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November 20, 2005
night(s) in tunisia
I am finally going to concede defeat in regards to this idea that I can make radio - as it happens.. Impossible...
There will be plenty of radio over the next couple of days.. but I was simply not able to distill the events of the past week as they were happening. But stay tuned! I recorded everything.The last two nights were especially interesting. On Friday night, my frens Hossein and Nart and I had a wild adventure that culminated at 4 am with a party of fun Brazilians and Italians and Belly Dancers - and then there is the matter of famous human rights defenders running around at 2 am trying to feed the feral cats with left over couscous! Nart and Hossein are two of my favorite people I have met over the past year (they have both been on TOE before), and it is really great that we got to spend so much time together in the same place! BUT... I think we need to be more careful when we travel to fascist countries.
Allow me to elaborate.. here at WSIS Tunis, Nart delivered well, not the most flattering presentation. You can read all about this here and here - Hossein was also a participant. And even though I was in the room with all the plain clothes goons, and the pro-filtering plants, the madness never really sunk into until Friday night when we were all at dinner and we saw actual propaganda on the TV - you know the kind where they show the president speaking and then the happy cheering crowd but yet both scenes are obviously not filmed in the same place! Well, there is also the matter of me and Nart walking around town taking our pictures with all the various giant president Ben Ali posters! (what an impression we must have made!)
It all culminated last night when me Nart, DJ spooky (will explain the DJ spooky/Mulatu Astatke stuff later) , and my new favorite person in the world Saafir, got three locals to take us to somewhere "fun and happening." It was a discotheque (not that fun, certainly not happening). We stayed maybe an hour and a half. On the way back we took 2 cabs. Saafir rode with our three guides and Nart and I and DJ Spooky rode in the other cab. This is when the authorities pounced. I believe they hoped we had separated. They pulled my cab over, and took our drivers papers. We took a new cab back to the hotel, Nart had to collect his luggage from my room and head to the airport. When Saafir finally showed up he reported that his cab had taken him back to the bar where we started at. For some reason the bouncer would not let the three locals in, Saafir went in to use the bathroom (this is where the police finally had their chance). When he comes out, he sees our frens on the ground with their hands behind their backs. A police man comes up to him and asks him where he is staying. They ask him if he was with the three locals at the discotheque, Saafir says he does not know what the police man is talking about. The police man tells Saafir to go to his hotel and then they load the three locals in the car and take them away!
lets hope they are now home safe.
Posted by bw at November 20, 2005 12:48 AM