Day 5 COP15 daily life at the COP

I tried to get a good shot at lunch, of how long the line was and how varied the people but the lighting was difficult. Suffice it to say, there was a tall African Arab man in a blue flowing dashiki and turban sitting not far from another African in silver robes. Behind them were four short Peruvians in traditional costume. Every imaginable language is being spoken. There are 192 nation states represented and all the NGOs in the world here. The lunch line, starting at 1:45, took till 2:30 to get thru and then I had to find a table. When I final found and cleared a little spot, the table got bumped three times by people rushing past to meetings: once by an Arab man who apologized, once by another who didn't and finally by two British girls who also apologized. by then, half my tea had spilled over half the table. Still, it was my first quiet, peaceful moment so far today.

Right now, I'm sitting in the press section of the Plenary, about to go hear the end of the Amazon side event. I sneaked in a bit ago because there's no session in progress. The advantage is plugs for our computers so we dont use up battery. The COP is still suspended over a binding agreement.

This morning I rushed out the house so early, I had barely navigated in time past someone's half digested meal in the street, presumably from a hard night's drinking, to get into the COP in time for the press conference. the walk to the above ground, sleek metro is a 45 min walk each way and I'm rolling my suitcase with my laptop and essentials the whole way. It's really noisy on cobblestones and gravel but I walked so fast, I've cut the time to twenty minutes. Despite my hurry, I stopped, when I saw a huge flock of birds pass over. It was still too dark to get a good picture but they were magnificent.

On the way towards the bathroom, I saw an express package had arrived- my new blackberry and an eyebrow pencil sharpener- the essentials of life here. But disks I'm waiting for an comfortable shoes still haven't arrived, so a frantic note went out to Daisy Morton, my unflappable assistant, to track them.

I didn't have time before I left to grab breakfast, but rushed past Mai & Oleg as I said "gud morn," for a quick shower before heading out. I now have my own room, in the basement, because the twin teenage boys have gone to spend time with their neighbor. It's relatively unfinished, so I feel somewhat monastic. Perhaps appropriate for my mission and the first event of the day.

Two stops to the Bella Center, out the train with all the other COP people coming from the same direction, I take the elevator to the street level and join the crowds entering past the demonstrators of the hour and the police who check our credentials before we enter and then again before we enter the main room. Then we go thru airport style security. The police are very friendly, helpful & nice, even if they do have a mandate to arrest troublemakers and hold us for 45 days. Inside, after checking coats, everyone is rushing around and there are so many pieces of luggage on wheels, as mine, that they often get entangled. No matter what stress we're all under, however, people are generally punctiliously courteous, friendly and patient. Luggage gets untangled and we move along.

After the press conference, went looking for Don Lehr, the press person for the Ethics committee, who secured them an interview with Tiome magazine last night. Stopped along the way at various booths, hearing about unfunded critical conservation programs in Nigeria and Ethiopian efforts to slow down forest burning for charcoal (encouraging people to plant their own sustainable groves rather than burning down important habitat).

In the afternoon, I ran into Marda Kirn, and we compared notes. She gave me advice for my press conference next week: "be gentle. We all sound so angry & self-righteous. No one wants to listen." She has been here less than 24 hrs and already gotten press credentials and met with one of the presidents of something. What an operator to learn from!! So far I've collected about 50 business cards. I've and collected more information than I can sort. So I'm not complaining about my own ability to negotiate. One of these blogs will be a random list of critical information.

This evening, dinner maybe with the Ethics people and then home and the trudge back along the deserted streets, hoping it doesn't rain again. At least I have an umbrella with me today.

It's 4:15 and I missed the Amazon. Guess I'm more tired than I realized. 15 min and I can make it to the Niels Bohr room to hear from the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research about new assessments, multi-gas emissions and geo-engineering (a horror in progress). Wonder what the room mood will be.