saturday, sept 2, 1995 8:30pm
sorry about the lull in the posts. the computer rooom hours have changed--8:30am to 6pm (4 hrs less), plus they are kicking all the computer techs out at 10pm which cuts significantly into my online time :-(.
sure there were storm warnings & we were prepared, but the full force of the conference like a typhoon. it rained all day, flooding out many tent activities. inside, hundreds of women & pressfolk pass through our computer rooms daily. for many this is their first contact with email & it is a chance for even the most jaded tech to relive the novice's excitement of sending & receiving one's first email post. also people are having a lot of fun surfing the web & learning a tremendous amount paging through the apc conferences. there are also ultra-serious users who are finishing their presentations or uploading critical informations to their networks at home.
i spent most of the day assigning email accounts, introducing users to the apc network applications, and saying a big HI! to BEIJING95-Lers. about 5:30 when i was beginning to think about eating dinner, the head technician ran by & literally grabbed me on her way out the door. or mission: to take a taxi to beijing, pickup a microsoft office package for macs & return.
we were off. had a bit of a problem flagging down a cab, but once we were on the road, he got up to almost 120km, expertly dodging buses & slower vehicles. once inside beijing proper, unlike most american men, he stopped and asked directions several times: he would simply pull the cab to the side of the road, got out, & hailed a passer-by. to his credit & his informants, we continually headed the right direction, throough the middle of beijing, down side streets, until we got to a major puddle--on one side was us, the other microsoft. we traveled approx 50 yards through the puddle that was almost reached the top of the wheels, & safely arrived at a non-descript 5 storey white bldg. while the head tech dash inside, i looked around a bit. on one side of the alley was the microsoft bldg, the other apartment. it was a very interesting section of town because modern apartments, business with flashy neon signs, brick compounds, coal yards, wood hovels are all jumbled together. ancient bicycles carts, buses, & mercedes share the same street. the tech was back in a flash, and we continued our long chat about other techs, women networks in australia & america, windows nt, womenland (australia), and low tech solutions to getting online in remote areas (286pc, modem emulation tools, solar batteries, & ham radios). in an instant we were back in huairou and in the "disco bar" for dinner. roundtrip: 2hrs, 357 yuan.
since the conference began, prices have jumped: water went from 2.20 to 3 yuan, dinner from 18 to 24 yuan--still reasonable considering all the extra staff & extra food supplies that have been necessitated by our visit. in fact this was front page news in the daily ngo paper. the paper was not available the day before--official reason: the press broke. confirmed rumor: the coc apparently objected to some of the stories. could it have been the story about the tibetan women vigil--nine of them appeared before the front security gate gaged with the white silk scarves given to us a the opening ceremonies. 200 women started singing "we shall overcome" and ended the protest several minutes later. things heated up when they tried to do their workshops, which was disrupted by pro-chinese tibetans--you probably have more details than i have. also the women with disability basically staged a sitdown strike because the rain & the broken pathbricks made much of the conf inaccessible (they may be holding activities in the peace tent which is much more accessible).
today i spent most of the day installing anti-virus programs on pcs. while i was in the press room, there was a MAJOR press conference with irene santiago who addressed the issues of press harrassment and women with disability. she promised more facilities for women with diasabilities. she also demanded/stated unequicably that all such harrassment of the press & certain delegations (searches, photography) will cease 12 noon sunday. this seems a bit weird to us, because we have not experienced any such problems whatsoever. i am not denying that these problems don't exist, but they seem to be the exception rather than the conference norm.
more soon. i am going to have to start taking notes & stop relying solely on my memory. in conclusion i must say that this conf is a poster-lover's (and a lover of women) dream come true.
thanks! jennifer
