Today our one plan was to see the square. We knew about the rebels and the occupation of Independance Square but not of how gristly a war can look, even if the war isn't a full on combat type of ordeal. We got off our subway and headed towards the stairs when lo and behold, the stairs were barricaded with barbed wire and tires. I could hear some Nationalist yelling things into a megaphone. Elaine was already on high alert at this point, the crew was respectful yet geeking out over how cool it was to be there, and I was beyond words. I couldn't even comprehend fully what I was seeing, but I did feel horrible. I was lumpy in my throat and was fighting back the urge to cry. It was truly moving to see it in person.
When we first ascended the stairs, our first thoughts were "whoa! we're IN the barricade!" We were all expecting to land on the outside, farther away from it all. But no, we were smack dab in the middle. The smell was a little gross, like pee and rotting trash. In the distance I noticed that the high walls of the inner barricade were made of huge bags of ice or snow and tires. Ben said that they use tires because they're easy to burn and make lots of smoke so snipers can't shoot properly. Yeah, with that note, I wanted to leave. There were many soldiers wearing masks taking note of our presence, so we were respectful and left.
Even the inside of the subways are barricaded. I noticed that most of the wheelchair accessible ramps were cut off with barbed wire. I guess it's to prevent anything with wheels from coming in. Foot traffic is still very strong during the day, and I even noticed that directly next to the square, a Mango clothing store was still open.
None of the locals seemed at all phased by the barricade or rebels. I am sure they support the actions being made. Seeing the barricade from this side was less scary but probably more powerful so that we could see it without fear of getting in the way. There was singing being blasted throughout the area and a video of the singers on a huge jumbotron. They were singing National type songs, like "One More Day" from Les Mis. This whole experience was very moving and we all commented on how we couldn't really speak about it.
The scariest part was that today was supposed to be the day that the government would give their word on whether or not the released protestors would be free from trial. If not, the rebels were planning to restorm City Hall like a scene from Braveheart! We definitely were not dumb enough to be there for that but it was important for us to see this.
Brian and Markus got some good footage of us walking through the barricade, near it, being moved by it. I hope the footage is good.
I couldn't believe how the walls were made. Look at all the park benches! Everywhere we went near the square, we were on high alert.
And even a little farther away, we found some more stations for rebels. We just couldn't seem to get away from them today. We did stop into a beautiful church. It was very unassuming with very few pieces of stained glass on the outside, but upon entry, the paintings were gorgeous. Very geometric and flower like. Unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures. We did some more B roll near here and then headed home.
The last part of our night was spent at that mall. We found a food court and Markus and I got McDonalds. I ordered potato wedges which were bomb and brie cheesy bites dipped in cranberry sauce which were ok. We did a little window shopping and then went to the grocery store where we stocked up on water, vodka, toilet paper….you know, the essentials! (BTW, today we went to a store where bottled water cost as much as a bottle of vodka. It is LITERALLY cheaper to buy vodka than water here!)
See? My McDonalds meal. I had to pay for ketchup (about $.50 US) and it all cost less than $10.
At the apartment, everyone tries to make the other laugh harder and harder. Ben tried on his tuxedo pants from college. And yeah, they definitely don't fit!
No comments:
Post a Comment