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All in one day.
To find out the Bangkok Airport has been occupied by demonstrators and be relieved that a sister, and also an aunt, had left Thailand already and avoided an inconvenient if not volatile situation. To hear from my coworker that he has just lost a brother, an American-educated veterinarian who died as a result of having diabetes. (Would that have happened if he stayed in the U.S. instead of coming back at their father's request, I wonder.) To go online and find out a friend is in Mumbai and fine, but that one friend of hers got injured and several of them were among the kidnapped and later let go. And earlier in the day, you could see from our balcony a couple of construction workers chasing their boss with machetes. All made me think: Life is precious, and pretty fragile, after all.
Good timing is helpful and luck never hurts, but the boss escaped death because he ran fast enough and because of two nearby policemen. In this neighborhood, there are, almost always, policemen within running + shouting range. So, the chase ended there, faster than in movies. The handling of the situation then was rather.. different: No arrests were made.
This was practically in our backyard, which, with all the vegetation around and undeveloped area, resembles the mountainous countryside more than the heart of a capital city. Apart from the other construction workers (the ones who didn't pick up their machetes), we on our balcony were the only spectators. The policemen told the boss to leave after a brief conversation with him. Then the policemen stood there, calm and relaxed, to let one furious man after another describe at full length the injustice they are subjected to, working for this boss.
Capitalism in its purest, fucked-up form. It's not unusual here for a construction site manager or boss to hire workers to do a job and not pay them for it. Unable to sue or do anything, most just stop working and leave when they've had enough. Because the unemployment rate is sky-high, maybe the boss continues this practice for some time, and maybe the workers who'd barely be making enough to feed their families go on to be exploited by another such boss or two. Or more. That's why policemen who stop them before any physical harm has been done show sympathy, tell them not to lose their cool, and then act like nobody just tried to commit murder. Fortunes are made developing real estate, so a boss who even denies his construction workers the 3$ a day probably deserves to see some machetes, but what do I know. This is why in the West, they have labour law und labour unions with leverage* - so there's no need for blood to be spilt.
On a personal level, there was nothing for me to be overly dramatic about. It only feels like things were matters of life and death today, more literally so than they normally are.
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* West 2 - 2 East
Almost nowhere in Africa are 5 minutes actually 5 minutes. That is not to say that I have spent too many years in Germany - I'm still not the sort of guy who's always punctual. But here, if someone promises he'll "meet you in 5 minutes", it can easily turn out to be 2 hours without so much as an sms. Punctuality really is nothing more than an abstract idea.
Because really, what is the rush?
They would say, baffling you.
One African proverb (I can't seem to retrieve) makes the point that time is endless and therefore infinite, suggesting that there is no need to hurry and you should take it easy because there will always be time. In stark contrast: The Chinese remind themselves every day that "time = gold, money". Especially when it comes to business.
Another phrase you get rather tired of hearing is, "J'arrive, j'arrive." It could mean anything from "I'm almost there" to "I'm coming" to "I'll be on my way" to "I'll probably try to come later". Hell, sometimes my colleague even says those words as he's leaving(!), to get the message across that he will be back, which of course you can't be sure of until he actually shows.
It's normal to have to wait for everything, for a longer time than you planned, even if you took into account that it could take much longer than you've been promised. And this is true especially when you have to deal with government departments, which you will inevitably. That is where nonexistent punctuality meets infuriating bureaucracy meets heartbreaking corruption ratings to make your life very, very miserable.
That is, if you're a foreigner and new to this place because you will learn a little from the locals who always stay so cool, no matter what happens or how long they have to wait for something. Their level of coolness is just phenomenal and it helps explain their easy manner and why they rarely lose their composure. We once brought along Nicole, our funny, proud and constantly well-dressed maid, along with us to a fancy restaurant for a meal and.. well, it was a very enjoyable dinner and there was nothing more to it, no awkwardness. I mean, you guys go take your ayi with you to Grand Hyatt for dinner and see how that goes.
It is with similar coolness that they wait in traffic for roadblocks to be cleared when The President Himself(!!) comes out of his fortified palace that is on top of a mountain and surrounded by barracks and wishes to go somewhere, as a result of which all good roads are blocked for half a day and people arrive late for work, hours after the time at which they normally arrive late for work.
Today's a good day.
Finally, a smart and apparently sensible person is voted into the White House to replace the putz. In 2000 and 2004, I was close to vomiting blood. This time around, I followed CNN not in disgust but happily and with approval. John McCain deserves respect for being a good loser and honestly wanting the best for everyone. Barack Obama has to stay cool and resolute to bring about the change that he has promised. It's not gonna be easy and he needs to make a lot, a lot of people happy, given such enthusiasm and high hopes in not only the U.S., but in much of the world.
All the news channels keep telling you what a big deal this is in Kenya but he is celebrated not only in Kenya. At 7am this morning, our maid Nicole came in cheering and jumping - and this is Cameroon. Cameroon has little to do with Kenya and, in fact, Nicole does not know much about Obama at all, except that he is black ("biracial = still black").
I get the impression that throughout Africa, people take much pride in the simple fact that mighty America will be led by a black President. And that is really alright and understandable, especially considering the oppression and hardships they have endured as a result of their skin color.
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