McRae takes issue with CNN coverage, explains reality of the streets

Tuesday morning, March 29

And so life returns to normal. Yesterday, the Osh Bazaar was open, a good thing since I am scraping the barrel now that the Beta Store is trashed. The money changers all opened their doors, with good capitalist energy, buying dollars at 39 som and selling dollars at 41.6, when the usual spread is around 0.2. The parliaments have resolved their differences. Akayev remains silent in Moscow. Putin clucks his tongue, but that is all, thank God. The universities are open. The trash from the riots is slowly being cleared away. Embassy parties are planned. Bread is in the markets. And the weather is glorious in the aftermath of a cold spring snow.

I still find it difficult to comprehend these past six remarkable days. I realize that being on the ground adds to the energy of the experience, but I must tell you that this country is rightly proud of itself. Think of it: an unpopular government sent packing in 50 minutes. While the looting was awful, and there were four deaths and hundreds injured, this was nothing like the Watts riots in 1965, for example. Yes, perhaps it is easier for a small country to get its act together, but if you watch the trajectory from Georgia to the Ukraine and now to Kyrgyzstan, the trend is obvious, and very hopeful.

Today is my first day back to teaching. I had planned to teach Emerson's "Self-Reliance." But today it seems somehow irrelevant.

Bill

This information posted 05 APRIL 2005