The Continuing Adventures of Super Steve

In the hot-seat

2011-01-14T14:35:00.001-08:00

It turns out that naming names and calling out legislators gets their attention sometimes!

Instead of just reading my three-minutes worth of prepared testimony in support of Senate Bill 5021, I ended up fielding some very interesting questions - and stimulating some great discussion - among the Republicans on the committee. It wasn't all-out hardball, but it wasn't little-league either.

The need for campaign finance disclosure

2011-01-14T14:30:00.001-08:00

You can read my guest opinion piece in the Seattle Times, or watch my testimony before the Senate Government Operations, Tribal Relations & Elections Committee.

Counting the chickens before they've hatched

2011-01-14T13:11:00.000-08:00

When it comes to learning the final results of an election, many political geeks get as anxious as children on Christmas morning - they log on to the Secretary of State's website or King County Elections long before the polls close on election night in anticipation, and begin hitting the "refresh" button on their browser repeatedly at 8:00:01 pm until the see numbers on their screen.

What happens when they see results? They wait just as eagerly for the updates - a process that sometimes drags out for days.

Would it be nice to have the results sooner?

Yes - absolutely: Not because it would satisfy the impatience of political junkies, but to bring a bit more public confidence to our political process system. Public perception matters, and it's hard for the public to have faith in a process that leaves itself open to conspiracy theories about delays being due to ballot-box stuffing when the real issue is one of basic logistics.

One idea begin proposed in Olympia is Senate Bill 5015, which would allow the early tabulation of ballots - that is actually counting the votes - as early as 36 hours before an election is actually over.

Since all but one of Washington's 49 counties is all vote-by-mail, elections offices all over the state are sitting on millions of ballots - why not get a head-start on a time-consuming process?

Here's what I told the Senate Government Operations, Tribal Relations & Elections Committee yesterday during the three minutes that were allowed under their rules:

Yes, I have a vivid imagination.

But I've also been around enough political campaigns and watched enough elections to know how things work in the real world. Political strategists are very creative in finding and exploiting every advantage they can to benefit their candidate or cause.

Whatever your politics - do you trust the other side to not do something exactly as I described?

Voting in Kyrgyzstan - like choosing a flavor at Baskin-Robins

2010-10-26T17:04:00.001-07:00

Kyrgyzstan, like most of the former Soviet republics (and most nations, for that matter) doesn't do politics like America does.

With a multi-party political system that determines who will server in a parliamentary government, voting in Kyrgyzstan in like picking a flavor at Baskin-Robins: 57 political parties registered to participate in the election, and 29 managed to submit a list of candidates by the August 30 deadline.

In Kyrgyzstan, elections are conducted using a proportional representation system - you vote for a political party instead of a candidate, and the parties get to send representatives to Parliament based on how many votes the party got in the election.

Well, it's almost that simple...

Before a party gets to send members to Parliament, they have to meet a five percent threshold. That is, only parties that get at lease five percent of the vote (actually votes => 5% of the number of registered voters, regardless of how many people actually voted) get representation in Parliament.

Let's say there are 100 voters. A party only gets to send members to parliament if they get at least 5 votes; and that's tough to do with 29 parties on ballot...

Those parties that do get over five percent are then allocated seats in the 120 seat Parliament in proportion to how well they did (compared only to the other parties that broke the five percent threshold).

Let's say that in an election with 100 voters, only four of the 29 parties broke the five-percent threshold:

Party A got 5 votes
Party B got 6 votes
Party C got 8 votes
Party D got 11 votes

Among these parties, the allocation of the 120 seats in Parliament would be:

Party A gets 20 seats
Party B gets 24 seats
Party C gets 32 seats
Party D gets 44 seats

Of course, neither party has more than half (60) of the 120 seats, so at least two parties need to team-up to form a ruling coalition. In this case, there are four possible ways to form a majority: A+D, B+D, C+D, or A+B+C.

In the October 10 election, five parties broke the threshold - and none of them got enough votes to claim more than half of the seats in Parliament, so there's no "ruling party" to control things.

In fact, no two parties combined got enough votes to give them more then 50 percent of the seats in Parliament - so at least three of the winning five parties will have to form a coalition to make things work.

It make for a system of government that's much more dynamic than the American two-party system - though they do have the same post-election arguments that we do.

One party got 4.84 percent - just barely missing out on getting representation in Parliament.

As in America, they complained.

But unlike here, the five parties who "won" the election agreed to a recount!

Like I said - they don't do elections like we do...

Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign...

2010-10-16T09:41:00.001-07:00

29 political parties competed for the 120 seats in the Kyrgyz Parliament during their election on October 10, 2010. Of them, a significant number ran aggressive and viable campaigns - just look at the variety of billboards and posters on display around Bishkek.

Everywhere in Bishkek, and in many of the rural towns and villages I traveled through, there were posters urging people to vote for the "Social-Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan" or parties with names like "Fatherland," Motherland," "White Falcon," "United Kyrgyzstan," "Dignity," "Justice," "Generous People," and the "United People's Movement."

Most of the political campaigns act as vehicles for personality politics more than as instruments for public policy formation (sound familiar?) and many of the parties tend to focus on a single figure, or perhaps a small group of prominent party members. In many cases, loyalties are formed and maintained based on clan membership or business interests rather than "party politics." Many parties tend to have regional support bases, stronger in one part of the country or another just like American "red state/blue state" politics.

In some ways, political campaigning in Kyrgyzstan isn't too different than in America - people tend to vote the same way their family and closest friends vote, and the it's somewhat easy to predict which parties will do better in different regions or cities.

What's most different is the ballot - in Kyrgyzstan, the ballot has a list of political parties instead of candidates.

An even bigger difference is how the votes are tallied, and the "winners" determined - more on that later.

Home Again

2010-10-14T10:27:00.000-07:00

Just a brief post to let everyone know that I'm back in Seattle after a great election observation mission in Kyrgyzstan.

Over the next few days, I hope to finally be able to post a few comments and photos through which I can share my experiences.

Counting the votes on election night in Karakoo, Kyrgyzstan

There's no tension like ethnic tension

2010-09-27T18:19:00.000-07:00

Weeks after political tensions resulted in the president fleeing the country and the opposition party taking power, things got even worse.

By late spring 2010, longstanding ethnic tensions between minority Uzbeks and majority Kyrgyz begin rising, and finally boiled over in the nations second largest city of Osh. On June 9-10 gunfire was reported and a state of emergency was declared, resulting in the deployment of military units to restore law and order.

Many sources, including the UN, have claimed the riots were orchestrated from outside forces, with multiple reports of organized groups of gunmen in ski masks shooting both Uzbeks and Kyrgyz to ignite the riots.

Although damage was widespread, it seems that Uzbek businesses, schools, and homes were systematically targeted. The United Nations has said it believes the attacks were "orchestrated, targeted and well-planned." Human Rights Watch has documented numerous examples of ethnic Uzbeks being the target of detention and torture.

Thousands of people were killed, several thousands more wounded, and tens of thousands of people are now displaced refugees.

Osh is now a city of two divided communities, with suspicion and mistrust between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks.

The PBS Newshour put together an excellent slide show - Turmoil in Kyrgyzstan - that I highly recommend.

There's a pretty good chance that I'll be working in Osh to observe voting there in the upcoming election - and I'm curious to see firsthand if the tragic events of last spring have an impact on the democratic process there.

Perfectly "safe"

2010-09-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

Personal safety is one of the first things that friends ask me about when I tell them I'm going to observe an election in some far-flung country they've never heard of.

Fear not - there hasn't been a riot in Kyrgyzstan in months.

There was a bit of trouble last April, when demonstrations over rising energy prices, the sluggish economy, and the government's closure of several media outlets got a bit out of hand. Protesters took control of some government offices and clashes between protesters and police in the capital turned violent - resulting in nearly 100 lives lost and about 1,000 people seriously injured.

The president fled the capitol in a private jet with his family; opposition leaders formed a new interim government.

A week later, supporters of the president turned out for a rally to demand his return to power; gunshots from unknown sources dampened their mood, and the president fled the country and resigned.

Things were fine - for about two months.

More on that later...

My Continuing Adventure...

2010-09-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

After recent international adventures with Lisa to Argentina and Italy, it's time for something a little different...

I've once again been offered the opportunity to volunteer with the Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe as an international elections observer - this time in Kyrgyzstan!

Kyrgyzstan is a small, mountainous, landlocked central-Asian nation - bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest, and China to the east.

Yes, I know that doesn't help most of you - so here's a map to put it into perspective:

Kyrgyzstan is the tiny yellow country
(it isn't really yellow...)
in the upper right

I'm tentatively scheduled to leave Seattle on October 3, arriving in Bishkek, the capitol of Kyrgyzstan, after a series of flights more than half-way around the world (It would be shorter to fly westward through China, but all OSCE missions rendezvous in Europe en route).

I'll be in Bishkek for a couple of days of briefings on Kyrgyz election law and election observation procedures, and then deploy with a team for a few days somewhere out in the hinterlands to actually observe what will by Kyrgyzstan's first parliamentary election since adopting a new constitution last spring.

After observing the election and filling out reports, we'll return to Bishkek for debriefing and a post-election reception before flying home. I should be getting back to Seattle around October 15.

Two glorious weeks of...

Well, not so glorious. It's plenty of hard work.

On election day we'll be traveling over rough terrain from one village to another to watch people vote, and then staying up all night long to watch election officials tabulate the results - by hand.

Did I mention I'll be doing all of this on a 13-hour jet-lag, after sitting on planes for about 15 hours?

Still, it's extremely rewarding - I can't wait to eat some "besh barmak," drink some "kymyz," and play an invigorating game of "Buzkashi!"

Much more to follow!

I took my girlfriend to a Roman brothel...

2010-06-26T19:09:00.000-07:00

Since it's discovery nearly 250 years ago, archeologists, historians and tourists alike have been fascinated with one site in Pompeii more than any other - the Lupinar.

Translating to "den of she-wolves," the Lupinar is purported to be the world's oldest surviving brothel - and is the most often visited site in Pompeii.

As popular as ever...

When originally excavated, many places in Pompeii were thought to be brothels due to the erotic frescoes painted on their walls. Later research concluded that these were simply the homes of people who appreciated erotic art, which was greatly appreciated in the ancient Roman Empire.

The Lupinar, however, held several tell-tale signs of being a "professional establishment." The building has far more bedrooms than would be expected for a structure of its size, and along with the frescoes were graffiti left by satisfied customers.

I've slept on rock-hard mattresses before, but never one where the pillow was actually chiseled from stone

Fresco over a bedroom doorway showing the "services offered"

Not much explanation needed here...

Nor here...

This Place is a Mess - It's in Ruins!

2010-06-25T17:28:00.000-07:00

Lisa and I took a day trip to someplace that I've always wanted to visit, and which we both found completely fascinating - the ancient ruins of the city of Pompeii.

Buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius on August 24 in the year 79 AD, the ruins of Pompeii were long forgotten. It wasn't rediscovered until 1748, with many structures and building eventually being excavated to reveal a city frozen in time.

It has been a popular tourist destination for 250 years, attracting as many as 2.6 million visitors a year from all around the world - although the Lisa and I had no trouble at all getting and and wandering around during our visit.

The central forum of Pompeii
with the remnants of Mount Vesuvius in the background

Many details of everyday life for citizens of Pompeii can be appreciated by exploring the ruins of bakeries, fast-food emporiums, and ordinary homes.

An ancient Roman bakery - the stone mill for grinding grain into flour is in the foreground, with a brick hearth for baking bread in the background

An "fast-food" joint - the holes in the counter held pots of food,
warmed by fires underneath

Among the ruins of Pompeii are some of the victims of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. They died an excruciating death, inhaling hot gases and ash, and eventually buried under the fallout of pumice along with the entire city.

By the time Pompeii was eventually rediscovered, all but their bones had rotted away - leaving voids in the hardened volcanic ash that echoed when engineers walked over them. Holes were drilled into them, and the empty spaces were filled with plaster - preserving the gruesome postures of the dead.

A display case containing a victim of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius

The death pose

Bits of bone show through the plaster cast of a former citizen of Pompeii

Next up?

A visit to the most popular place in Pompeii...

Off with their Heads: a tour of the Vatican Museum

2010-06-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

Although I'm not a big fan of religion I do have an insatiable curiosity of art and culture, so a visit to Rome wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Vatican Museum.

The first word that describes the experience is “overwhelming.” Seven hours of non-stop art covering everything from ancient Egyptian artifacts, Greek and Roman sculpture, Renaissance tapestries and maps, ending with the religious works commissioned by various popes and cumulating with the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Of course, that’s just about the only liberal policy the Vatican has – even when it comes to classical art, they’re prudishly conservative in their attitude towards displaying artistic expressions of one of the most glorious things in nature, the human form.

Fig leaves abound, and not just in paintings of Adam & Eve. While the rest of Europe was enjoying the Renaissance and Enlightenment, a series of popes decided that certain parts of the human anatomy were obscene and directed hundreds of sculptured crotches to be covered with fig leaves.

This isn't Adam... so what's with the fig leaf?

In some cases they even went so far as to have the offending anatomical features chiseled away – off with their heads!

That had to hurt!

I wanted to talk to the Pope about this but I don't think he was home - I didn't see his car in the Vatican parking lot.

No Pope-mobile... he must be on tour.

The Eternal City

2010-06-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

Photos just don’t do some things justice, including the ruins of ancient Rome.

The Colosseum – so called not because of its size but because of the colossal statue of Nero that once stood nearby – is so enormous in scope that it can only be taken in by your own eyes.

According to legend, the nearby Palatine Hill is where the city was born. The centermost of the seven hills of Rome, it’s where the twin brothers Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf that kept them alive. They grew up to slay their great-uncle, who had seized the throne from their father, and eventually Romulus killed Remus in a violent argument. The city that rose up bares his name.

Remnants of an aqueduct on Palatine Hill

In fact, Rome sprang from settlements of the Sabines and the Albans on the Palatine about 1,000 BC, and by the time of the Roman Republic the Palatine was the home of many of Rome’s most distinguished citizens.

Nearby is the Roman Forum, where many of the most important structures of the ancient city were located and around which the ancient Roman civilization developed. The Senate, government offices, Tribunals, religious monuments, memorials and statues cluttered the area – along with the complex where the Vestal Virgins resided and performed their duties.

The Forum

All of these structures have, over time, been damaged by earthquakes, looting and scavenging for stone and marble for other uses. The Pantheon, however, still stands much as it did in ancient times thanks to its adoption and continued use by successive religions.

The Pantheon was originally built and dedicated by Marcus Agrippa in 27 BC on what was then the outskirts of Rome on the Campus Martius, which served as a gathering place for elections and the army. Rebuilt twice after fires devastated the area in 80 AD and 110 AD, the Pantheon eventually passed to the popes who converted it to a Christian church, which saved it from the abandonment, destruction, and the worst of the spoliation that befell the majority of ancient Rome's buildings during the early medieval period.

The Pantheon

After thousands of years, the Pantheon still holds the record for the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome, and has served as an architectural inspiration for St. Peter's Basilica to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello to the U.S. Capitol.

While most tourists do a hit-and-run visit to the Colosseum – getting their picture taken with a gladiator before running off to have pizza for lunch – and don’t bother with the rest, Lisa and I spent an entire day taking it all in and roaming the paths where Augustus, Vespasian, Titus and Domitian once strolled.

Orvieto

2010-06-19T12:04:00.000-07:00

As we planned our trip Lisa and I realized that we had an extra night between our departure from Tuscany and our arrival in Rome - and agreed that it was my responsibility to surprise her with a special destination.

Italy is known for it great red wines, but there is one white wine that we've always enjoyed, and since the town where it's made is in Umbria - right along our route to the Eternal City - I decided that it was the perfect place for a layover.

Orvieto is a town rich in history: its position high on a steep hill made it a defensible position that was valued as far back as the Etruscan era, and it continued to be a place of strategic significance through Roman times and the Middle Ages, eventually becoming the refuge of five popes during the 13th century.

Being high on a hill is only one of the benefits of Orvieto's location - the other is the kind of hill it's on, composed of a soft volcanic rock called tuff that is easy to tunnel through and excavate.

The result is that the town sits atop a complex labyrinth of caves and tunnels that have served a variety of purposes for centuries.

Lisa descending into Underground Orvieto

Our tour group inside one of Orvieto's many underground galleries

Niches carved into the walls were nesting spots for domesticated pigeons, which were a source of meat, eggs, and income for Orvieto's noble families until as recently as the 19th Century.

Many of the chambers beneath Orvieto descended through several levels beneath the homes of their former owners, and had openings through the cliffside through which the pigeons had access to the surrounding countryside.

An ancient well dug hundreds of feet below the surface - many of these were long forgotten, and only discovered generations later when the digging of new tunnels bisected them.

Of course, history wasn't my only reason for choosing Orvieto as a place to spend some down time...

Lisa and I enjoyed wandering the narrow cobbled streets of the ancient little hill-top town, and sampling the great local food and wine - more on that later!

Getting Around - Italian Style

2010-06-16T20:39:00.001-07:00

Enough of the food and wine - here are some travel-related images from our trip...

TRAINS:

The Cable-Car up to Orvieto

The Metro in Rome

Instructions for using the Metro in Rome

BIKES:

Giro d' Italia, the bicycle racing's grand tour of Italy, promoted in the window of the finest restaurant in Montalcino

A "Critical Mass" bicycle protest poster, outside a Metro station in Rome

Some serious "bikes" hanging from the wall of the Cafe Ducati in Rome

ROADS:

The Appian Way, south of Rome

"Propaganda Way" in Rome

Super Steve makes "Sassy Sauce"

2010-06-10T19:53:00.000-07:00

There's nothing better after a day of sampling the great food and wine of Tuscany's towns than returning to our villa for a great home-cooked meal - accompanied, of course, by some of the very fine wines that we've picked up along the way.

I've enjoyed playing in the kitchen ever since my childhood, when I spend endless hours with my MiMi (grandmother) in New Orleans. I've grown my repertoire considerably since then, and have developed a few specialties along the way - one of which is "sassy sauce."

I'm not about to give away all of the secrets - let;s just say that, in all due humility, everyone who's ever had it has agreed that it's worthy of something called "sassy sauce" made by someone called "Super Steve."

Cooking with wine!

Sassy Sauce simmering on the stove

Tossing in the pasta

I'm sorry there aren't photos of everyone enjoying the meal - we we're all so busy enjoying it that no one took pictures :-)

The Blood of Jove

2010-06-07T19:07:00.000-07:00

There are three crucial elements to enjoying Tuscany - seeing the picturesque hill towns, enjoying the spectacular food, and sampling their outstanding wines.

When most people think about Tuscan wine, they think "Chianti" - the stuff a previous generation of Americans identified as inexpensive red wine in straw-lined jugs.

But serious wine aficionados know that Tuscany has so much more to offer - each part of the region, from one town to the next, does something special with what the land and climate has to offer.

If "Sideways" were set in Tuscany instead of Santa Barbara County, Niles would've been extolling the virtues of Sangiovese - the Italian red grape varietal whose name derives from the Latin sanguis Jovis, "the blood of Jove."

It seems like every hill in Tuscany has it's own clone of the Sangiovese grape that's used to produce a special local wine: endless varieties of Chianti, the famed Brunello di Montalcino, and the one-time favorite of Renaissance noblemen Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

No visit to Tuscany would be complete without seeking out the source of these great wines - and one of our day-trips was dedicated to doing exactly that.

A sampling of wines at a great restaurant in Montalcino...

...and some food to accompany them!

Eggplant

Salami

Cheese and Honey

Cheese and Spinach Ravioli with diced Tomatoes

Pasta with a sauce of Wild Tuscan Boar

And that was just Montalcino!

We ventured on to Montepulciano where we had a less filling but every-bit-as-enjoyable stopover at a lovely little place with fantastic view, the perfect place to sample their take on what to do with Sangiovese - blend it with a bit of Canailo Nero and Mammolo to make Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

Lisa, Gilles and Daria take a wine break in Montepulciano

The Terrace

The View

Under the Tuscan Rain

2010-06-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

Every vacation has its minor disappointments, and ours included the weather.

When I spent time cycling around Tuscany in late-April 2007 the weather was spectacular - warm sunshine the whole time.

This time, in spite of us arriving in mid-May, we didn't get the warm temperatures and sunshine we were hoping for - so much so that we never even got to hit the pool :-(

Sunrise and sunset were glorious each day, but it never warmed up beyond the low-to-mid-60s and it was usually overcast for much of the day.

Lovely ladies Daria, Jamie and Lisa wearing sweaters attest to
the uncommonly cool weather as we walk through Volterra

In fact, our first major day-trip for the entire crew was interrupted by a brief storm while we were having lunch in Volterra. Fortunately, we'd opted for lunch indoors and were able to avoid the worst of the weather, and still managed to have a great time.

The weather wasn't what we expected, but the food sure was!

Our day in Volterra and San Gimignano didn't yield the photos I'd hoped it would, but it was a great introduction to the hill towns of southern Tuscany - every bit as scenic as we'd hoped, and the weather did manage to keep the crowds dispersed.

More later...

Ciao!

Under the Tuscan Sun

2010-06-05T15:19:00.000-07:00

I didn't do much blogging from Italy, since I was having far too much fun doing other things - but now that Lisa and I are back it's time to fill everyone in on the great time we had on our second big trip together.

The first half of our vacation was spent with some friends at a fabulous place in the Tuscan countryside about halfway between Florence and Siena.

Jamie & Curt met Lisa and me at the train station in Poggibonsi; they are both friends of Lisa's whom I hadn't met before, and we had a wonderful evening getting to know each other over some local wine and a great home-cooked meal.

Lisa, Curt, Jamie, and Steve dining alfresco in Tuscany

We spent our first full day in Tuscany with a roadtrip to Siena; we roamed the town, climbed the tower, had a great lunch, and Lisa acquired a new leather purse!

Lisa and her new Italian leather purse!

When we returned to our villa our friends Gilles & Daria from Seattle were waiting for us, having arrived late because their flight from southern France to Rome was canceled due the volcanic ash.

Gilles & Daria shoe-shopping Montepulciano

That night, the men took to the kitchen and prepared a meal of artichoke hearts and pasta - mmmmm.

Gilles & Steve shucking artichokes

Sauteed artichoke hearts

Over the course of the next few days, we saw some magnificent Tuscan towns and sampled the great wines that the region is known for.

More on that later...

Ciao!

Lost in Translation

2010-05-24T22:47:00.001-07:00

I've never been very comfortable with foreign languages. I barely managed to finish two semesters of Spanish when I was at Tulane, and never became as fluent in German as I should have considering that I lived there for three years when I was in the Army.

Some of the Spanish came back when Lisa and I were in Argentina last September, and it's overwhelming the little bit of Italian that I managed to learn before we left Seattle; I keep asking for the bill in the wrong language.

Given my troubles, I'm always encouraged to be reminded that I'm not alone in my frustrations with translating thoughts into words.

Here are two classic examples we've discovered hanging by the doors to some very nice restaurants we've enjoyed - the first is from a place in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome, the second from Orvieto.

Enjoy!

The weather could be better...

2010-05-21T00:34:00.000-07:00

But the food is fantastic!

We haven't been blessed with the weather I enjoyed when I was cycling my way through Tuscany three years ago - it's only in the mid-60s, and overcast during the days, although the sunsets have been great.

But the food is every bit as good as it ever was, and even better sharing it with Lisa and friends.

Here are the highlights of yesterday's lunch at an out-of-the-way spot in Pansano:

Antipasta

Bruscetta

Pappardella with wild boar

Ravoli with spinach and ricotta

Tuscan wild boar stew

Today will feature a battle of the towns... and their wines: Montepulciano and Montalcino!

Who will win? Brunello di Montalcino or Vino Nobile di Montelulciano?

Tuscany

2010-05-19T01:09:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Poggibonsi via train on Monday and were met by Kurt & Jamie at the station, who drove us up to our remarkably cute place in the Tuscan hills.

Our friends Gilles and Daria were delayed in France - their flight to Rome cancelled due to a temperamental Icelandic volcano. But they managed to get a train to Florence and then arrived at our place just as we were returning

from a day trip to Siena.

Last night we enjoyed a home-cooked meal of sauted atrichoke hearts followed by a pasta, washed down with several bottle of Chianti and a Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

Vita Bella

Poggibonsi or Bust

2010-05-14T17:14:00.000-07:00

We’re on our way – almost...

Saturday evening Lisa and I will be en route to meet friends in a lovely little villa just outside of Poggibonsi, a village in Tuscany about half-way between Florence and Siena.

Yes, I know – it seems like one of those wispy vacations invented by Jane Austin or by Hollywood for a romantic comedy: three couples sharing a country farmhouse for a week, including one couple that lives far away and hasn’t seen the others in years, another couple that’s just announced that they’re having their first baby, and a third couple consisting of “the new guy” in a woman’s life whom the first couple hasn’t met yet.

FOR CLARIFICATION: I’m “the new guy,” and Lisa and I are NOT the couple having a baby!

After our week in Tuscany with friends, Lisa and I will spend a week in an apartment in Rome – just the two of us. We have an extra night in between, and I’m surprising Lisa with an overnight stopover in...

Well – you’ll have to wait to find out, just like she does!

In the meantime, keep checking in to find out about:

A potential flight delay caused by an Icelandic volcano...

The meeting of friends in our cute villa...

The historic sights we’re seeing...

The fabulous wines we’re tasting...

The incredible food we’re eating...

And so much more...

Ciao!

Steve

Uco Valley Wine Tour

2009-10-01T10:32:00.000-07:00

Located about 4,000 feet above sea level on the eastern slopes of the Andes, the Uco Valley has a micro-climate characterized by greater fluctuations in evening and daytime temperatures than the lower Luján de Cuyo and Maipú areas. This, along with the favorable soil and a regional snow-melt fed irrigation system, has encouraged huge investment into new wineries in the region.

The Andes rise above vineyards in the Uco Valley

The three wineries we visited in the Uco Valley were all huge, new, modern operations funded by foreign investment - in some cases as hobbies by very wealthy individuals simply for ability to say "I own a winery."

The first was Bodegas Andeluna, owned by the same family as the Frito Lay potato-chip empire. Their enormous showcase facility has a one million liter tank capacity, a 1,200 barrel aging capacity, and a 720,000 bottle storage capacity - which we toured after sampling some very nice Malbec at their tasting bar.

Andeluna Winery

Our next stop was at a Clos de los Siete's (Vineyard of the Seven), a collection of seven wineries on a single huge estate, where we enjoyed a rooftop tasting at the Monteviejo Winery which included the 2007 Clos de los Siete (50% Malbec, 30% Cab., 10% Merlot and 10% Syrah), the 2007 Flechas de los Andes Gran Malbec (which seemed surprisingly mild for a young Malbec) and the 2004 Lindaflor Malbec.

Tasting Table at Monteviejo

Our final stop was at the Bodegas O. Fournier, where workers were still putting some final touches on the new state-of-the-art, gravity-fed wine-making facility.Touring these big places was bit overwhelming - it was more like being on a factory tour than a wine tour. We didn't buy any wine at these places because they were all huge operations centered on the export market and we can probably find there stuff at a good wine store back home.

Although we definitely enjoyed visiting the smaller family-run places more than these big industrial operations, we were still glad to be able to see the full range of what's happening in a booming wine region. And everything we tasted was great!

Plus, we got to enjoy yet another gourmet meal that was an experience in itself - four courses paired with seven wines!

APPETIZERS:

Causas limenas with pickled vegetables

Steak Tartar with Pastry Ring

STARTER:

Pumpkin Soup with ginger, coconut, toasted almonds and chard

MAIN COURSE:

Mixed Ragu of Veal & Lamb, garnished with polenta with white truffle.
There was also an option for crispy pasta filled with vegetables on caper sauce.

DESSERT:

Torrontes (white wine) Sorbet

Philo Pastry Tower with Dulce de Leche Creal

Frankly, I can't remember what this was...
it was sort of like a crispy meringue shell.

These were accompanied by several of O. Fournier's "Urban" line of wines, with a choice of their top-line wines to go with the main course. We each ordered a different one, and shared:

2003 B Crux - 60% Tempranillo, 20% Malbec, 10% Merlot and 10% Syrah. Aged 12 months in French oak

2002 Alfa Crux - 60% Tempranillo, 35% Malbec, 5% Merlot. Aged 17 months in new barrels (80% french and 20% American)

Can I get there from here?

2009-09-28T16:12:00.000-07:00

Getting to and from - as well as around - Buenos Aires is easier than most Americans might imagine.

Argentina is about as accessible as Europe, especially if you're in a major city in the southeast U.S. since there are non-stops from D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Houston and Dallas. From Seattle we took a five hour flight to D.C. followed by a ten hour overnight flight to BA.

There's no need for a car in Buenos Aires - BA has taxis all over the place, as well as a great mass transit system that includes hundreds of bus lines and a 6 line, 74 station subway system that carries nearly two million passengers every workday.Although the average fare for a trip on these systems is amazingly low by American standards (AR$0.80 = about US 20 cents!), we decided to use a transportation method that's shockingly primitive...

We walked!

Yes - in a densely-populated metropolitan area of 12 million people we managed to get around entirely on foot, except for our transfers between the airport and hotel.

How the heck did we manage that?

First, we're in pretty good shape. We routinely spend our weekends hiking or bicycling, and managed to put in hours of hoof-time every day during our vacation. The only exception was on our travel days between cities and the two days we were on wine-tours in Mendoza - and even then, we took long walks in the evening to and from dinner.

Second, even though traffic is pretty crazy in BA, almost every street is one-way - crossing them is so much easier and safer than dodging two-way traffic.

Walking really helped us to get a feel for the flow of the city, and exposed us to sights, sounds and smells that we'd never experience if we were driving around.

Check them out...

Is that a fire in the middle of the street???

No - it's Lunch!!!

San Telmo Street Scenes

2009-09-27T18:44:00.000-07:00

BA is a huge, diverse city - it's practically impossible to take it in all at once, which is why we decided to break our recent trip into segments.

The first third involved staying at the Hotel Bel Air, which was in walking distance of the upscale parks, restaurants and shops of the Retiro, Recoleta and Palermo barrios of BA.

The second portion of our vacation involved a trip out of the city for a mid-week stay at the B&B Plaza Italia in the province of Mendoza - the heart of Argentina's wine industry. We enjoyed two days of touring the regions wineries, and had some amazing meals where each course was paired with a great local wine.

After wine-touring Mendoza, we flew back to Buenos Aires and moved into the Mansion Dandi Royal - a hotel / tango academy located in the San Telmo area of BA.

San Telmo, along with Boca directly to the south, is definitely more of a working-class barrio than the other BA neighborhoods we visited.

Our hotel, along with most of the shops and even some of the restaurants we went to, kept their doors locked and required us to be "buzzed in." The sidewalks were narrower here, the streets were cobbled rather than smooth-paved, and both were dirtier than elsewhere in the city.

That being said, we never felt unsafe - even though we'd adopted the local habit of going out to dinner after 10 p.m. and often wandering home after midnight - and the street life here definitely had a colorful appeal.

This was most obvious on Sunday, when the weekly street fair turns Avenida Defensa into a mile-long pedestrian-only thoroughfare bursting with life - check it out!

You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Buenos Aires?

2009-09-26T15:18:00.000-07:00

VINCENT: You know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?

JULES: They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese?

VINCENT: No, they got the metric system there, they wouldn't know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is.

JULES: What'd they call it?

VINCENT: Royale with Cheese.

JULES: Roy-ale with Cheese. What'd they call a Big Mac?

VINCENT: Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it Le Big Mac.

JULES: Le Big Mac. What do they call a Whopper?

VINCENT: I dunno, I didn't go into a Burger King.

------

I didn’t go into a Burger King either, because with all the good Argentine steak I'd been eating I didn't feel the need to subject myself to what they were advertising...

But curiosity did get the better of me, so I walked into a McDonald's to check out the menu – a Quarter Pounder with Cheese is called a “Cuarto de Libra con Queso.”

I finally got up the nerve...

2009-09-25T20:22:00.000-07:00

I can take it or leave it...

Back in Seattle

2009-09-24T12:06:00.000-07:00

Just got back to Lisa's place in Seattle - everything intact (including the 11 bottles of wine we brought back)!

More updates to follow - after we begin to recover from our vacation!

And now - Some More Tango!

2009-09-23T06:15:00.000-07:00

Lisa and I took some tango lessons while staying in the San Telmo neighborhood of BA - here's some video of us putting on a little show for the Sunday crowds in Boca!

Ferry Facts – Argentine Version

2009-09-22T16:20:00.000-07:00

What you are about to read is a true story – this is not a joke, and the images have not been photoshopped.

With the end of our vacation in Argentina approaching, Lisa and I decided to take advantage of the lovely weather and leave Buenos Aires for a day-trip to Colonia – a cute little town just across the Río de la Plata in Uruguay most easily accessed by ferry.

We arrived at the Buquebus terminal – a massive, modern complex for both bus and ferry service on the BA waterfront – about 15 minutes before the noon passenger-only fast ferry was scheduled to leave.

Anyone who complains about the process for boarding a WSF ferry should visit BA; while the Buquebus terminal is sleek and clean, and the staff exceedingly friendly, they do require passengers to jump through a few hoops before boarding a boat.

First, reserve a ticket.

Yes, I said reserve a ticket – even though the boat is leaving in 15 minutes, we had to stand in a reservations line because all seats on these ferries are reserved, and I’m talking about a walk-on, passenger-only ferry.

The ticket agent was very nice – we booked a pair of regular tourista-class seats for the outbound trip, but only first-class was available for the return.

Second, pay for our tickets.

I list this as a separate step because that’s exactly what it is – we had to go stand in a separate line to pay for the ticket that we’d just reserved.

Third, get a boarding pass.

I list this as a separate step because that’s exactly what it is – we had to go stand in another line, this time to show our receipts for the tickets we’d just paid for one minute ago and twenty feet away so that we could get an airline-style boarding pass (and check luggage if we desired).

Fourth, go through security.

I imagine this was because the ferry was an international run between Argentina and Uruguay. It was basically just like going through security for an airline flight back home, minus the humiliation. We had to put my daypack through an x-ray machine and walk through a metal detector, but we got to keep our shoes and they didn’t seem concerned about the possibility of someone trying to sneak more than three ounces of toothpaste onboard.

Fifth, and finally, fill out an immigrations form and go through customs before walking through the “jet way” to board the boat. Again, it makes perfect sense since it’s an international run.

I couldn’t get a good look at the ship as we boarded, because it’s a “side loader” and the huge terminal obscured any view of it from the street – but it sure was impressive once we got on board!

Before us was an amazing lobby, with a duty-free shop to our left and a grand stairway leading up to “Primera Especial Class” seating that overlooked the midships area. I managed to go up and take a look just as the ship was getting under way, and it was incredible: a very small cafeteria where “especial” passengers could order “especial” meals, which were brought to their seats by a steward!

The stairway to “Primera Especial Class”

The “Primera Especial Class” galley - note the wineglasses in the foreground!

The seats look like something that belonged in the space station on 2001, or Star Trek, or I don’t know WTF, clustered around tables alongside the huge picture windows.

The seating in “Primera Especial Class”

I instantly though of the comments on the Kitsap Sun website that readers in Bremerton frequently post; about their perceptions that Bainbridge passengers have Red Hook and sushi on their runs, while the Bremerton passengers are treated like the “red-haired stepchildren” of WSF. They’d scream if they saw this!

Alas, our tickets were “Turista Class” so I made my way back downstairs and forward, and was again shocked at what I found.

It was a large seating area similar to that at either end of a WSF vessel, but the seats were like those on a commercial airliner – but with more cushioning, and leg-room for humans!

Tourist-class seating, looking back from the cafeteria line

Instead of a picture window with a view ahead, there was a cafeteria with excellent food and beverage service that included top notch wines (and probably Red Hook, though I didn’t check since I’m not a beer drinker).

Tourist-class seating, with cafeteria in front

There were large, flat-screen televisions mounted on the bulkhead in front of us that played an airline-style safety video before switching to a soccer match for our one-hour crossing to Colonia.

The ride was very smooth, and looking out the window I got the impression that we were traveling at least 50 percent faster than a WSF vessel. Considering that the crossing from BA to Colonia across the Río de la Plata is much longer than most Puget Sound crossings but was only going to take an hour, that made sense.

Eventually I made my way to the head. I was smaller than the large institutional-style facilities on a WSF vessel, but much nicer and very clean. You’ll have to take my word on this, since prudence prohibited me from taking photos inside a public bathroom…

As we approached the port in Colonia, the football match on the big screens was switched over to a “pilot cam” view of our approach to the harbor, and before we knew it we were docked.

Looking back as we disembarked, I got a partial glimpse of the vessel I’d been cruising in: the beak-nosed superstructure looked more like a spaceship than a ferry and she had a sleek catamaran hull, which finally explained why the crossing was so quick and smooth.

The ferry "Atlantic III"

Our return voyage in first-class yielded one final surprise: champagne!

Yes, champagne!

As we entered the “Premera” cabin, a “flight attendant” checked our boarding pass – and offered us each a champagne flute of sparkling wine, and we settled into air-line style seats even more comfy than those on our outbound voyage.

Lisa took a short nap during the one-hour return trip, and a steward took our empty glasses as he delivered food and drinks to passengers which they had ordered in the café!

Yes, I know what you’re thinking.

A one-way, tourist-class ticket on this vessel cost 130 Pesos, about $34 U.S. at the gate. You can reserve on-line, which probably yields a discount.

There’s also a slower passenger/auto ferry (3 hours) that costs 99 Pesos per tourist-class ticket, about $25 U.S.

First Class?

188 pesos, or about $48

U.S.

for the fast boat and 144/$37 for the slow.

Bon Voyage!

And now - Some Tango!

2009-09-20T06:43:00.000-07:00

Lisa and I took tango lessons yesterday at our hotel before heading out to El Querandi, a great tango venue that serves an excellent dinner prior to a fabulous tango show which demonstrates the evolution of the dance over the years.

The video?

That's Lisa and I on stage!

Yea... Right...

Is 9:30 a.m. too early for a wine tasting?

2009-09-18T18:11:00.000-07:00

Question: Is 9:30 a.m. too early for a wine tasting?

Answer:

A) Drinking, yes... but Tasting... no.

B) When you're on a tour, you have to do whatever your guide tells you to do!

C) Well there's a 4 hour time difference between Argentina and Seattle, so 9:30 a.m. in Mendoza is... damn, that's not going to work in my favor, is it?

A meal fit for...

2009-09-16T15:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a wonderful day of wine tasting, thanks to our local guide Javier – whose mother owns the lovely B&B Plaza Italia where we’re staying in Mendoza.

We made stops at four different wineries in the Luján de Cuyo area just south of Mendoza. They ran the gamut from small, family-owned Mendel – a true gem of an outfit where Cecilia Albino gave us a personalized tour through the entire operation – to the large, Mondavi-style outfit at Catena Zapata.

It was a fun-filled day – particularly the fine five-course, wine-paired meal we enjoyed at Ruca Malen.

To start, a bruschetta of goat cheese, Granny Smith apple and lemon zest paired with an awesome Sauvignon Blanc – so awesome, I forgot to take a picture.

Next, slices of filet mignon cured in olive oil, paired with the 2006 Ruca Malen Malbec (86% malbec, 8% petit verdot, 6% tempranillo aged 12 months in second use barrels and another 12 in the bottle). I managed to get a photo of this before I finished it off.

Third course – wheat croquets served with wild mushrooms and caramelized onions, accompanied by the 2005 Ruca Malen Merlot (87% merlot, 13% tempranillo aged 12 months in oak and 12 in bottle).

The main course was an awesome roasted beef tenderloin served with squash, white wheat, sweet corn and smashed tomatoes – with lavender salt on the table.

The wines?

The 2007 Kinien Malbec, a special vintage that is only bottle in outstanding years. 95% malbec and 5% cabernet sauvignon, aged 14 months in new oak barrels (90% French, 10% American), and then laid down for another year in the bottle.

And...

The 2006 Ruca Malen Cabernet Sauvignon, a great wine with 90% cabernet sauvignon, 5% merlot and 5% petit verdot aged 12 months in second-use oak (80% French and 20% American) followed up with 12 months in the bottle.

To cleanse our pallets, we had a nice little pre-dessert of granite made with chardonnay, yerba mate (a sort of tea-like herb) and honey.

Finally, a dessert of white chocolate soup and seasoned fruits.

It was a great lunch – a meal fit for…. Us!

200 Pesos

2009-09-15T04:46:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned how well Lisa and I are enjoying the great food that Argentina has to offer (last night I had grilled pork in a blueberry and malbec reduction... and yes, I'm still kicking myself for not bringing the camera :-) but there's another great facet to our dining experiences that I haven't mentioned.

Yesterday, after arriving in Mendoza and walking for several hours around the town to get oriented, we stopped for our late-night meal at a very cute little place around the corner from our B&B. We ordered - the aforementioned pork, along with gnocchi for Lisa and a bottle of wine to share.

When the bill arrived, the tab was comparable to every fine meal we've had here - about $200 ARG.

With an exchange rate at better than 3 to 1, we're getting an entire meal here for price of just a single bottle of good wine at a restaurant in Seattle.

And, did I mention how good the food was?

The meat is real meat - very flavorful, grass-fed stuff that seems to be non-existant back home.

So there you have it - from a former picky eater turned aspiring gourmand!

Today - touring some of Argentina's finest wineries!

A Day in BA

2009-09-13T15:58:00.001-07:00

It didn't take Lisa and I long to settle into a daily routine here in Buenos Aires.

Wake up and get out of bed around 11 a.m.

That's right - we're on vacation!

Besides, with the four hour time difference it's really 7 a.m. so we're still getting up earlier than most of our friends back home do on the weekend.

Shower, dress, and head down the street to a local cafe just after noon for a light snack while Lisa does some writing on my laptop (she's a member of a writers' group back home) and I read.

By early afternoon we drop the laptop back at the hotel and head out to explore a nearby barrio - for the past couple of days we've walked about 3 miles each way from our place in Retrio up towards Palermo for shopping and an afternoon meal at a local cafe. It's a trek for most people, but we'd be doing the equivalent workout either biking or hiking back home.

Back to the room in late afternoon/early evening - time for a nap before heading out to dinner. We head to a different local place for dinner each night - arriving at around 10 p.m., which is early in BA.

We'll me changing things up a bit tomorrow, when we fly to Mendoza for a few days in wine-country.

More later!

Don’t cry for her, Argentina

2009-09-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

Our first wanderings yesterday took us to the Cementerio de la Recoleta, where some of BAs most wealthy and influential porteños receive a final resting place in huge marble tombs.

Lisa had never seen anything like it, but of course I had – being born and raised in New Orleans, I grew up thinking that everyone was buried like this!

In New Orleans – a coastal city that’s below sea level – above-ground crypts and tombs like these are a practical alternative to digging a grave in soggy ground and seeing the corpses pop up during the next flood.

In BA, a place like this is an exception rather than the rule – more a testament to social standing and vanity than practicality. But, just as in New Orleans, a macabre place like this is also one of the city’s major tourist attractions.

Thanks to Madonna and her portrayal of Eva Perón, the tomb of a rural family named Duarte is the must-see spot in this city of the dead.

Ironically, the most prominent citizen of Cementerio de la Recoleta – intended to be populated by the wealthiest of BA society – is someone who never quite fit in with the upper crust but was adored my the masses of Argentina’s working-class.

More later…

Food, glorious food!

2009-09-10T21:10:00.000-07:00

This morning Lisa and I arrived safe and sound in Argentina.

We also arrived hungry – the continuing tail-spin of service on major airlines resulted in us only having a single, very sub-standard meal during the two flights totaling more than 15 hours from Seattle to D.C. to Buenos Aires.

After our rapid and efficient processing through customs (by a guy who bore a striking resemblance to Antonio Banderas) and a trip into the city by a taxi driver who didn’t even wait for me to close my door before stepping on the gas, we walked a few blocks to the Recoleta district to have a wonderful lunch.

We found a lovely local place called Munich Recoleta – no, not German. A traditional old local place that you’d think wasn’t even open due to the closed white curtains that keep it a secret for the portenos.

OMG – talk about amazing!

We both had brochettes, prepared as an Argentine version of kabob - I chose beef tenderloin and Lisa had the chicken, though we both sampled each.

OMG – talk about amazing!

It was extremely flavorful, though not necessarily spicy – succulent in the way that can only be the result of real meat grilled simply over a flame with a few hunks of green and red peppers, some onion, and a few small chunks of thick-cut bacon.

We enjoyed it with an excellent bottle of malbec, the red wine that has won the Argentine region of Mendoza a spot on the wine maps of the world right alongside Bordeaux, Tuscany, Napa and Walla Walla (more on that later).

The service was exceptional, especially given that the last time I tried to speak Spanish was dozens of years ago as a sophomore at Tulane. I’d managed a C- performance in college and considerably less today, but the end result was a fabulous meal, prepared exactly as we wanted it, along with some smiles from some good-humored waiters who appreciated me trying as best I could.

After some sightseeing and a siesta back at out hotel, we went out for a fashionably late dinner – typical for Buenos Aires, even on a Thursday evening.

We hit the Gran Bar Danzon at about 10:30 – just at the height of the dinner hour at one of BAs most hip lounge/restaurants, where we had a amazing meal of pumpkin ravioli in lamb broth (Lisa) and had a magnificent dinner of pork short ribs with grilled peaches and pastry stuffed with mushroom and brie (Steven).

OMG – talk about amazing!

More to come…

Meet Lisa Wessling

2009-09-09T08:51:00.001-07:00

Lisa and I started dating late last year, and she's pretty amazing!

We hit it off right from the bat - she's very intelligent, politically progressive, and enjoys plenty of the same outdoor activities that I do. She's awesome on the trail, whether we're snoeshoeing or hiking or biking.

She's an account manager at Pop! where she does an impressive job of bringing clients together with some great web design talent. She's a hard worker, but definitely knows how to have fun!

We've enjoyed hanging out together every weekend since December, and have been flirting with the idea of going away for quite a while. I'd been hoping to get an assignment as an election observer with OSCE this summer, after which Lisa and I could meet in Europe - but what that didn't pan out, Lisa came up with the brilliant idea of going somewhere neither of us had been.

And - somewhere along the way - we decided on Argentina!

We're just about to head out the door for the airport - more later!

The Meaning of Argentina

2009-09-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

Did you know that the word Argentina comes from the latin word for silver, argentum?

The origin goes back to some of the first voyages that were made by the Spanish to the area of South America where they discovered that the indigenous people gave silver objects as gifts, and later discovered rich silver deposits there.

There are several towns in the Pampas region known for the craftsmanship of their silversmiths - I'm hoping we get to see that first-hand, perhaps during a day-trip from Buenos Aires to an estancia!

Thought of the day

2009-09-03T10:03:00.001-07:00

No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick!

The Next Chapter

2009-08-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile (too long) since my last adventure, but that's just because life has been so eventful.

After my exciting trip to Azerbaijan last fall I returned to work with the Senate Democrats at the WA Legislature in Olympia, where I spent one more Session as a communication specialist before leaving to explore new professional opportunities.

In the meantime, I've been enjoying my summer in the company of a wonderful and exciting woman - Lisa and I met last November, and managed to begin a great relationship even though she lives in Seattle and I was swamped during Session in Olympia. Since leaving work, we've been able to spend even more time together, and life if great!

And...

We're going to Argentina!

Stay tuned...

Lamb - it's what's for dinner

2008-11-02T13:21:00.001-08:00

Food is always a big part of any adventure into an unfamiliar culture - it can give a traveller a great deal of insight into the customs, religion, geography and economy of anyplace they visit.

Places with a wide variety of climates and soil conditions tend to have a wider variety of food, as do places with a more diversified economy and social structure.

In places like Azerbaijan, especially in the more remote areas, meals tend to be highly influenced by local factors.

First and formost is the fact that most Azeris are Muslim, and follow the dietary restrictions of Islam to varying degrees.

For example, I didn't see pork on the menu or being served anywhere in Azerbaijan. Come to think of it, I didn't see a single pif or hog on any of the many farms we drove past either.

But alcohol doesn't seem to be a problem. Local beer and wine were always available, although it clearly wasn't as big part of their culture as is is in neighboring Georgia, which is Orthodox Christian.
There's also the fact that most agriculture and livestock are locally grown, raised, harvested, and consumed. Most of what you find on your plate was brought to an open-air market by the person who grew or raised it, and sold the same day to the person who ended up cooking it.

Lamb - it's what's for dinner!

Then there's the ultimate source - the farm. You don't see industrial-scale farming in this part of the world, and what's available is very much determined by the local geography and what's in season.

For the most part, it's not uncommon to see people farming here the way they've farmed for the entire history of the human race, with a few modern refinements. There are some tractors on the larger farms, but it's still mostly small family plots of a few acres being tilled with an animal pulling a plow.

And it's the same with livestock - no gigantic feed lots full of big beefy cattle, pumped up with hormones and anti-biotics, mulching down grain from a trough.

Here, it's still sheppards with dogs moving small heards of sheep from one patch of grass to another,and goats eating weeds in the roadside ditches.

Meat on the hoof

For sale - Pepsi, in one fridge... Meat and Cheese in the other!

Sorry, Lari

2008-10-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

Although the OSCE makes all of the logistical arrangments for the volunteers on their election observation missions, and I'm provided with funds to cover my expenses along the way, money is an issue that I have to keep in mind.

Before departing, the contractor that recruits volunteers provides each of us with funds to cover our projected expenses - including per diem for our lodging and meals, and to pay the pre-negotiated salary of our local driver and translator.

Being provided with the funding, rather than simply having the OSCE pay for everything directly, is great - because interacting financially within a foreign economy is a very enlightening experience.

Of course, this means having to carry a large amount of cash, since many of the places I've volunteered as an election observer are remote areas where ATMs are either unreliable or hard-to-find, and many of the places I end up don't take credit cards.

Fortunately, safety has never been an issue on any of my missions - I've felt more safe walking around with cash in places like Shkoder, Albania and Gyumry, Armenia than I do in most major cities here in the United States.

That's not to say there aren't complications...

For one thing, I need to change some of my Dollars to Euros when I change planes in Europe, since that's the currency our driver and translator will be paid in.

And once I arrive in-county, I need to change even more money into the local money - which is often an obscure currency that isn't exchanged anywhere except within that country.

Have you ever come back from a trip across the border to Canada or Mexico and tried to use or exchange your left-over Loonies or Pesos at a local bank?

Imagine trying to redeem Albanian Lek or Armenian Dram!

Which brings me to the currious situation I found myself in during my trip to Azerbaijan...

While getting dressed on Election Day, I put my had into my pocket and noticed a large bundle of cash...

It was a wad of Lari, the currency of the Republic of Georgia - it turns out that I hadn't worn (or, apparently, washed) those pants since my mission to Georgia last May, and had forgotten to remove some left-over money from that trip.

How much money can an absent-minded election observer forget in their pocket?

Almost 300 Lari - equal to about $200.

Unfortunately, the Georgian Lari (usually abbreviated GEL) isn't an internationally exchanged currency - even though I was in neighboring Azerbaijan, and very close to the Georgian border, the local bank wouldn't change my GEL into local currency, or anything else...

The airport when I left? No luck.

Changing planes in Vienna, where the currency exchange booths would swap Euros, Dollars, Yen, Rubbles, and a dozen other kinds of money?

Sorry, Lari...

So, if any of you is planning on a trip to Tbilisi anytime soon, let me know!

Election day - by the numbers

2008-10-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

I always have some interesting experiences on OSCE election missions – meeting interesting people, visiting out-of-the-way places, tasting regional foods and wine, and at least learning to say “thank you” in the local language.

But the actual purpose of my participation on these trips – working as part of an international team to observe and report on the progress of the democratic process in countries formerly ruled as one-party dictatorships – is always a bit more difficult to describe because it’s a process that’s very alien to most of my friends and family.

Election Day generally begins by waking up before dawn in a strange place without hot water.

If we’ve managed to arrange for a breakfast of any kind it’s usually very basic – tea; bread, maybe with butter, honey, or cheese; perhaps a single fried egg.

After that, my partner and I are picked up by our local driver and translator and we travel to a polling place that we’ve scouted out the day before, where we watch the election workers prepare for voting to begin.

Waiting for the voters to arrive

In some countries, we are lavished with hospitality – in others, it’s more subdued.

In the Republic of Georgia last May, we were treated to an initial welcoming of tea, soon followed by several rounds of toasts with strong local wine – all before the polls opened at 8 a.m., and repeated at a dozen polling places over the course of the day.

Yes, a bit much – but it does make filling out all my observation reports a bit more lively…

Election Observation Forms

Although friendly, the Azeri people were a bit more reserved – and it makes for an interesting contrast in cultures.

The lack of alcohol may have been due to the fact that the Azeri are Muslim. Unlike followers of Islam in Persia and Arabia, the cultures I’ve experienced in Albania, Turkey and Azerbaijan seem to be fine with alcohol, although it seems to be reserved for meals – unlike the Orthodox Christians in neighboring Armenia and Georgia, who include local wine in almost any social gathering.

An exit poll! They must know Wolf Blitzer...

So far, of the countries where I have observed elections, Azerbaijan was the most orderly and businesslike. Although my colleagues in other parts of Azerbaijan saw a few discrepancies in how well each polling place followed the rules, the places I visited in and around Gadabay seemed to be doing everything by-the-numbers.

If anything, observing this particular election was almost dull – perhaps because there was very little doubt about the outcome.

Counting the votes

Even before I was offered the chance to observe this election, it was generally accepted that President Ilham Aliyev would be re-elected by a large margin.

In 2003, he was elected to succeed his retired father - Heydar Aliyev – with 76% of the vote. Afterwards, organizations like the OSCE and Human Rights Watch concurred that there were number of irregularities in the counting and tabulation

Although many of the Azeri opposition parties claimed that the election wasn’t completely fair, Ilham has managed to maintain high popularity in a country where politics are based more on personality than policy.

In fact, to an outsider, the politics of Azerbaijan seem almost cult-like.

There is a statue of his father Heydar in every town, public buildings and streets are named after him, and his portrait is all over the place – and things there’s definitely a feeling of “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

In fact, Aliyev is following in his father’s footsteps so well that even you would probably recognize him!

President Ilham Aliyev

In the 2006 film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, Aliyev's photo is shown during the credits.

In the film, he is supposedly the authoritarian president of Kazakhstan - who in reality is President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

So, what happens in an election where a second-generation incumbent is popular enough to name everything in the country after his father?

Well, many of the opposition parties boycotted the election, but they are so insignificant that no one – not the local election committee, not the voters, and not even our own translator – was aware of the boycott.

What else happens?

Well, Ilham Aliyev wins the election with over 88.73% of the votes – the next-closest of the six other candidates got only 2.86% of the votes.

And what does the OSCE think about this?

Well, the OSCE said that there was progress in this election compared to past ones as far as the technical aspects of what happens on election day – how voters sign in, get their ballots, cast them in privacy, and how the votes are counted and the results are tabulated.

But they didn’t think that the election met international standards from the perspective of how the campaigns were run – particularly the lack of competition.

After all, is it really a Democracy when the ruling political party can compel government employees and students in state schools to attend their campaign events?

How “fair and balanced” can an election be when the media only covers the ruling political party?

How much Democracy can there be when a single family – first father, then son – have continuous rule of a country for almost 40 years?

The big test will come in 2013, when President Ilham Aliyev completes his second term.

According to the Constitution of Azerbaijan, the president is limited to two terms of office – just like here in the United States (though they have 5-years terms and we have 4-year administrations).

Will they change the rules to allow Ilham to run for a third term?

Will his wife run to replace him, until their son is old enough?

And is this something that can only happen in Azerbaijan?

Sadly, no…

North Korea has seen their totalitarian regime handed down from father to son, and communist Cuba has seen its leadership passed on from one brother to another…

And here in America?

Although we’re much more Democratic than either North Korea or Cuba, we’ve come very close to a presidential succession of Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton…

And just today, the New York City Council decided to change the rules to allow incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run for a third term – even though the voters have twice voted in favor of term limits for the mayor and city council…

Democracy – it’s never as simple as it seems…

Idaho meets Eurasia

2008-10-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

My assignment as an election observer in Azerbaijan took me to the district – called a Rayon – of Gadabay, located on the far side of the country on the border of Armenia.

Traveling there required a cross-country bus trip of about seven hours to the city of Shamkir, where my partner and I would meet our driver and translator and proceed for another hour into the mountainous border area.

The drive across Azerbaijan took us through a bleak and featureless landscape. I’d heard that Azerbaijan included some very picturesque regions, but I certainly didn’t encounter any as our bus bumped along the rough main highway that links Baku, on the Absheron Peninsula jutting into the Caspian, to the interior of the country and onward to Tbilisi, Georgia.

Map of Azerbaijan, with Gadabay in red in the west. The Armenian-occuppied area of Nagorno-Karabakh is in green. Baku, the capitol, is located on the Absheron Pinensula in the east, sticking out into the Caspian Sea.

The landscape of Gadabay was not what I was expecting, either.

It’s been described as mountainous, and most of it is at an altitude of over 6,000 feet - but it consisted mostly of rolling hills where flocks of sheep and goats were grazing on the dried brown grass, which I’m sure was a more pastoral scene in the springtime when the fields were green and full of flowers.

Even though it was October, the temperature was in the mid 60 degree range, and I can only imagine how warm it was at the height of summer, even this high up.

An Azeri cemetary, with the town of Gadabay in the background

The town of Gadabay has about 9,000 people, mostly living in plastered cinderblock homes topped by corrugated metal roofs sporting satellite dishes – although we were occasionally surprised to see a building capped with very ornate polished metalwork.

Ornate Metal Roofing in Gadabay, Azerbaijan

Although a very simple place, Gadabay does have two claims to fame.

One is the local gold mine – started in the early 20th century by the German manufacturing firm Siemens under the guise of a less profitable copper mine, and recently revived by a Canadian company. Amazingly, none of the wealth extracted from the ground seems to have stayed in the local economy, though there’s certainly an abundance of mine tailings to be used for building.

Gadabay has, however, managed to extract something else from the ground to put a bit of money in their pockets – potatoes!

Gadabay Potatoes

That’s right – Gadabay is the Idaho of the Caucasus, growing spuds that are world-famous in Azerbaijan, and served at almost every meal.

They’re roughly the same as our Yukon Gold potatoes, and always prepared pealed, salted and roasted directly on hot coals – and very tasty with the local lamb and sweet red wine!

"Luca Brasi Sleeps With the Fishes"

2008-10-20T16:49:00.000-07:00

My first full day in Azerbaijan included a long series of election briefings in the ornate State Philharmonic Hall in Baku, after which several of my new friends and I set out for a night on the town.

Azerbaijan Philharmonic

We walked through the “old city” section of Baku, past the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and the Maiden Tower, and into the narrow streets lined with carpet weavers and local restaurants.

The Old City

Late into the evening, after a delicious meal of grilled lamb and chicken washed down with local Azeri wine, the manager of the restaurant where we’d dined arranged a taxi to take us back to our hotel, located several miles south of the city.

Mmmmm - Azeri Cuisine

We got in, and I was quickly reminded of one of the most colorful aspects of visiting this part of the world – the local drivers!

In most of the South Caucasus, drivers are kept in check by the poor conditions of the local roads. In the major cities, however, the pavement is just good enough to allow drivers to speed around without regard for their cars’ suspensions…

I enjoyed blitzing down the autobahn during the three years I lived in Germany, and spent ten years in southern California where many people typically drove twenty miles over the speed limit – when they weren’t stuck in traffic…

But drivers in Yerevan, Tbilisi and Baku are erratic enough to make even me nervous – though I do enjoy the thrill…

This night, as our taxi sped towards the outskirts of the capitol, our driver switched from the radio that was tuned in to a local station and put in a CD – totally stunning us with his musical selection.

Driving into the midnight darkness, my companions and I were perplexed to be hearing the theme from The Godfather…

Is this what an Azeri taxi driver thought three Americans and a Swede wanted to listen to, or was there something more ominous going on here?

Were we going to be ambushed at a toll plaza, like Sonny?

Would we be dumped into the Caspian to “sleep with the fishes” like Luca Brasi?

Were we being “taken for a ride” to edge of the city, where our lifeless bodies would be left in an abandoned Lada as our driver walked away mumbling “leave the gun, take the cannoli?”

Thankfully, we arrived safely back at our hotel – laughing at the theme music to our night on the town…

Drill, baby, Drill!

2008-10-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

In a previous posting, I mentioned that my accomodations in Baku were at the Crescent Beach Resort, on the coast of the "beautiful Caspian Sea."

Well, here it is - a sight that would make Sarah Palin proud...

The history of oil in Azerbaijan goes back as far as the third century, with Arabic and Persian authors mentioning oil in their manuscripts.

Later, the famous traveler Marco Polo wrote about how inhabitants of this region used oil that gushed from natural springs as a salve for men and camels affected with itch or scabs, and for burning in lamps.

By the 1870s, Azeri oil was being pumped on an industrial scale by the Russians, and by the end of the 19th century European firms were in on the action.

The first years of the 20th century saw Azerbaijan producing more than half of the worlds petroleum.

Civil unrest, World War One, and the Russian Revolution brought about severe reductions in Azeri oil production, but the Soviet Union ramped it back up, and the oil field of Azerbaijan became a target for Hitler's troops during the Second World War.

The collapse of the Soviet Union inspired new foreign investments in Azeri oil production, including a desire for a new export route that bypassed Russia and Iran. The result was the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, an 1,100 mile link from the oil fields on the Caspian coast near Baku, Azerbaijan through Tbilisi, Georgia and onward to the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediteranian coast.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline was a thinly-disguised plot point in the James Bond film "The World is not Enough" and is the second-longest pipeline in the world - after the Druzhba pipeline, which connects western Siberia with Europe.

Today, Azerbaijan produces nearly 1.2 million barrels of oil per day - more than Alaska (sorry, Sarah) - as well as a vast amount of natural gas. This has made Baku the most cosmopolitan city in this part of the world, but hasn't resulted in much economic benefit for most Azeri people.

The irony of this struck me during my stay in the rural mountain village of Gadabay - which was serviced by a natural gas line of such poor reliability that cooking was done over hot coals instead of on stoves, and our gas water heaters never worked.

Home Again

2008-10-18T16:37:00.000-07:00

I'm finally home from another sucesssful election observation mission with the OSCE, and well worn from being in-transit for more than 24 hours.

I didn't get to keep you all as informed as I'd intended, since I was deployed to a very rural area of Azerbaijan where cellphones and satellite dishes were prominent, but internet access and hot running water were virtually unheard of...

Tomorrow, I'll start getting caught up on my storytelling - with photos!

Be sure to check for exciting blog posts, including:

“Drill, Baby, Drill!”
"Luca Brasi Sleeps With the Fishes"
“Lamb – it’s what’s for dinner”
“Election day - by the numbers”
"Sorry, Lari"
“Idaho meets Eurasia”
“A cruise on the Titanic”

Enjoy!

SPB

Gadabay

2008-10-16T09:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm beginning my homeward journey after spending four days without warm water - let alone internet access - in the remote mountain village of Gadabay, Azerbaijan.

I'll be spending Friday on a cross-country bus ride back to Baku, followed by a debriefing, post-mission reception party, and 4 a.m. flight to Vienna.

As with my most recent missions to Georgia and Armenia, it looks like I'll have to save my detailed blogging for when I get home - look for a detailed posting when I'm settled back in at home on Sunday!

SPB

26 Hours Later

2008-10-11T08:36:00.000-07:00

After 26 hours of continuous travel, I've finally arrived at my temporaty accomodations in the Crescent Beach Hotel, on the beautiful Caspian Sea outside of Baku, Azerbaijan....

Well...

The "beautiful Caspian Sea" is an assumption on my part - I can hear and smell a large body of water outside, and Baku is located on the Caspian. But I'll have to wait until morning to see just how beautiful it is...

And it is way "outside of Baku." We drove through the capitol on the way here from the airport, and the downtown is very modern and cosmopolitan - but we kept on driving for so long that none of us really knows exactly where we are, and I'm doubting that I'll have a chance to see the historic "old town."

Tomorrow we spend all day in briefings, and learning exactly where we'll be deployed.

Much more to follow!

SPB

3 a.m.

2008-10-10T03:13:00.000-07:00

Up n' attem!

On my way to Sea-Tac for the beginning of my flights via Chicago, Munich and Istanbul to beautiful Baku, Azerbaijan.

I'll blog - if I can - when I get there!

SPB

Nagorno-Karabakh

2008-10-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

"Nagorno" is Russian for "highland" - and is a word that isn't used in either Azeri or Armenian, but was imposed on a region of Azerbaijan during Soviet rule.

"Karabakh" is a word that originated in Turkic and Persian, and means "black garden."

"Nagorno-Karabakh" is a region in the South Caucasus. It encompasses the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, an unrecognised, but de facto independent republic, which under international law is officially part of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

It is about 270 kilometers (170 miles) west of the Azeri capital of Baku and close to the border with Armenia.

What's up with that?

Well, it another one of those unresolved messes from the breakup of the Soviet Union that resulted in a brief war between neigboring countries - Azerbaijan and Armenia - over about terrirory and people.

Like the recent was between Russia and Gerorgia of South Osettia, it involves the territory of one country whose inhabitants identify culturally or nationally with another country.

When the Soviet Union dissolved, there was a referendum - boycotted by local Azeris - in which the ethnic Armenians living in the Nagorno-Karabakh area of Azerbaijan approved the creation of an independent state.

A Soviet proposal for enhanced autonomy for Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan didn't make anyone happy, and a full-scale war erupted between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, the latter receiving support from Armenia.

By the end of 1993, the conflict had caused thousands of casualties and created hundreds of thousands of refugees on both sides.

Today, the area is in diplomatic limbo - and because it's disputed territory that is still occuppied by Armenian troops, the OSCE will not be sending election observers there.

Itinerary

2008-10-06T13:23:00.000-07:00

Well I should be receiving my airline tickets, passport with entry visa, and other materials via FedEx tomorrow, but I've already gotten a tentative itinerary:

Friday, 10 October - Travel from Seattle via Chicago, Munich and Istanbul to Baku
Saturday, 11 October - Arrive in Baku, Azerbaijan
Sunday, 12 October - Briefings
Monday, 13 October - Deployment to the areas of observation
Tuesday, 14 October - Familiarization with area of observation
Wednesday, 15 October - Election Day
Thursday, 16 October - Regional debriefings; Observation of tabulation of results
Friday, 17 October - Return to Baku; Debriefing & Reception
Saturday, 18 October - Travel from Baku via Vienna and Frankfurt to Seattle

It's quite a whirlwind schedule (as usual), and I'll keep you posted on any updates as I get them prior to my departure on Friday morning!

SPB

Azeri Basics

2008-10-01T17:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I've still got more than a week before I leave - but it's never too early to learn a little bit about where I'll be going, and to share what I'm learning with all of you.

So, here are some Azeri (aka "Azerbaijani") basics:

Where is it?
It’s in one of those funny parts of the world that most people can’t find on a map because it’s neither “this” nor “that.”

In this case, it’s partially in Eastern Europe and partially in Western Asia, in the mountainous area called the South Caucasus (not to be confused with the Iowa Caucuses or any other electoral contest).

Where is it (this time in English, please)?
Find Iran on a map (the place John McCain wants to “bomb, bomb, bomb…”)
On top of Iran is a body of water called the Caspian Sea.
Azerbaijan is to the left of that, surrounded by Iran to the south, Armenia to the west, Georgia to the northwest, Russia to the north, and the Caspian Sea to the east.

What’s it like there?
Azerbaijan is roughly the same size as the state of Maine, and is ringed by mountains except for its eastern Caspian shoreline and some areas bordering Georgia and Iran.

There are three major mountain ranges in the country with peaks above 12,000 feet. About 25% of Azerbaijan is pastureland, 20% is farmland, and 11% forest and woodland.

The climate varies from subtropical and dry in central and eastern Azerbaijan to subtropical and humid in the southeast, temperate along the shores of the Caspian Sea, and cold at the higher mountain elevations.

Who are they?
They are about 87% ethnic Azeris, with a mixed cultural heritage of Turkic, Iranian, and Caucasian elements. About 90% of Azeris are Shi'a Muslims.

What do they speak?
They speak Azerbaijani, which is generally known as Azeri. It’s a Turkic language that is mutually intelligible with Turkish despite minor variations in accent, vocabulary and grammar.

What do they do?
They have lots of oil and natural gas – in fact, in the late 1800s they were the first of only two countries to ever single-handedly produce most of the world’s oil (the other was the U.S. in the early 20th Century).

Azeri Trivia:
Azerbaijan has its own special breed of horse…

More Azeri Trivia:
The shoreline of Azerbaijan is below “sea level” because the Caspian Sea isn’t really a sea, it’s a lake…

More to come!

Curious minds want to know…

2008-09-29T22:30:00.000-07:00

Each time I announce that I’m leaving to volunteer on an election observation mission with the OSCE, I get a wide variety of interesting questions.

This time is no different, so I thought I would share some of the Q&A with everyone.

Why are you going half way around the world to help them run democratic elections when we can’t seem to manage to do a good job right here?

Actually, I have observed elections here at home. I first volunteered as an observer during the 2004 elections when I got politically involved in Gig Harbor, WA.

If you and other Americans are going all the way to Azerbaijan for their election, will they come over here for our election?

You Bet! That’s how the OSCE works: all of the member nations (the U.S., Canada, the European Union, and the former members of the Soviet Union) exchange observers for their elections.

Having outsiders come in helps shed light on the process, and helps each nation have a better understanding on the health of one another's political systems.

Speaking of “healthy political systems,” how do they think we’re doing?

Well, we have “issues” – especially when it comes to a transparent elections process.

It turns out that access for OSCE observers during the 2004 election was sometimes limited to specific counties or to specific polling stations within a particular county, contrary to our OSCE commitments.

We also have a Federal system that creates a patchwork of different election laws from state to state, and sometimes county to county – and some of those places don’t even have provisions for elections observers of any kind!

The OSCE did provide recommendations to improve provisional balloting, absentee voting, voter identification and voter challenges, electronic voting, training for polling place workers, and new minimum standards for how elections are run here.

All of this is available in their exhaustive OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission Final Report

Is volunteering as an international election observer safe?

Yes, it is - they take our security very seriously. One of my friends had security forces surround her hotel when there was an election-day riot - they were very safe!

The OSCE doesn't send election observation missions to nations where there isn't an established government, or where there's open armed conflict.

That being said, the Republic of Georgia and Russia did fight a brief war just a few weeks after I was there in May – something that was actually simmering before I went and mentioned in my pre-mission posting “Georgia in the News.”

How much do you get paid?

Nothing - I'm a volunteer.

How much does this cost you?

Nothing - the U.S. State Department, through a contractor, provides my airline tickets and covers my expenses.

How do you know where to go and what to do?

The OSCE makes all of the logistical arrangements - local transportation, accommodations, etc.

What do you know about Azeri election law that qualifies you to do this?

Nothing yet, but I'm a faster study than Sarah Palin...

The first thing we'll do after arriving in Baku and getting settled in is to receive a crash-course in everything we need to know about their election process. It'll cover all of the logistical and security arrangements for the mission, the political situation, election law, and the process for us to make our observations and complete our reports for later analysis.

When did you learn to speak Azeri?

I haven't yet, but language ususally isn't an issue.

The working language of the OSCE is English, so the members of the mission can all get along even though dozens of different nations will be sending observers.

My partner and I will be assigned a local driver and translator once we deploy to the area where we'll be working, and they will be very important to our ability to do our work - not to mention our ability to find a bathroom...

Do you get to sight-see while you're there?

Some of the most interesting site-seeing I’ve ever done has been on my OSCE missions – but it isn’t because I’m a tourist.

It comes about naturally as we familiarize ourselves with the area where we’ll be working by having our driver and translator take us out to visit the polling places ahead of time, as well as to meet local elections officials and candidates. We end up seeing some of the local sights along the way - and we always have some off-time in the schedule to explore as well.

Who will you work with?

I'll be paired off with someone from another country as a partner. Each two-person team gets a local driver and translator - the driver is usually just some guy who happens to have a car for hire, and the translator is usually a student from a local university.

What exactly will you be doing?

Well, I’m an “observer” and not a “referee” – we’re there to monitor the election process to see how closely they are following their own laws, and we note our observations on some very complex forms that contribute to the “big picture” when they are combined with the observations of hundreds of other teams all over the country.

What do you do if you see something suspicious?

As observers, we’re not allowed to interfere in the election process. We limit our involvement to asking questions through our translators, noting our observations and reporting them.

What happens when you're done?

A long bus ride back to the capital, a group debriefing, and a reception and all-night party followed by a 4 a.m. flight out of the country.

What becomes of all the work you did?

The OSCE analyzes all the data gathered by observes at dozens or hundreds of sites all over the country on election day to see if there are any specific trends to show how well their election process works. They will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions the day after the election, and a formal report about eight weeks later.

What if I want to know more?

Just post a question to the comment section, and I'll answer it!

Azerbaijan

2008-09-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, friends, I'm once again preparing to participate as an elections observer for the Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe - this time as part of the OSCE mission to Azerbaijan for their presidential election on October 15.

Followers of my previous posts below will recognize that this isn't my first visit to the Caucases - I was also part of the OSCE misson to Armenia in 2006 and the Republic of Georgia earlier this year.

I'll be posting regular updates as my anticipated departure on October 9 approaches and I get more details.

Thanks for visiting, and wish me well!

Vardzia

2008-06-05T12:40:00.000-07:00

During some of our time off, we went to visit one of the most fascinating sites in the entire region – the abandoned cave-city of Vardzia.

Originally dug inside a mountain near Aspindza, it was founded by Queen Tamar in 1185 as a place of protection from the Mongols.

The monastery – which consisted of over six thousand apartments in a thirteen story complex that included a church, throne room, and an irrigation system that watered terraced farmlands – was exposed by an earthquake in 1283.

Although about 60-70% of the complex was destroyed by the quake, the remaining structure was used for another three hundred years - until it was raided by Persians in 1551.

Today, it is a tourist attraction attended by a small group of monks, and is definitely worth a visit.

The exposed parts of Vardzia - previously in the middle of a mountain - have had steps and handrails added for safety

Wandering around the interior tunnels was a fascinating experience that left us wondering how the intricate series of overlapping passageways was constructed with only rudimentary hand-tools more than 800 years ago.

Many of the chambers had frescos on the walls and ceilings - some depicting the saints of orthodox Christianity

We spent hours wandering through the passageways, marveling how cleverly they were designed.

At some points, there were holes in the ceilings - only later did we come across side passageways with holes in the floor, through which the inhabitants could have attacked invaders who were following them!

We were also shown a chamber with a pool of crystal clear, cool water that we were told remained at a constant level and temperature. Somehow, it sits right at the natural water-table of the mountain an manages to remain full - even though it's carved into the solid stone floor!

Unfortunately, the photos of those amazing features of Vardzia didn't turn out too well because of the lack of light and the confined spaces - you'll just have to take my word for it, or go visit Vardzia yourself!

Election Day

2008-06-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

A rural Georgian schoolhouse - a typical location for a polling-place

Having taken a day to figure out where the most accessible polling places were, Indre and I set out on election day to visit as many of them as we could to make our observations.

The routine to be followed at the polling places is pretty straightforward.

Voters arrive at their local polling place and are greeting by a member of the local election commission who uses a UV light to check for traces of invisible ink on their hands – which is applied when someone receives their ballot. If someone has signs of ink on their hands, they aren’t allowed into the polling place.

Checking for invisible ink

Then, the voter checks in at a table to sign in on the voter list and receive their ballot, and to have their thumbs marked with the invisible ink.

Signing in to vote

Inking of the thumbs

They then go into a booth to mark their ballot, get an envelope in to which to place the ballot, and drop their envelope into the ballot box.

For those who are unable to make it to a polling place, Georgia – and many other areas of the former Soviet Union – has “mobile voting.” Instead of vote-by-mail absentee voting, a small ballot box is brought by members of the local election commission to your home.

"Mobile Voting"

A family member helps a visually-impaired woman vote at home via "mobile voting"

Everywhere we went, we were welcomed with enthusiasm by the local election commission – who were eager to answer our questions and share their hospitality by offering us refreshments.

Coffee, tea, and pastries were plentiful – but two items clearly stood out from all the others.

The first was one of the national dishes of Georgia – Khachapuri (hoch-a-poor-ee), a round, flat cheese-filled bread that was served as a staple of every meal I ate in Georgia and was loved by everyone.

The other was local, home-made white wine – consumed in a series of toasts that require those partaking to consume the entire glass in one long pull each round.

Georgian hospitality in the backroom of a polling-place on election day

Khachapuri!

The one time I politely passed on the wine I was brought bottled water – or at least that’s what I though it was, until I raised the glass to my lips and was greeted with some very potent vodka…

Of course, as the day wore on this became overwhelming – and put us in the delicate position of having to decide exactly how much hospitality we could accept before diplomatically excusing ourselves to move on to the next polling place.

Eventually, as the 8 p.m. deadline came near, we made our way to a polling place where we would observe the closing procedures, vote counting, and the sealing up of all of the materials and the filling out of a “protocol” sheet that accounts for everything.

While the actual voting seemed to go well in the polling places we visited, our fellow observers in other areas saw several irregularities: piles of neatly stacked ballots, one atop the other, resting in the ballot box – along with seemingly identical signatures in the voter sign-in sheets – were indicators of potential ballot-box stuffing.

Eventually, our observations – reported via checklists that we fill out and fax back to the OSCE team in Tbilisi – were combined with those of 180 two-person observation teams deployed all over the country on election day.

Filling out my forms

The result?

The OSCE issues a preliminary finding, stating in part that:

“Election day was generally calm, and overall, voting was assessed positively by the large majority of IEOM (international election observation mission) observers, with regional variations.

However, there were procedural shortcomings, especially with regard to inconsistent application of inking procedures.

Inaccuracies remain in the voter list, despite verification efforts undertaken by the CEC (central election commission).

In a considerable number of polling stations, a relatively high number of voters were added to mobile voter lists.

Cases of domestic observers and proxies being pressured or expelled from polling stations were noted.

Counting was assessed less positively, with significant procedural shortcomings observed, as was tabulation.”

Indre and I didn’t observe nearly as many problems in the area where we were working – but once we returned to Tbilisi, I met friends who were deployed to other parts of the country who reported some very chaotic polling places.

After some further analysis, the OSCE will have a final report that will include recommendations to the Republic of Georgia on how to improve their elections process – and, as we in America can attest, there’s always room for improvement.

Where the streets have no name

2008-05-30T12:17:00.000-07:00

Geogrian roads are so bad...

HOW BAD ARE THEY???

Georgian roads are so bad that when a dog chases a car, he usually catches it...

The scene along one of Georgia's better rural roads

I discovered this first hand, on several occasions, while scouting out the area where my partner Indre and I would be working on election day.

Of course, we weren't left to our own devices - were were given a map of the area and a list of the villages around the central town of Aspindza that we should try to visit, with travel times and notations on road conditions that included comments like:

Village Ota - access only by tractor

Village Vargavi - behind very steep slopes, consult driver

Fortunately, Indri and I were also provided with a pair of indespensible assistants - our translator Merab and our driver Pavle, who advised us against going to villages "behind very steep slopes" or that required travel by tractor.

This turned out to be a very good plan, since the roads without special notations were rough enough to make poor Indre carsick on our initial exploration of the region...

Merab and Pavle meet us at our hotel in Akhaltsikhe at 10 a.m. the day before the election to show us around. Our plan was to drive upriver on Highway A-360 to the town of Aspidza, around which were located a dozen mountain villages that we would try to visit on election day.

The main highway wasn't too bad - although there were very rough sections with signs that indicated that they were "under repairation."

The fun part was when we left the main road to travel up into the hills on rockstrewn, potmarked cart paths, or to cross the river on bridges that looked as though their structural integrity was questionable at best...

One of several rustic suspension bridges across the Kura River near Aspindza

Better walk across first - just to be safe...

The roads up to the hillside towns were so bad that we could often travel only slightly better than walking speed in many cases, bouncing up and down and being jolted from side to side as Pavle did his best to steer around the worst of the jagged ruts and avoid having us bottom out.

It was such rough going that whenever a stray dog decided to chase us, it easily kept pace for as long as it wanted - which was invariable far too long...

Have you ever wondered what a dog chasing a car does when he actually catches the car?

I'll tell you - he does pretty much whatever he wants!

He barks and snarls as he runs along side, nipping at the tires and snapping at the bumpers.

I swear one of them actually lifted a hind leg and marked Pavle's car as part of his territory while we were all moving down the road at 10 kph...

And when it wasn't stray dogs, we had local traffic to deal with...

Georgian traffic jam

All in all, however, getting there is half the fun - especially in a place like Georgia, with its beautiful scenery and wonderful roadside attractions...

More to come...

SPB

Georgian Civics 101

2008-05-28T19:21:00.001-07:00

The bus trip from Tbilisi to Akhaltsikhe provided enough time to gaze at the passing landscape along the Kura river, and to review some of my briefing material on the election that I would be observing.

European politics can be baffling to Americans, because their flavor of Democracy is based on a different model than ours. Having seen several at work close hand, I can’t say that I think any of them – ours included – is better or worse. They’re just different.

The Republic of Georgia was, until 1990, the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic – one of the republics that made up the former Soviet Union, with a government that consisted of a single political party – the Georgian Communist Party.

Today, Georgia has multiple political parties and a government that consists of a president elected by popular vote and a 150 seat unicameral Parliament in which 75 members are elected by proportional representation and 75 members are elected by majority vote in single-member constituencies- all of them serve for 5-year terms.

Naturally, having a Parliamentary system with multiple political parties is much more dynamic than the two-party system we have in the United States (yes, I know there are Greens and Libertarians and whatever-the-hell Ralph Nader is calling himself this year – but get serious…)

Political parties in Parliamentary systems rarely achieve enough votes in elections or hold enough seats in parliament to govern on their own – so different parties for “coalitions,” “blocks” or “alliances” to work towards common goals. This is especially common among the minor political parties who otherwise can’t gain seats in Parliament unless they combine their votes.

In Georgia, the major political parties include:

United National Movement

Labor Party

Republican Party

Christian-Democratic Party

Georgian Politics

National Movement of Radical Democrats of Georgia

Union of Georgian Sportsmen

Our Country

I stopped by to say hello, but Newt Gingrich wasn't home...

There are also several minor parties that have combined to form blocs and alliances, including:

United Opposition-National Council-New Rights Bloc – includes the New Rights Party, Conservative Party, Georgia's Way, Freedom, On Our Own, Party of People, Movement for United Georgia, Georgian Troupe, and National Forum

Traditionalists Party Bloc – includes the Our Georgia Party and the Women's Party
New Rights Alliance – includes the Industry Will Save Georgia Party, National Democratic Party, and the Ertoba (Unity) Party

Christian-Democratic Alliance – not to be confused with the Christian-Democratic Party…

All this - for a nation of 4.6 million people and 3.4 million registered voters.

Lennon & McCartney...Butch & Sundance... Breaux & Segzdaviciute???

2008-05-27T20:24:00.000-07:00

There are always two things that short-term election observers on an OSCE mission are most curious about - where will they be stationed once they arrive in-country, and who will their partner be.

The "where" is usually just a matter of logistics - how far they will have to travel from the capital to get there, what will the accomidations be like, and are there any cool sites to see when they get there.

But the "who" can really make a difference in the entire election experience,since our partner will be our nearly constant companion in a strnage environment, working long hours under enormous pressure. Your partner makes the difference between the election observation expericence being an adventure or a nightmare.

The OSCE always creates multinational teams - so the only thing I know going into this is that my partner won't be an American.

During the briefing process in Tbilisi, I discovered that I would be deployed to the region of Samtskhe-Javakheti, in the south-central part of the country along the mountainous boarder with Turkey, and that my partner was named Indre Segzdaviciute.

Indre Segzdaviciute

I'll pay $10 to anyone who can say that last name correctly on the first try, and another $10 who can tell me the entimology without resorting to an internet search...

I first met my partner when a lovely young woman on the bus for Akhaltsikhe asked "Does anyone know who Steve Breaux is?"

Indre works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Republic of Lithuania ("Foreign Service at your service") and, like myself, has served on two previous OSCE election missions.

Unlike myself, she is attractive, charming, and multilingual - all of which are very useful when working as an election observer...

Over the course of five days traveling on the rough roads between polling stations around the town of Aspindza, she would prove to be exactly the kind of teammate that everyone on OSCE missions dreams about - a talented hard worker who also knows how to take advantage of the opportunity to make new friends and explore some amazing local sites.

The circumstances of all of our hard work and the amazing sites we saw will, of course, be the subject of upcoming posts!

More to follow...

SPB

Tbilisi - Gateway to Georgia

2008-05-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

A crucial first step as a short-term observer (STO) during an election observation mission (EOM) - besides learning all the acronyms and abbreviations - is to get oriented to your new surroundings.

This usually isn't too hard when you first arrive. Most of the STOs have flights routed through a common airport in central Europe - this time, Munich - and make up the majority of passengers on the connecting flights into the capitol city of the country we're working in. We're met at our destination by the logistics team of the OSCE, who have buses waiting to take us to our hotels.

View from my window at the Marriott

Saint George - namesake of Georgia - slaying the Dragon

Members of the mission are usually scattered among the largest hotels in the city - in Tbilisi, the Sheraton and the Marriott - plus a few smaller ones, and our first day is dedicated to overcoming the jet-lag. Of course, this gives us a bit of time to socialize with our fellow STOs and do some local sightseeing.

After getting caught up on my sleep, I decided to go to a local open-air market with my roommate - a retired Foreign Service officer named Frank Crump from Virginia. Neither of us speaks Georgian, but Frank picked up Russian somewhere along the way, which helped us get where we were going.

The open-air market in Tbilisi isn't too different from the farmers markets that I've been to in places like Santa Monica, Gig Harbor, and Olympia - full of goods and produce from local vendors, the sights, sounds and smells of which were a great introduction to the way people live in Georgia...

Fishmongers

Chicken

Spices

Tea

Frank, buying Georgian cheese - which is quite salty

After exploring Tbilisi, we had a series of briefings on the political environment and election procedures that we would be observing, and received our deployment assignments - which will be the subject of my next post...

More to come...

SPB

There's no place like home

2008-05-25T07:17:00.000-07:00

The lack of internet access anywhere except during my brief stay in Tbilisi at the beginning and end of my deployment resulted in me being "off the grid" for a while - but I'm now home and ready to upload my photos and make a few posts to get you all caught up on my most recent adventure.

My assignment in Georgia with the OSCE took me to the out-of-the-way region of Samtskhe-Javakheti, where I was based in the small city of Akhaltsikhe.

Akhaltsikhe, as seen from a nearby hilltop

Located in the southern part of the country, in the mountains near the Turkish border, my duties involved covering election day activities and vote tabulation in the small villages around the town of Aspindza.

It was a beautiful area - situated in the narrow valley of the Kura River, it is home to small family-cultivated plots of land that supply just enough produce for the region, with cows, goats, and sheep grazing on the steep rocky slopes (when they aren't blocking the road along the river or the small, rough cart-paths that lead up into the villages).

Kura River, near Aspindza, running fast and high

There were few luxuries here - though there were some interesting cultural sights, and overwhelming hospitality. Most of the homes were simple cinder block affairs, although many did have satellite dishes attached to their corrugated metal roofs.

Now that I'm home again - and back to a more regular schedule (and reliable internet access) - I'll start uploading my photos and stories - about one a day for the next week - and hope that you will enjoy them...

SPB

MIA

2008-05-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

No need to worry - I'm safe and sound back in Tbilisi after wandering the mountains of southern Georgia, where Internet access was non-existent...

Not that I had any time to write anyway, with a demanding schedule over the past five days that consisted of not enough sleep, plenty of Georgian hospitality, and some amazing sightseeing...

Oh, yea - there was an election in there too! But being an election observer here means not enough sleep and plenty of Georgian hospitality...

The election committee in every precinct insisted on welcoming us with an offer of "tea" - which included a prolonged series of toasts featuring locally home-made wine that had the varrying effects of hard apple cider (VERY hard) to semi-sweet moonshine. The one time I managed to waive off the wine they provided me with bottled water - which, I discovered during a toast, was filled with vodka...

Considering that I traveled along some of the most horrendous roads imaginable repeating this process in a dozen mountain villages, I think I'm holding up fine - and will hopefully shake it off during the 24 hours of flying and layovers that I will be starting at around 2 a.m.

In the meantime, I'm going to get cleaned up...

SPB

Back in the USSR

2008-05-17T02:57:00.000-07:00

Well, not exactly...

I'm in one of the former republics of the old Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - this time the Republic of Georgia, just north of where I was last year when I visited Armenia.

I left Seattle at 4:26 on Thursday afternoon, and after flying through the under-renovation Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX (SUX) and then through Munich (very nice), I arrived in Tbilisi at dawn on Saturday morning - which, after considering the time difference, amounts to 24 hours on-the-go travel...

Ugh...

I've checked into the very nicely appointed Courtyard Marriot Tbilisi - by far the most posh place I've ever spent money on during a mission, even concidering that I've been assigned a roommate and am splitting the cost. I usually prefer to stay in a more modest place and save my per-deim, but far be it for me to break the rules...

Took my morning walk after a brief nap, and time to get out and about with some of my colleagues for this mission.

We start our briefings tomorrow, and then head out into the field on Monday afternoon (Monday? I think? What day is it?)

More Later...

SPB

Peaches? No, Grapes!

2008-05-14T12:24:00.000-07:00

My colleagues on the staff of the Senate Democratic Caucus in Olympia have been very enthusiastic about my upcoming journey to The Republic of Georgia...

They keep telling me to have fun in Atlanta, and asking for me to bring back some peaches and an autograph from Anderson Cooper at CNN...

But I'm going to "the other Georgia" - the one named after Saint George, not King George.

Of course, that begs the question: Exactly what does one bring back as a souvineer from the Republic of Georgia?

For those in the know, the answer is obvious - wine!

Yes, believe it or not, the Republic of Georgia is known for its wine - at least in that part of the world.

In fact, Georgia has a history of winemaking dating back 7,000 years, and is believed to be one of the first places where grapes were cultivated specificially for winemaking.

While it doesn't have the reputation that other wine-producing nations have, I'm definitely looking forward to sampling some of the local product again - many of the meals I enjoyed during my mission last year in neighboring Armenia were accompanied with Georgian wine, and it was quite good if a bit sweet for my taste...

So - I've managed to bring back Albanian Konjak (cognac) and Armenian Ararat Brandy from my prior missions...

How about a nice bottle of Ojaleshi?

Georgia in the News

2008-05-09T15:38:00.000-07:00

A colleague of mine at the Senate Democratic Caucus, Mark Rosen, thought he'd do me a favor by sharing with me a link to some stories coming out of the Republic of Georgia on Reuters News Service:

Georgia says "very close" to war with Russia

U.S. slams Russia over rising tensions with Georgia

Georgian rebels ask Russian army for help

Georgia leader defends reputation in election

Gee, Mark, thanks... I think...

Not your typical vacation

2008-05-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

Next week I'll be leaving for my third mission as a volunteer election observer with the Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe. With some new friends and colleagues reading this blog for the first time, I've decided to remind everyone about exactly what it is that this involves.

The OSCE is a collection of countries that includes the U.S., Canada, the European Union, and the members of the former Soviet Union. They engage in a variety of activities aimed at improving the security of all members by focusing on conflict avoidance and resolution through a variety of cooperative means, including what they call "democratization."

Part of this involves member nations inviting other members to send election observers to witness their democratic process at work and to provide feedback on the results - which is what I've done on prior missions to Albania in 2005 and Armenia in 2007.

On May 21, the Republic of Georgia - a former member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) - will be holding elections for their Parliament, and have asked the OSCE to send observers.

I'll be one of 31 Americans joining hundreds of volunteers from other OSCE nations in the process of observing the elections and providing feedback to help the Republic of Georgia in their transition from a one-party form of government to a multi-party democracy.

The process is quite complicated, but fascinating and fun - especially for a political junkie like me. It's not a typical vacation, but I'm not a lay-on-the-beach kind of guy, either...

I get all kinds of question about exactly what this involves, and I've decided to provide you all with some of the FAQs:

Is this safe?
Pretty much...

The OSCE doesn't send election observation missions to nations where there isn't an established government, or where there's open armed conflict.

That being said, many of the former Soviet Republics are experiencing political tensions as the ally themselves either with the Russian Federation or the West, and some of them have separatist regions that don't get along with the central government.

In Georgia, the atmosphere leading up to the parliamentary elections in May is expected to be tense. Casual travelers are also advised to avoid the border regions of Chechnya, Dagestan, North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Kabarda-Balkar and Karachay-Cherkessia due to land mines, civil unrest and a high incidence of kidnapping.

How much do you get paid?
Nothing - I'm a volunteer.

How much does this cost you?
Nothing - the U.S. State Department, through a private contractor, provides my airline tickets and covers my expenses.

How do you know where to go and what to do?
The OSCE makes all of the logistical arrangements - local transportation, accommodations, etc.

What do you know about Georgian election law that qualifies you to do this?
Nothing - the first thing we'll do after arriving in Tbilisi and getting settled in is to receive a crash-course in everything we need to know about their election process. It covers all of the logistical and security arrangements for the mission, the political situation, election law, and the process for us to make our observations and report them for analysis.

When did you learn to speak Georgian?
I haven't. The observers can all get along because the working language of the OSCE is English, I'll be assigned a local driver and translator once I deploy to the area where I'll be working.

Do you get to sight-see while you're there?
Sort of. After the briefings in the capital, teams are deployed all over the country to observe the elections at the local level. Once deployed, we familiarize ourselves with the area by having our driver and translator take us out to visit the polling places ahead of time, as well as to meet local elections officials and candidates. Naturally, we end up seeing some of the local sights along the way - and we always have some off-time in the schedule to explore as well.

Who will you work with?
Each person is paired off with someone from another country as a partner. Each two-person team gets a local driver and translator - the driver is usually just some guy who happens to have a car, and the translator is usually a student from a local university.

What exactly do you do?
On election day, we go to as many local polling places as we can to see if there are any complications. We have forms to track the various events we witness, like what times a polling place opened, whether or not certain procedures are being followed, and if anyone was interfering with the process. We fax reports in to a central OSCE office at various times throughout the day, and when the polling places close we go to the nearest place where the ballots are counted and observe the process there - in my previous missions to Albania and Armenia, they used manual ballot processing that goes on non-stop for days! We usually work the first 24 hours non-stop, and then work in 12-hour shifts until the results are in.

The tentative schedule that I'll be following in Georgia is available online here.

What do you do if you see something suspicious?
We're observers - not referees. We're not allowed to interfere in the election process, so we limit our involvement to asking questions through our translators, noting our observations and reporting them.

What happens when you're done?
A long bus ride back to the capital, a group debriefing, and a reception and all-night party followed by a 4 a.m. flight out of the country.

What becomes of all the work you did?
The OSCE analyzes all the data gathered by observes at dozens or hundreds of sites all over the country on election day to see if there are any specific trends to show how well their election process works. They will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions the day after the election, and a formal report about eight weeks later.

What if I want to know more?
Just post a question to the comment section, and I'll answer it!

Much more to follow...

SPB

Georgia on my Mind

2008-04-29T10:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I received an e-mail inviting me to once again participate as an international elections observer with the Organization for Security & Co-operation in Europe or OSCE - this time on their mission to the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Georgia.

Alright, first things first...

Forget "Atlanta" and think "Tbilisi"

Forget "U.S. Civil War" and think "Rose Revolution"

Forget "Newt Gingrich" and think "Eduard Shevardnadze"

This will be my third mission with the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions & Human Rights, or ODIHR - which is active in the fields of election observation, democratic development, human rights, tolerance and non-discrimination, and rule of law.

OSCE member-states include the United States, Canada, the nations of the European Union, and the nations that were part of the former Soviet Union.

I am tentatively set to leave on May 15 for a 10-day mission - unlike my missions to Albania in 2005 and Armenia in 2007, I probably won't be able to squeeze in an extended post-mission layover in Europe this time.

If you would like to read about my most recent adventure as an observer to the 2007 parliamentary elections in Armenia and my subsequent wandering in Tuscany, scroll down to the "Again? Yes - Again" entry - subsequent post appear above this.

If you would like to read about my first adventure as an election observer to the 2005 parliamentary elections in Albania, scroll all the way down to the bottom entry.

As always - much more to come!

SPB

So what ever happened at that Armenian election?

2007-06-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

As everyone who didn't sleep through civics class (or who has worked on a political campaign) knows, an election doesn't end when the polling places close...

And as anyone involved in Washington state politics knows, an election doesn't even end when they've counted the votes - at least not after they've counted them the first time... or even the second... or even the third...

For international elections I've observed with the OSCE, the counting of the ballots and the reporting procedures were done by hand and the national election laws ususally have deadlines that reflect this.

In Armenia, the votes were supposed to be counted at the local polling places within ten hous of the polling places being closed - after which all the election materials and the completed election protocol (a "results sheet") are transfered to a Territorial Elections Center (which is the "stairwell-was-a-urinal" building where I was assigned on election night).

The "Boss" of the Territorial Election Commission on election night - with sealed bags containing ballots piled in the corner behind him.

The observations by OSCE volunteers in 108 polling places and 39 out of the 41 Territorial Elections Centers resulted in thousands of observation forms being filled out with an incredible amount of data - all of which is analyzed and processed into a Post-Election Report, the preliminary version of which is now online at http://www.osce.org/documents/html/pdftohtml/24667_en.pdf.html

The "Boss" of the Territorial Election Commission on the phone with officials at the Centeral Election Commission:

"I can't believe what those idiots at the PEC did with this crap! They just threw it all into a box and brought it to us. The bags weren't sealed! Their protocol sheets were full of errors! The math doesn't add up! What am I supposed to do with this mess?

"OK, that's what we'll do - we'll put it all in a broom closet in the back room and take care of it later...."

In short - there were procedural problems observed during the election, which are summed up as follows:

Following the 12 May elections to the National Assembly and the Statement of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions by the International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) on 13 May, the OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission (EOM) continued to observe the vote tabulation, the announcement of results and the handling of complaints and appeals.

• During these last stages of the election process, the OSCE/ODIHR EOM observed certain inconsistencies with established regulations and departures from best electoral practice which do not contribute to strengthening public confidence in the election process.

• The vote count and tabulation were protracted but completed generally within legal deadlines. However, delay by the Central Election Commission (CEC) in posting tabulated results from the Yerevan constituencies on its website compromised transparency measures put in place for
these elections.

• Several Territorial Election Commissions (TECs) were observed ordering corrections to Precinct Election Commission (PEC) protocols, including adjustments to “initial data” (for example, number of voters according to the voter lists, number of ballots received), contrary to the Election Code.

• The OSCE/ODIHR EOM observed discrepancies, some of them significant, between certified polling station protocol copies and preliminary disaggregated results tabulated by TECs and submitted electronically mainly via a networked computer system. While such mistakes may not have been deliberate, they included numbers swapped between lines, incorrect calculations and discrepancies in initial data.

• Three of the nine CEC members refused to sign the protocol of the nationwide preliminary proportional contest results, citing reports of violations that called into question the accuracy of the results. They refused also to sign the final results protocol.

• Recounts of results were initially requested in twelve constituencies, and took place to completion in five. These were conducted in accordance with the law and revealed no major results discrepancies with the preliminary results.

• At least 20 complaints and appeals relating to election day were received and adjudicated by the CEC and TECs.

• The president and the prime minister have stated that criminal responsibility for electoral violations is to be pursued. Some criminal cases have been initiated related to falsification of results, bribery and fraud involving the voter list. The OSCE/ODIHR welcomes these steps and emphasizes the importance of the thorough and impartial investigation of all alleged irregularities.

Images From afar

2007-05-25T11:02:00.000-07:00

I've finally returned to Seattle, and although I haven't made as many posts as I would like to I do know that what you're really missing are my photos, so here they are:

Armenian Interior Decor

Armenain Architecture - The building where I worked all night in the third-floor election center - no working bathrooms, and the unlit stairwell smelled like it doubled as a urinal...

Armenian Food

Armenian Cheese

Armenain Trout

Armenian Traffic

The Armenian Republican Party

And, Finally - FLORENCE as seen from my "room with a view"

Breaking Away

2007-05-17T11:03:00.000-07:00

After getting caught up on my sleep and finding my way around town, I finally got around to renting a bike and hitting the roads.

"Florence by Bike" is quite a nice little shop near the heart of the city, with a retail shop on one side of the street where you can buy anything that's bicycle + Italian, and the workshop across the street rents almost anything you'd want to ride - from scooters to city bikes to mountainbikes to full-Campy racing bikes.

Once Massimo set me up on a Bianchi, I was ready to go - maneuvering through the city traffic was like racing a criterium on cobblestones, keeping pace with Vespas and Fiats and SmartCars - the best workout I've had in a long time...

Once out of the city I followed the roadsigns into the Tuscan countryside, and I have to tell ya: If there's anything more fun than getting lost in a foreign country, it's getting lost in a foreign counrty on a bicycle...

Climbing hills up the wrong roads...

Accidentally entering the on-ramp to the Autostrada...

Wandering aimlessly until you end up at the end of the day in Sienna, exhausted and having to take the train back to Florence...

Not unlike "Smilin' Bob Cartwright" back home at Old Town Bicycle, doing an accidental Century out past Horseshoe Lake - just substitute vineyards and olive groves for pine trees, and a train ride home instead of a long solo slog up Bethel-Burley Road...

Plus, my post-workout rountine has an added dimension...

Returning to Florence, I've got an endless array of post-workout carbs to chose from!

Ciao!

SPB

Getting Caught Up....

2007-05-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

I've finally found a spot in Florence where I can make a tentitave attempt to get caught up with news of my latest adventure...

Armenia was quite an experience - culturally, geographically and, of course, politically.

My accomidations were much better than I'd expected, so I'll attach a single photo for now to demonstrate the palacial setting in which we were housed...

The politics were, of course, equally inpressive.

Here's a shot of the local Republican party logo, which is something their counterpart in America might want to consider...

Of course, it wasn't all politics. While doing recon of the polling places we'd be observing on election day, my teammate Robin Soderberg and I got to explore some of the few local sights that remain after the massive 1988 earthquake that killed more than 25,000 people in this area.

One of the more interesting spots we explored was an ancient monistary, built when Armenia was the first nation to officially adopt Christianity back in the 3-4th Century.

I'll save the election-day photos for another entry, since they require some explaination and I'm sure most of my readers are far more interested in the fun things like sight-seeing, food and drink, bicycling, and - of course - the art of Florence...

For now, I'll leave you all with an image from my "Room with a View."

Ciao Bella!

SPB

Assignment: Gyumri

2007-05-03T22:09:00.000-07:00

I’ve gotten word that my assignment in Armenia will involve observing political campaign and election activities in the city of Gyumri, in the northwest corner of Armenia near the border with Turkey.

Ever curious, I’ve done some homework about where I’ll be spending some time.

The city of Gyumri has about 120,000 voters. As is common for many cities of the former Soviet Union, it has been know by a variety of names which reflect the politics of the times. It was briefly known as Kumayri at the end of the Cold War, before that Leninakan, and before that Alexandropol.

Perhaps it’s most conspicuous “modern” feature are the large cemeteries, some full of the victims of the 1988 earthquake that killed nearly 25,000 people. Despite many well-intentioned efforts, the economy of the city remains a shambles ten years after the event. There is still a substantial international presence from various assistance projects. The past few years have seen noticeable progress in housing, as well as business, infrastructural and beautification efforts.

As Armenia's largest old town, much of it showing earthquake damage, Gyumri provides the opportunity for very interesting walks. Gyumri's people had a great deal of pride in their city before the earthquake, which is today in large part replaced with despair at the lack of job opportunities.

The city is built on a north-south axis, with the center consisting of a main square that has a couple of pedestrians-only streets leading away from it, two large churches anchoring the two ends, and fountains in the center. It used to be the big partly covered shuka (market) which was leveled by the Soviet government (commie rat bastards...)

There are a variety of sites of historic and archeological interest in and around the city, including Iron Age, Bronze Age, Roman and Medieval settlements as well as the relatively more modern remnants of the Russian Alexandropol fortress that was constructed in 1834.

In fact, the city was site of a major Russian Army garrison and fortress since its conquest in 1804, a role it continues to play even today. The few thousand Russian troops still based in Armenia serve as a reminder that Russia would intervene militarily were Turkey to invade Armenia. Pending the unlikely event of an invasion, the Russian troops grow potatoes and find other ways to stay alive.

What Am I Doing Again?

2007-05-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

For many of my friends, this is a refresher course – but for some of you, this is the first time that you’ve lived vicariously through someone going to a far-off land to volunteer as an elections observer.

Here’s some background:

Although I've always kept up on politics, I didn't really get involved until fairly recently - shortly after moving to Gig Harbor, Washington a few years ago. Having become active in local politics, I was asked to participate as an observer during the manual-recount of the votes during our very close governor's election here last year. For those of you not in Washington think "Florida - 2000" but without all those "chads" in a governor's election that separated the winner by 129 votes out of nearly three million...

During that episode, I met some people who said "If you think looking over a vote counter's shoulders is fun here, you should try it overseas!”

And, after some encouragement and on-line research, I applied to volunteer as a Short Term Observer (STO) with the OSCE.

The OSCE is the Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe - which is a group of 55 countries including the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the former Soviet republics. It is involved in a huge variety of projects - from arms control to border management to conflict prevention. Their website is
www.osce.org

One of their very important programs is to assist the participating member states in building democratic institutions. This is done by their Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), which is active throughout the OSCE area in the fields of election observation, democratic development, human rights, tolerance and non-discrimination, and rule of law. They deploy volunteer elections observers to member states whenever those states request an OSCE presence to validate their elections as meeting international standards. Many Americans might be surprised that the OSCE-ODIHR deployed an Election Observation Mission to Ohio during the 2004 Presidential election (their final report on that election is less than encouraging).

OSCE missions are only deployed when there is a request by the host nation, and when there is a peaceful environment in which a democratic presence has been initially established. They are 100% safe.

Alright... 99% safe. It’s always advised to use bottled water, and whether you do or not it’s also a good idea to carry your own toilet paper. Election night on July 3, 2005 found me wandering the Albanian countryside at 2 a.m. with a flashlight in one hand and a roll of Charmin in the other...

So how did I end up on one of these "missions?"

To become a participant, I had to complete a very complicated application process with PAE-REACT, a corporation that recruits qualified individuals for placement in a database that is used by the State Department in selecting Americans to fill various OSCE positions.

I'll be participating as a STO on a typical ten-day mission to Armenia to watch them set up polling places, cast their ballots, and count the votes. To get some idea of what my trip may be like, visit the "Week in the Life of an Election Observer" webpage at http://www.pae-react.com/ by clicking on "Photo Gallery" and then use the drop-down menu to choose "A Week In the Life of an Election Observer."

On this particular mission, the United States is deploying about a dozen Americans as part of an international group of about 300 short-term observers to the May 12 parliamentary elections in Armenia. You can learn more about the OSCE involvement at http://www.osce.org/odihr-elections/item_12_23637.html

In 2005, I was one of 37 Americans to volunteer along with about 400 STOs from other nations in Albania for their Parliamentary election – details of which are below in the blog I originally started to chronicle that experience.

How can I afford to fly half-way around the world to do this?

Well, someone else is making all of the arrangements and paying for everything - all I have to do is the work! Each county covers the expenses of their volunteers, including their roundtrip airfare and providing them with a stipend to cover the costs of their accommodations, meals, in-country transportation and pay for their translator.

It may sound like a paid-vacation, but we’re actually roughing it. My outbound trip will last 22 hours, of which 17 hours will be in coach seats on three different flights across 11 time zones. Can you say “jet lag?”

And, once I get to my destination, I’ll be staying in the luxury of the best one-star accommodations to be found in all of Armenia...

But the people I’ll be meeting will offer great conversation on politics from all over the world, and I’ll be totally immersed in a week-long Armenian civics lesson. It’s a great adventure for a political geek like me, but it’s also a great opportunity to hopefully lay-over in Europe on my way back for a bit of vacation.

I’ve gotten much less notice for this mission than I did in 2005 – it’s less than a week to go, and my passport still hasn’t been sent back to me with my visa and airline tickets – so it looks like I’ll be cutting it close and adventuring with minimal time to plan ahead.

So – I’ll let you in on the specifics as soon as I know them...

SPB

Again? Yes - Again!

2007-04-30T20:01:00.000-07:00

That's right!

Volunteering as an elections observer once wasn't enough - I'm going back for more!

For those of you new to my very intermittent postings, I started this blog so my friends and family could keep track of my travels in 2005 as a volunteer elections observer in Albania, which was followed by a visit to the Tour de France and a side trip to Turkey.

It was a fabulous experience, and I've been eager to go back on another mission with the OSCE. And, as luck would have it, I was offered an opportunity at just the right time - as my work with the Senate Democratic Caucus in Olympia was coming to an end and I was ready for a bit of a vacation.

So, get ready for another adventure!

But don't expect quite as much of an odyssey as my last mission - since the Senate Democratic Caucus made me an offer I couldn't refuse, and now I've got a job to come back to!

I'll be leaving for Yerevan, Armenia on in just six days - and I still don't have my itinerary, so I don't yet know where I'll be laying over on my way back - if at all (though I am crossing my fingers for a chance to see another great European bicycle race).

More to come!

Epilogue

2005-07-29T18:10:00.000-07:00

So – what did I learn and discover during my summer vacation?

“Killing Me Softly With His Song” is the national anthem of Albania… maybe not officially, but I swear that you can’t sit in a café or restaurant anywhere in Albania without hearing it, and for the rest of my life I’ll think of my first mission as an elections observer whenever I hear the heartbroken voice of Roberta Flack circa 1972…

It’s good to be Liberal… to walk the streets of Vienna, Baden Baden, Mulhouse, Lyon and Paris and see street signs for “John F. Kennedy Platz” and “Boulevard President Roosevelt.” Somehow, the names Ronald Reagan and George Bush were conspicuously absent…

It’s good to be Canadian…to be an English-speaking tourist who doesn’t have to answer for a foreign policy that is almost universally seen – from Albania to Austria to Germany to France to Turkey – as being… well… use you imagination…

It’s good to be exposed to unfamiliar and unexpected surroundings… to sleep in places you normally wouldn’t sleep, eat foods you normally wouldn’t eat, use Turkish toilets you normally wouldn’t squat over, and to “rely upon the kindness of strangers…”

It’s good to “get off the plane” as a friend has described it – to take advantage of the unexpected opportunities that life presets us with…

With luck, I’ll be able to participate on an OSCE mission about once per year – and although I seriously doubt that I’ll turn every opportunity into such an extended vacation, I can’t imagine turning down a chance to volunteer as an elections observer again.

Thanks for reading - and keep in touch through info@perceptualmotion.net

SPB

Home Again

2005-07-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally made it back to beautiful Gig Harbor, Washington after a 21 hour journey from Vienna to Copenhagen to Seattle.

Here's a travel tip - if you're ever going to be the victim of a delayed flight, do so in Copenhagen.

It's a very nice airport, with some excellent places to eat and some very lavish stores in which to do duty-free shopping.

It's clean and roomy and airy and comfortable, and has those nice hardwood floors that somehow just seem to say "welcome to Scandinavia..."

It has plenty of European newspapers in every language imaginable - plus English - and has very helpful staff that either speaks your language - whatever that happens to be - or can find someone else who does.

It has plenty of bathroom facilities, and they don't make you pay to use them.

It's well laid out and organized.

In other words - there's nothing French about it.

Of course, I'd rather not have a delay - but if they really want to change out one of the engines on the Airbus that's going to carry me across nine time zones, I'll wait a few hours for them to do so.

The flight itself didn't even feel like it took ten hours, the service was so good - Scandinavian Airlines flying westbound seems to be just as nice as Austrian Airlines was flying eastbound. I got three fine meals, saw three good movies, and had dozens of music channels - all no-charge, even sitting in the cheap seats at the back of the plane.

Plus pretzels!

Of course, there was the seemingly inevitable glitch at the end of the trip...

Somehow, I'm beginning to think my backpack doesn't like extended over-water flights...

Remember how it managed to go missing somewhere between New York City and Tirana, Albania?

Well, once in Europe it managed to stay with me for an entire month - from Tirana to Shkodra to Tirana to Vienna to Baden Baden to Mulhouse to Lyon to Courchevel to Lyon to Vienna to Istanbul to Vienna to Lyon to Paris to Vienna...

And then, somewhere along the way from Vienna to Copenhagen to Seattle, it went missing again...

That's right!

I arrived in Seattle, but my backpack didn't!

I'm sure all of my compatriots from "Team Shkoder" are laughing with sympathy on hearing this news - though somewhat relieved at the knowledge that I won't be wearing the same shirt for five days this time.

So - Old Town Bicycle teamies, you'll have to wait just a bit longer for all that great swag I promised you...

Everyone else - you'll have to wait just a bit longer for your special gifts from the exotic wilds of Albania and Turkey.

I do, however, have several hundred digital images to sort through - and will be sending those out shortly.

One more post to come later...

SPB

Vienna Waits For You

2005-07-26T03:44:00.000-07:00

After a latenight departure from Paris on Sunday, a 15 hour rail journey brought me to Vienna and the flat of my "old friend" from the OSCE Albania mission - Marie Allegret, who generously offered me a comphy spot on her livingroom floor for my seeping bag.

Marie is a Frenchwoman who studied at the London Schoo of Economics and has expatriated herself to Vienna - where she makes a living at home by trading options on the American stock markets. It makes for an interesting life, considering Vienna is six hours ahead of Wall Street.

Her work day was just about to start when I arrived at her flat, and we spent a wonderful evening discussing economics, politics, our OSCE mission in Albania, life in general, and everything else you can imagine as she kept an eye on her short positions on the NASDAQ while a great early-evening thunderstorm passed by her open fourth-story balcony overlooking a monistary across the courtyard below.

By the time the markets closed on Wall Street, it was time for us to head out for a very late dinner at a typically Vienneese neighborhood restaurant.

Today is my final chance to be lazy in a great Old World, European capitol before beginning my long jet-lag inducing journey back to Gig Harbor, and after so much running around it'll be good to take it easy for a day reading an English language newspaper and people-watching from a coffee shop in the cobblestone-lined pedestrian-only section of the old city.

"Where's the fire, what's the hurry about,
You better cool it off before you burn it out.
There's always so much to do, and only so many hours in a day...

You've got your passion, you've got your pride,
But don't you know that only fools are satisfied.
You're going to kick-off before you even get halfway through...

When will you realize - Vienna waits for you..."

The City of Lights

2005-07-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

A rainy morning of people-watching from a streetside cafe in Paris - followed by a sunny afternoon of bike racing on the "Champs."

Well - not really "racing" per se...

I'm not sure how it looked to my OTB Teamies back in "the Harbor," but from the turn-around at the Arc de Triumph it looked like a retirement gift for Lance Armstrong. The peloton soft peddled every lap - at a pace that seemed more forgiving than our Sunday morning ride back to Suzzanes for coffee and muffins and brownies and coffee and cookies...

Bob Cartwright and I could have taken those guys today - at least at the end of the circuit from which I was watching, even after we'd had coffee and muffins and brownies and coffee and cookies...

Speaking of which, did anyone see me on OLN? I was the American without a U.S. or Texas state flag blocking everyone elses photo-ops...

Anyway, it was good to see the real thing up close and personal - I didn't start the day at the front of the crowd - but the slow pace actually discouraged the "how-can-he-be-winning-if-he's-so-far-back-in-the-field" tourists from staying until the very end...

Tonight it's a night train from Paris to Munich, then on to Vienna for a few days before resuming 'a life more ordinary...'

Bis Morgan...

SPB

Tour de Lance

2005-07-24T01:14:00.000-07:00

This is going to be quick - I finally found a French internet cafe that's open on a Sunday, but my connection keeps timing out...

Yesterday I saw Lance do what he does best - crush his competition in the Race of Truth, the individual time trial. Of course having a main rival suffer from horrible luck by continually falling off of his bike and getting flat tires helps, but even without the intervening hand of Fate stepping in, Armstrong clobbered the competition.

It's a rainy Sunday morning in Paris, and I'm about to go scout out my location near the Arc de Triumph for today's historic finale...

When I have a better connection I'll tell you all what it was like to spend the night in a four-bed dorm room with three German-speaking Chinesse tourist from Austria...

Trust me - the world is a much smaller place than most of us imagine...

SPB

Saılıng to Byzantıum

2005-07-20T06:32:00.000-07:00

Byzantıum...

Constantınople...

Istanbul...

An amazıng cıty... so old ıt has three names... so great ıt straddles the Bosphorus wıth one foot ın Europe and the other ın Asıa...

I spent a few days ın the anıcent sectıon of Sultanamhet - seeıng all of the anıcıent sıtes...

Into the darkness of the cavernous cycterns - created by the emperor Justınıan to hold the cıty's water supply, and made famous ın the James Bond fılm 'From Russıa Wıth Love...'

I sat through the mıd-day prayer at the Blue Mosque...

Yea, I know...

Forget ıt everybody...

That was my once-a-year-trıp to a house of worshıp, so don't anyone thınk about gettıng marrıed or droppıng dead untıl 2006, cause I won't be there for ya...

Shoppıng ın the Grand Bazzare - waıt tıl ya see the stuff I'm havıng sent home...

And I got treated to the ultımate ındulgence - a treatment fıt for a sultan at a 300 year old Turkıs Bath!

Yea, I know...

Forget ıt everybody...

A Turkısh Bath ın Turkey ısn' the same thıng as a Turkısh Bath ın San Francısco - although they do scrub you down 'everywhere' when they bath you, whıch comes after the hot room and the full body massage by a very talented massuse, and ıs followed up by a real shave by a real Turkısh berber...

Yea, I know...

Forget ıt everybody...

Back ın my polıtıcally ıncorrect conservatıve youth, I never would have let ANYONE hold a straıght razor to my throat. But I'm very metrosexual now, and can apprecıate a kınd and skılled gentleman who spends ten mınutes just latherıng my face, and an eternıty foldıng and gently pınchıng my skın to shave off each whısker one by one...

After that, ıt was off to the coast for a few days of cruısıng wıth new-found frıends between the ancıent ports and sheltered coves of the Turkısh Medıteranıan - crystal-clear blue waters and ancıent ruıns the lıkes of whıch I'm not lıkely to see agaın anytıme soon...

Of course, there ıs one bıg downsıde to all of thıs adventure - very lıttle communıcatıon wıth the outsıed world.

Dıd I say there was a downsıde?

I've actually found ınternet cafes almost everywhere - but for some reason the connectıon to the AO-Hell servers from Turkey are sluggısh beyond descrıptıon or reason. I haven't even been able to SEE my e-maıl, let alone respond to ıt - and I'm postıng thıs dırectly through my blog sıte...

So - to antıcıpate some questıons...

Yes - I'm comıng back. Eventually. Probably. I'll thınk about ıt.

No - I'm not spendıng too much money - actually, no more than I was plannıng to spend anyway, yet havıng far more fun than leap-froggıng Stages of the Tour de France (sorry guys)...

Yes - I'm plannıng on headıng back to France to see the Tıme Trıal on Saturday and the fınale ın Parıs on Sunday.

No - not yet - but I wouldn't rule ıt out...

There goes the 5pm call to Mosque - gotta go!

More Later...

SPB

Where in the World is Steve Breaux?

2005-07-15T01:07:00.000-07:00

Hello All...

Following the Tour de France is an amazing, fantastic experience...

But it's also quite tiring - especially when you're going solo and handling all of the logistics yourself, much of it on-the-fly. It's an on-the-go, all-the-time, if-this-isTuesday-those-must-be-the-Alps kind of experience.

So, I've decided to throw caution to the wind and abandon my already loose itinerary for a while. Several people I've met along the way have extended very generous invitations to hook up with them on their European vacations, and I've decided to take them up on their offers.

So, where am I?

I'm in a very historic place, even by European standards.

So historic, in fact, it has three different names...

Anyone venture to take a guess?

SPB

Lance in the Alps

2005-07-14T01:15:00.000-07:00

So there I was - high in the Alps at Courchevel 1850, camped out a night ahead of time to claim a good spot for the anticipated day when Lance Armstrong would put the hurt on the competition and reclaim the Yellow Jersey...

First, the journey...

By train from Mulhouse to Lyon, and then a rented car into the mountains - the trains only going as far as Moutier, at the base of Courchevel, and still 30k from the finish...

I'd forgotten how much I enjoy driving in Europe. The French national highway system is one thing they've done close to right. Not as nice as the German Autobahn (but what is), but better than the American Interstate. Yes, it has a speed limit - but at 130kph (plus my customary 10%) - it's a speed limit I can live with. Adopting the French habit of yielding to no one, I managed to fit right in...

Up the switchbacks of Courchevel in a late afternoon thunderstorm - watching cyclists struggle up to the finish, knowing that they're miserably working up the bragging rights to say 'I did it..."

I spend an entire morning hiking high into the meadow-covered ski runs, past 3000 meters - an incredible day in the mountains that was long past due...

In the afternoon, a bunch of us - Germans, Aussies, and a variety of others - gathered around a camper van with a television, watching the race develop as they drew close - anticipating the moment when Lance and company would catch a breakaway...

And then it happened - off he went! You could tell even if you weren't watching the television - by the moaning sounds of "Nein...." "Mein Gott..." and the general misery of the Germans who just knew that it was happening all over again...

By the time Lance came past, he was on fire - making the climb look ridiculously easy. An amazing sight to see... A fabulous moment to experience...

And I think I got "The Shot..."

Gotta run for now...

More Later...

SPB

France... Not So Much...

2005-07-10T12:28:00.000-07:00

So, how am I doing so far?

Well, Le Tour De France I'm enjoying quite a bit...

But France... Not so much...

First, there's that language thing I mentioned in a pervious post - and I'm willing to accept all of the fault on that one. I'm an Ugly American who never took high school French, and I knew that when I came here...

But it's really the little things that I'm having a problem with - and a lot of that is really more my having been spoiled by having lived in a neat and orderly Germany for three years a lifetime ago.

Example.

They're a bit lax on their schedules here - and anyone who knows me knows that I'm early infinately more often than I'm late, and I really hate to be kept waiting because someone else doesn't know what they're doing...

On a German railway schedule, for instance, they post the train number, the time it arrives, the cities it's going to, and the track it'll be arriving on. All of this is very important, because their very punctual trains typically only spend a minute or two in the station. Blink and you miss it, so you really need all of this info at the ready...

In France, the schedule doesn't include the track number. Sure, it's a tiny detail - but what the hell, it's not like the train to Lyon is going to be stuck in a holding pattern because of a weather delay and end up arriving on a different track! I'm catching the 07:13 train to Lyon tomorrow, and I want to know where to be ahead of time...

It's the little things... like being turned away from one of the few open restaurents in Mulhouse at 5:35pm because they close at 6:00pm - apparently the French round upwards when closing time is near...

The fact that restaurents are closed at all - even on a Sunday - in a nation supposedly obsessed with fine cuisine is something else all together. Having to eat McDonnald's is bad enough - eating it in France is just wrong...

And in Germany, they'd at least offer you some beer with your Big Mac - the French don't serve wine with their Royal with Cheese...

Fine French cuisine my @ss...

Tomorrow I'm catching a train to Lyon, and then into the Alps to position myself ahead of time to hopefully see Lance retake the Yellow Jersey - maybe even in a breakaway - up Courchevel.

Camping in the Alps - it' not likely I'll be e-mailing for a while (in fact, I haven't seen an i-cafe since I've been in France. They just happen to offer free internet at my hotel).

By the way, I was on the left side of the finishing approach at about the 250m mark at today's finish, for any of the guys looking for me on OLN - right on the barricade, and I think I got a good shot of Rabobank's Michael Rasmussen on his solo through breakaway stage win...

So Le Tour... Yes, very much...

France... Not so much...

SPB

Gee - They sure talk funny here...

2005-07-09T11:48:00.000-07:00

I miss Vienna...

I miss Baden Baden...

I miss knowing what the hell people are saying...

In case you haven't figured it out yet - I'm in France!

Funny thing is, I hardly remember getting here. I got on a train, and before I knew it I couldn't understand a single thing anyone was saying...

Did I cross a border somewhere?

Going into California from a neighboring state, they make you stop to check if you're bringing in fresh fruit...

But here - somewhere along the line - my train crossed the Rhine and...

Nothing Happened!

No Passport check...

No x-ray machines...

No taking off the shoes looking of a bomb...

No need to chance money, because the Deutsch Mark and French Franc are extinct - replaced by the Euro...

I actually feel like a fool for marking off a day on my EurailPass because - I swear to God - I did't even have to show a ticket on a two train journey from Baden Baden to Strassbourg to Mulhouse...

Europe Rocks - except for this annoying language thing, and that's just the French insisting on ignoring letters that are there and mispronouncing half of the ones that are left...

I'm staying in my first real hotel since leaving home two weeks ago, and it's just a few blocks from tomorrow's Stage finish, where I'll have my best chance to show the Old Town Bicycle team colors on OLN - I'll be the guy standing behind Bob Roll making the hand gestures...

More Later...

SPB

"Those seats were so good - you probably scared the band!"

2005-07-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

Rastatt, Germany

Okay, sportsfans - no more politics, no more high-minded enlightened
discussion of philosophy in a late-night European cafe...

It's time for Le Tour de France!

First - to all of the guys and gals of Old Town Bicycle - eat your
hearts out! I'm writing this from an internet-cafe less than 200m from
the Sprint-B line of today's Stage 7 from Luneville to Karlsruhe. I
was pressed right against the barrier on the left side of the road,
right after the sprint line as the road curved to the right - the
optimal spot from which to see the action...

I won't offer race details, since you might be reading this before
watching the video you're taping on OLN...

But "The TdF Experience" is something that should be done at least once.

Think "Mardi Gras on bicycles" - the crowds growing as the time draws
near, the caravan of team and sponsor vehicles tossing swag as they
roll through the barricaded streets...

A truely carnival experience - complete with Jumbotron screen mounted
on the facade of an old church in the middle of town, with a beergarden
set up in the middle of the street.

And yes, I'm wearing my OTB team jersey while grabbing some of that
genuime TdF swag for my teamies. I've already snagged a red-polka-dot
beanie - Erik, Tom and Dr. Jeff can race up Dana to see who gets it...

Tomorrow Stage 8 of Le Tour rolls through the edge of Baden Baden -
where I'm so busy chasing Le Tour that I haven't actually gotten a
chance to 'bad' myself - after which I'm off to Mulhouse to be in a
position to see the finish of Stage 9.

More Later,

SPB

Good-bye Albania - Hello Vienna

2005-07-06T01:02:00.000-07:00

Things happened so fast once the election started it was amazing!

Back and forth to watch the counting of the votes - with dozens of
observers from other international organizations in addition to the
OSCE...

A late night wrap-up of the results in my Election Zone - followed by a
wild street party in front of our hotel that prevented anyone from
thinking of sleeping...

The next day - yesterday, July 5th - we had the morning to ourselves to
do whatever we liked, except take an early shower, since there was no
water on most floors of our luxerious $18/night hotel...

I ended up sightseeing and shopping with Carl and Shiripa - who is one
hell of a power shopper, clearing Shkodra out of handbags in ten
minutes flat...

Onto the bus back to Tirana for some street walking with Carl and Joe
to find things to bring back home, and then to the grand reception at
the Sheraton.

Someone had warned me that the end of a mission is a time for hard
choices - go to bed early to rest up for the early wake-up for your
pre-dawn flight out of Tirana, or go to the reception and then stay up
all night - because there's no point trying to have you cake and eat it
too...

I ended up at an incredible rooftop club called "The Living Room" that
had appropriate furnature scattered about and played loud music long
into the early morning hours while hundreds of political junkies
discussed everything you can imagine while killing time before their
3am shuttles to the airport for 5am flights.

I managed to make it back to the hotel with Carl in time to shower and
pack, and say a few quick goodbyes to my new friends in the lobby. I
managed to catch a nap during the flight to Vienna, and had a hard time
going down a separte lane through customs when it was time for me to go
to baggage claim and them to change planes for home - taking a separte
path from people to whom I've grown incredibly close in such a brief
time...

My time in Albania has been a life-altering experience - not because it
was Albania, although a strange environment certainly was an influence
- but because of the people I'd met and discussions I'd had...

So now I'm sitting in the Hostel Ruthensteiner near the Vienna
Westbahnoff (train station), doing some much needed laundry while
typing e-mail on a keyboard that keeps switching into some Asian
language characters.

I'll be up and out later to validate my EurailPass, do some sightseeing
in one of my favorite cities of the world, and then to meet up with
Maria - one of my closest compatriarts from Albania - with whom I'm
having dinner when she arrives later tonight, since she just happens to
call Vienna home.

Tommorow it will be a fast train across Austria and southern Gremany to
Baden Baden and the Tour de France.

SPB

E-Day Albania - Happy Birthday America

2005-07-04T00:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Election Day.

It began for me at dawn with the 5am call to morning prayer from the mosque across the street - cutting rythmic, romantic, and hauntingly through the clear morning air into my open window. Let me tell ya - this mosque has a bitchin' sound system...

Then it was outward to observe the voting at some rural polling places - the operation of which could put the old-time Chicago or New York political machines to shame, with a guy at each one that just had to be a local party-boss hand-shaking, back-slapping, cheek-kissing four times left-right-left-right every one of the party faithful who was coming back for the third time before noon to vote...

For my Fellow PCOs back in the Washington's 26th Legislative District - you don't know how good you've got it!

Try canvassing polling stations over an area the size of an entire state legislative district - but first call in the Air Force to carpet bomb the roads, because these roads are shit. Throw in drivers who have no idea of right from left, on roads that don't have center lines - or striping of any kind, for that matter. Just keep the wheels on something that vaguely resembles pavement/gravel/sand/rock and you're doing it the Albanian way - just don't forget the horse carts and goat hearders along the way...

And that's before you leave downtown Shkoder!

From the polling places to the vote counting center for an all-nighter that saw only 1/3 of the votes counted - by Albanian hands, of course. The facility was an elementary school gym, packed with partisan observers from all million-and-one of Albanias political parties.

Think "Social Democrats," "Democrat Socialists," "People's Worker's Party," " Working Peoples Party," "The Nationalist Social Party," "The Social Nationalist Party" and of course the we're-not-dead-yet Communists...

Picture a near riot just getting the ballot boxes admitted into the facility...

Picture their equilivant of a County Auditor - fresh from his office at the Rice & Grain Institute - locking nearly a hundred people in for the night in a facility that doesn't have a bathroom...

Picture convincing the guard with the AK-47 to let you go wandering in the middle of the Albanian night looking for a bathroom - only to find the nearest accomidations about a quarter mile away are a Turkish toilet in an all-night cafe's closet...

Turkish Toilet?

Trust me - if you don't already know, you don't want to. Especially if you recently ate something that just doesn't quite agree with you...

Note to Self: never go anywhere in Albania without Toilet Paper...

But it's all worth it to have an Albanian party-hack wish me a "Happy Birthday America" on the 4th of July - and to have my European colleagues offer America condolances to "Get Well Soon..."

Time for a much needed shower, a few hours sleep, and back to the vote counting center to releave some of the "Usual Suspects..."

Take Care - and Happy 229th Birthday,

SPB

If this is Friday...

2005-07-02T00:08:00.000-07:00

If this is Friday, we must be in Shkoder...

On the way out of town our bus of 23 STOs stopped at the Austria Airlines ticket office in Tirana (which was always closed when I had time to visit) and confirmed that my backpack had arrived at Mother Theresa Intl. Airport, Tirana, Albania!

We stopped to pick it up on the way out of town, and everyone cheered as I climbed back aboard the bus with the hefty pack on my back...

Shkoder is as beat up and poor a place as you can imagine, though it also has its charm - which is far more than can be said of our 1800 Lek / night ($18) accommodation at the Hotel Rozafa!

Talk about "Soviet practicality!" Room 412 (of course on the 5th floor, since this is Europe) does have a nice open window view of the mosque, a bathroom that has to be seen to be believed, and no elevator access - though from the look of the long-ago broken lift, I probably wouldn't have trusted it anyway...

Other than that - the word "Spartan" would be a compliment. A mattress that passes for nothing of the sort worthy of the word, and pillows with the feel of a sandbag. No big deal, of course - I've slept with a sandbag for a pillow many times before...

Yesterday was classic. Most of us headed straight to the local castle with our drivers/interpreters - who gave us an excellent lay of the land while we got acquainted in the 2000-year-old fortress that has hosted everyone from the Romans to the Venetians to the Ottoman Turks to the partisan resistance fighters of World War Two.

Our LTOs are wonderful, and had organized a welcome dinner at the Restaurant Enigma (not to be confused with the Cafe Enigma) - a great patio banquet on a rocky outcrop 30 feet above the river...

More classic conversation - this time much of it with Marie, a chain-smoking Frenchwoman living as a day-trader in Vienna, and who has literally traveled all over the world, much of it solo. Ya gotta admire a woman who goes sightseeing solo in Iran...

The conversation along the table covered the entire political gamut - sharing tales of local politics from our homes, national politics of one another's countries, and international politics affecting us all.

On the personal level, it was a wide variety of life experiences - a common thread being that almost none of us lives where we were born, and many of my compatriots live lives as permanent expatriates of one kind or another, with election observation making up an alter life. A common question is "what do you do in your other life?"

We are roughly an equal mixture of American, British and German on the Shkoder expedition - with a few French and Scandinavians thrown in. English is the common working language - though German, French, and Italian are intermixed very freely - creating a verbal mélange that's surprisingly easy to keep up with, even for myself...

Several of us stayed out until well past midnight, since there was a wedding party in the banquet hall adjourning the hotel, and the music was blasting - and continued to do so until about 3am.

We don't have the throngs walking the streets here as in Tirana - were told that stopped locally during the chaos after the financial pyramid scheme collapse in the late 1990s - though this is reputed to be the bicycle capital of Albania, and they do seem to pedal about quite a bit. One of our LTOs - Claudia from Germany - told me the Tour of Albania was not too long ago...

Just think - "I coulda been a CONTENDA...... I coulda been SOMEBODY....."

The real work starts today - Area of Responsibility (AOR) familiarization with our driver/translator, then E-Day tomorrow.

I'm assigned to work as a "B-Team" member with Jorge Friedrichs of Bremen, Germany (though born in Munich...). We'll be at a Zone Election Center (ZEC) watching them count the votes, our official duties not starting until 16:00 and lasting until 08:00 the next morning - though we do plan on going out tomorrow morning to watch some polling stations open and the voting just for fun...

Yes - you know I'm a political junkie when driving around the communes on the outskirts of Shkoder to watch impoverished people execute the franchise is "fun..."

This mission is actually unusual in that they expect us to swap off with the "A-Team" members who will watch the voting. We'll be switching duties on a rotating schedule until...

Well, until all the votes are counted, or until the morning of Tuesday 5 July...

A grueling schedule - but that's what I'm here for. After all, aside for tracking down a lost backpack, I've been on political junkie paradise vacation since I arrived...

It's doubtful I'll get to send another message once the real work begins - the next message might not be posted until my return to Tirana on the afternoon of Tuesday 5 July...

SPB

Lost in Albania

2005-06-29T09:38:00.000-07:00

No, not me...

I'm safe and sound in beautiful downtown Tirana - with it's lovely brick-paved boulevards and tree-lined streets...

Alright - there are just two of those, and the rest of the place is a mess...

No, I'm fine - it's my luggage that's missing.

My flight from JFK was two hours late leaving New York, and so by the time we got to Vienna there was no time to switch the luggage to the plane bound for Tirana.

Otherwise, I'm having the time of my life...

Really I am...

Really...

SPB

Preliminary Assignment

2005-06-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

Things are happening fast now - and I'm glad I got a jump on my travels...

In a very unusual development, I've received some idea of where I'll be doing my work over the next week in Albania - and it looks very interesting...

After staying at the Hotel Iliria for my briefing and training while in the capital city of Tirana, I'll be moving on to participate as an election observer in the city of Shkodra.

It has a very colorful history as one of Albania's oldest cities, an important economic and cultural center with around 81,000 inhabitants. It lies on the southern part of the plain of Mbishkodra, next to the Shkodra Lake (Liqeni i Shkodr's), between the rivers Drin and Bun', the mountain of Tarabosh, and the Rozafa Castle.

For a quick overview, visit http://www.albanian.com/main/countries/albania/shkodra/index.html or http://www.geocities.com/albaland/shkodra/ or google "Shkodra."

OSCE volunteers usually have no idea of where they will be staying or with whom they will be working until they arrive - so all of this could change by the time I arrive in Albania.

I'm due to arrive in Tirana at 12:40 on Wednesday afternoon - and after settling in and meeting my cohorts I'll fill you in.

SPB

Albania in the News

2005-06-28T08:52:00.000-07:00

I've gotten regular updates on the events on Albania that relate to the upcoming election from Leslie Smith - the Director of Recruiting for PAE-REACT (the company that overseas American volunteers to the OSCE).

Here's what I got from her this morning:

"Some of you have already departed, but many of you will have a chance to see this prior to your mission. These clips are from the Southeast European Times:"

Albania's Parties Urged Not to Change Representatives in Local Election Bodies

22/06/2005

TIRANA, Albania -- Ilirjan Celibashi, the head of the Central Election Commission, on Tuesday (21 June) urged all parties registered to participate in the 3 July parliamentary elections to avoid replacing party representatives to the regional election bodies. Celibashi noted that by law, political formations have the right to make such changes but he urged them not to, saying there is no time to train replacements. (Albanian News - 22/06/05)

US Encourages Albania to Hold Fair Elections

24/06/2005

WASHINGTON, United States -- The 3 July elections in Albania are among the most important events there since the fall of communism, US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Thursday (23 June). "Elections that meet international standards will be seen by the United States and the international community as evidence that Albania is making clear progress on the road to becoming a full member of the Euro-Atlantic community," he said. Ereli also praised Albanian political leaders for signing a code of conduct ahead of the vote.(Albanian news - 24/06/05; AP, Reuters - 23/06/05)

OSCE Warns of Problems in Albania's Upcoming Elections

26/06/2005

TIRANA, Albania -- The 3 July elections could be marred by irregularities, the OSCE warned in a report released Friday (24 June). Despite an agreement between all major parties, the election campaign has become rancorous once again, with politicians accusing each other of misuse of government funds and vote buying, the organisation's monitors said. They also warned that authorities must still address issues related to voter lists and transporting ballot boxes. The elections are viewed as a crucial test of Albania's political maturity, in relation to its Euro-Atlantic bids. (Albanian News, Kathimerini - 25/06/05; AP - 24/06/05)

Polls Show Upcoming Albanian Election Too Close to Call

27/06/2005

TIRANA, Albania -- The 3 July parliamentary election is too close to call, according to a second poll by Mjaft and Gallup that was published Sunday (26 June). Former President Sali Berisha's Democrats are projected to get 35 per cent of the vote, compared to 34 per cent for Prime Minister Fatos Nano's Socialists. The survey of 1,400 voters was taken from 13 June to 20 June. On Friday, Berisha told the German news agency DPA that he expects the Democrats to win "an absolute majority" in the 140-member parliament. (Kathimerini - 27/06/05; AP - 26/06/05; Albanian News - 25/06/05)

New York, New York

2005-06-27T20:28:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the Big Apple!

I've begun my journey a little early, taking advantage of some flexibility in my schedule to lay over in NYC with my youngest brother Marc - who has lived here for a few years and just gotten a new apartment in Manhattan. It's a somewhat cramped little place - but not as bad as New York apartments are rumored to be, and not nearly as cramped as a center seat would feel on tomorrow night's flight after a cross-country flight from Seattle.

Tonight we made it out for some of the best coal-fired pizza to be found, at Lombardies on Mott & Spring streets, and then walked downtown to the WTC site.

Tomorrow evening I'll catch an overnight flight from JFK to Vienna - where I'll be changing planes for the capital of Albania - Tirana.

Once there, the 400+ volunteers from around the OSCE region will begin our briefing and training before being paired off, assigned a driver and translator, and sent off to somewhere in Albania to observe what will hopefully be a successful democratic election.

So - just for fun - I have no idea of where in Albania I'll be going, nor with whom. Anyone want to venture a prediction?

I've been told by others who have done this before that the organizers try to keep the teams as diverse as possible - pairing volunteers of different genders from different countries, though not always.

So - will my teammate be a chap from Belgium? How about a lady from Estonia? An old guy from Ukraine? A young Danish woman? Or just another middle-aged American guy like myself?

Correct guess get a special present from Albania!

SPB

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Albania - but didn't know who to ask...

2005-06-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

ALBANIA
(from http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/europe/albania/)

This pint-sized, sunny slice of Adriatic coast has been ground down by years of poverty, blood vendettas and too many five year plans, but Albania still manages to pack a wild punch of traditional Mediterranean charm and Soviet-style inefficiency.

It's a giddy blend of religions, styles, cultures and landscapes, from Sunni Muslim to Albanian Orthodox, from idyllic beach and rocky mountain to cultivated field. Relics from one of the longest dictatorships in Eastern Europe rub shoulders with citrus orchards, olive groves and vineyards.

Decrepit, Chinese-built factories stand next to breathtaking mosques; ornately decorated Orthodox churches face off 'Soviet Brutal' palaces of culture.

Kicked around by the Balkan big boys for millennia and turned upside down by its very own Maoist Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, Albania is now tentatively embracing democracy, the outside world and a few foreign travelers. Some things won't ever change, though: the spectacular forested mountains, the warm Mediterranean sun, and the heart-rendingly blue waters of the Adriatic all endure the country's ups and downs.

Warning - The security situation in Albania is improving, although visitors should continue to exercise care and maintain a high level of personal security awareness. The northeast of the country, which borders Kosovo, is the only region travelers should avoid. Unexploded ordnance is still scattered through some parts of this region.

Full country name: Republic of Albania
Area: 28,748 sq km
Population: 3.5 million
Capital City: Tirana
People: Albanians, with Greek, Vlach, Macedonian and Roma minorities
Language: Albanian, Italian, English, Greek
Religion: Sunni Muslim (70%), Albanian Orthodox (20%), Roman Catholic (10%)
Government: Emerging democracy
Head of State: President Alfred Moisiu
Head of Government: Prime Minister Fatos Nano

GDP: US$15.69 billion
GDP per capita: US$4,400
Inflation: 6%
Major Industries: Cement, chemicals, food processing, hydropower, mining, oil, textiles and clothing, timber
Major Trading Partners: Italy, Greece, Germany, Belgium, USA, Bulgaria, Turkey, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Member of EU: Application Pending

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Want to know even more about Albania?

Check out the CIA World Factbook at http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/al.html - but keep in mind that these were they guys who accidentally targeted the Chinese Embassy during the Kosovo intervention, and though there were WMDs in Iraq...