enforcement officials for what many deem false charges.

One of the prime opponents, along with his son, was detained by the KGB (it’s still called that here) on Thursday. That night, as I was watching “The Hunger Games,” I thought I heard people clapping and horns honking, but not constantly.

  

   

Euronews photo: https://www.euronews.com/2020/06/19/top-challenger-in-belarusian-presidential-race-detained

That evening, I’d gone out for a walk and got caught by a massive rainstorm when I was three blocks from home. I got home, shed all my clothes and took a shower, then grabbed dinner, so it was maybe around 7:30 p.m. when I put the movie in.

By the time Kato was being attacked my mutts, there was something going on. Keeping in mind this is two days short of the longest day of the year, it was still light out after 9 p.m. I looked out of my front window and saw/heard cars blaring their horns as they drove down the road in front of my apartment building. It’s Independence Avenue, and it’s a long, straight road, and there were people lined up on either side. Now and then, they would start clapping.

To me, horns blaring and people clapping signals a Florida State win, but that’s not what was happening here. These are straight-up protests. That’s right, clapping is form of protest in Belarus. In 2011, the president decreed that you can only clap in public for war veterans, so people lining the streets and applauding is a peaceful but unlawful protest.

As we get close to the elections, law enforcement officials have busted out the riot gear and paddywagons and have started detaining people. This is not just happening in Minsk; there are reports coming out of other cities, too.

Thursday remains the biggest protest I’ve seen. It was livestreamed somewhere and apparently people who were watching it on TV came out to join the line, which stretched over two miles. I watched out the window until about 10 p.m. before going to bed, but I heard it went until 1 a.m.

The following evening, like on many Friday nights, I met my colleague for dinner, and we went to a place right downstairs from my apartment. (I have fantastic restaurant choices!) Even just from the outside seating at the restaurant, we could see people walking up and down the street and applauding. There weren’t as many cars honking, but there definitely were more than a few.

There are uniformed officers as well as plainclothes cops around, but I haven’t witnessed anything that seems too heavy-handed, though I’ve seen videos and heard about some.

It is likely that protests will continue leading up to the elections, and who knows what might happen after they are over. I’m not sure how elections are done here, like if there are more races than just the presidential race or what.

It is definitely an interesting time to be in Belarus.

Landlocked but waterlogged

It’s the time of year I’ve been waiting for since I arrived in Minsk in late October. The weather, when it’s not crappy, is brilliant and the sun rises before well 5 a.m. and sets well after 9:30 p.m. (Thank God for blackout curtains.) Long spring days are lovely in Europe. It’s green and beautiful.

There’s a river meandering through Minsk, and I walk up and down it most days. Today’s walk was about 10 kilometers; since it’s Sunday, I had nowhere to be and just listened to podcast after podcast as I walked down one segment, turned around, and then walked back the other direction.

An aside on podcasts: Wow, these are great. I’ve just finished two series from the Washington Post’s Lillian Cunningham, Constitution and the Presidents. I haven’t found anything else intelligent to listen to so I am killing time with a Margaritaville podcast and listened to an hour-long interview with Mr. Utley of the Coral Reefers today.

Through that podcast, I learned that Jimmy Buffett does a European tour and I looked up tour dates on the off-chance he was planning a show in Minsk. (Don’t laugh; Sting is coming in October, or at least is scheduled to come in October.) JB doesn’t have Minsk on the docket, but apparently does shows in Dublin, London and Paris. The ones for 2020 have been pushed back to 2021.

My thought on that was, “Hey, I’ll be in Minsk in September 2021. Why not go see JB?” And, because sometimes I money outweighs sense, I researched it and discovered that London’s original venue still had tickets available. (Since the shows were originally scheduled for 2020, they’ve already sold out and under no circumstances would I pay $400 to any third-party vendor for a single show.) I now have three tickets, plans for September 2021 and a hefty credit card bill.

Meanwhile, back in Minsk, I’m still walking daily, which is keeping me sane. I love water and Belarus is a landlocked country, so there’s no heading to the beach or anything like that for me. However, in my walks both along the river and through town, I have come to realize that, despite its landlocked status, there is a vast amount of water around.

Looking out my window one day, I realized that the little park that runs down my street has fountains. I didn’t know this before because during winter, they shut off the water. (Plus, I am not all that observant.) Now that it’s spring, all of a sudden, there are fountains everywhere. Things I thought were just art have water spraying out of them.

None of the water turns on until 10 a.m., though, which saves me to some degree. At one point in my walk, just past Gorky Park, there is a fountain that doubles as a splashpad. Right now, during the pandemic (52k cases and counting) there are throngs of kids playing every day around 6 p.m. The parents usually lie out on beach towels nearby, so when I hit that point in the walk on weekdays I circle as wide as I can, since my weekday walk happens after work. On weekends, I set out early and there’s no one around. Well, barely anyone. This morning I noticed two middle-aged men there, one watching the other play in the water. It was a bit odd because it wasn’t hot, but I’m tempted sometimes so I won’t throw stones.

Shingled out

One of the weird bonuses of working where I work is that I have access to vaccines that aren’t always automatically given to the rest of the world. No, this isn’t about COVID; when there is a vaccination for that I’ll be standing in line same as anyone, I would guess.  But not every American has had the rabies vaccination and most probably don’t take a typhoid preventative every five years and haven’t had the yellow fever vaccination.

And now that I’ve hit the age for the shingles vaccine, the doctor at work encouraged me to get it. As I’ve heard how bad shingles can be, it seemed like a good idea. It’s a nasty, nasty thing to get and no one in their right might would want any part of it.

The vaccine consists of two shots; I’ve no idea if they’re identical or what, but before the first one, which I got in March, I listened to a lecture of side effects, read about more and signed a piece of paper saying I understood like could get ugly after it. The embassy doctor advised me to do it on a Friday in case I had any ill effects.

Dose one, no issues. Yeah, I had a little soreness in my shoulder but none of the flu-like symptoms I’d been warned about, so last week I really wasn’t worried about getting the second one. I’d planned to do it on Friday, when I was in the office, but I wound up having to go in on Wednesday to do a particular work thing, so I went ahead and lined it up for then because I wasn’t sure if I’d have to go in Friday, too. (We have a health unit at the embassy; I didn’t go into a local medical facility to get it.)

A meeting ran a bit late and I rushed in to the health unit, which thrilled the doctor because he’s pretty much starved for human contact. There is virtually no one in the office all week, and he’s in a location where the few people who are on site don’t run into him, so I was probably the first human being he saw on the job. We chatted, I got the shot, he reminded me that I should take an ibuprofen or two just in case.

That went in one ear and out the other and I pretty much forgot I got the shot, which had been around 4:30 and, when my shoulder started hurting on the walk home an hour later, I didn’t connect that to the shot. My mind went to the fact my shoulder hurt like it did before I’d had shoulder surgery and I had wild thoughts about having three shoulder surgeries in four overseas tours.

At home, I tried to chillax but the pain increased. At some point – maybe when I saw the Garfield BandAid – I remembered the shot and the suggestion to take ibuprofen, so I gulped down two around maybe 6:30 p.m. By around 8 p.m., I was in agony. The left shoulder hurt just as it had post-op.

A couple hours later, I downed two of the knockout PM pills, assuming I would fall asleep and wake up fine, like what normally happens. Nope. The pain was excruciating and just as bad as Day One after surgery. No matter how I arranged the pillows, I could not get comfortable and woke up screaming “Oh God” so many times my neighbors must have thought I found a new man. I took two more painkillers at 4 a.m. but didn’t get any sleep at all. The pain was so bad I was nauseous.

The next day plan had been to meet someone for breakfast and then have the three of us (the person and her pup) come work at my apartment but I felt so miserable I called it off. Feeling hot, I took my temperature and it was over 100, but again, this is not a COVID story.

 Come to find out, I was the poster child for side effects. Here’s what the CDC said about the shingles drug:

Most people got a sore arm with mild or moderate pain after getting Shingrix, and some also had redness and swelling where they got the shot. Some people felt tired, had muscle pain, a headache, shivering, fever, stomach pain, or nausea. About 1 out of 6 people who got Shingrix experienced side effects that prevented them from doing regular activities.  Symptoms went away on their own in about 2 to 3 days. Side effects were more common in younger people.

It's one of the occasions when I would have loved to have been “most people,” but I’m rarely most people. I guess I got lucky because not only was I one of the six who experienced side effects, but I experienced the whole lot of them, all day long. Fortunately, I’m teleworking now, which, that day, meant crashing on the sofa between emails. It was awful.

Our doctor came and checked on me and offered me Benadryl and some other painkiller. Those, combined with a single melatonin, helped me get sleep that night buy boy howdy, that was not a lot of fun.