6 days to go. I feel like I am standing in shifting sands as the swirl of the incoming tide is seeking to sweep me off my feet, and throw me headlong and unprepared into the maelstrom. Community events are still pinning me down and causing me constantly to put off my plans for journey preparations.
Thus last night I had attended a session on zoom of the Federation of Poles in Great Britain, where I act as an adviser and spokesman. I had been pressing to get the protest letter to the Belarusian Ambassador completed and despatched, and to rejuvenate the team and give it more of a sense of direction based on reality, not pipe dreams. Sure enough the letter was ready with only the mildest cosmetic changes to what I had sent Wlodek, the Federation President, a week ago. But even here there was an unexpected hitch, and something I had in fact overlooked. It transpired that last July Lukashenka had recalled Ambassador Yermalovich, who was the one who appeared on our letter. Who replaced him? I did not know, but I promised to check it out. This again will delay the despatch of the letter, though I cannot blame anyone else but myself for that.
But there was better news. My preferred candidate for the vice presidency, Alicja Donimirska, the bright young chair of the Polish YMCA and manager of the Mazury Dance Troupe, rang me yesterday afternoon. She had agreed with Wlodek on something even more radical. Wlodek had suggested to her that she sould be President, and he would act as her Vice-President. I was stunned by the boldness of the suggestion, but elated. Alicja wanted to sound me out. Was it a good idea? Of course, I said, go for it. And sure enough at the meeting Wlodek made that proposal to the other trustees and they all agreed. Also another young activist, Tomek Machura, agreed to be Secretary and Treasurer, all in one. Suddenly, and with one bound, as the saying goes in old adventure stories, the generation gap in this ancient organization representing UK Poles since 1946, had been leaped over and brought into the Twenty First Century. Many of the older members remained among the trustees but three new ones would be adopted. Practical proposals were being made on the Federation's finances, accomodation and relationship with its member organizations. Of course all this would have to be approved at the virtual AGM next Tuesday, but an enormous step forward had taken place. I felt that this was now something from which I could retire. Unfortunately, that still meant I had to attend the AGM on Tuesday evening, two days before embarkation, and then report on it to the Chairman of POSK (after all, I was the POSK delegate to the Federation AGM) and to my trustee colleagues on the Polonia Aid Foundation Trust to whom the new look Federation would return with its daintily presented begging bowl.
This morning that continued when I contacted my friends at the Polish Embassy to find the name of the current Charge d'affaires at the Belarus Embassy. The name of this important official was not accessible on Google and in fact there was no mention of that in a huff of anger and frustration, Lukashenka had recalled Yermalovich. The new official was called Dmitry Shchepachev. I emailed Wlodek to suggest that he quickly change the addressee on the letter and then resend the text to me in Word or PDF so that I could circulate it to Polish institutions and the media. I also sent Wlodek a reminder of all public interventions made by the Federation in the last year, so that he could include this in his report at the AGM. I got the amended letter from Wlodek sent me the final versio that afternoon. I added an introducion in the shape of a press conference and then published it out in the ether where it must be circulating even now.
Yesterday, Albina and I spent a long but fruitful time at Barclays sorting out our 2 year Flexible Bond, which was our large next egg from the sale of our house, and which would mature on February 28th, while we would be on our tour. Finally, we found a formula for the bank, acting on our behalf during our long absence, to transfer the whole amount, minus the interest, into a second 2 year Flexible Bond but with a much higher interest than before. That was a great weight off our mind. Meanwhile the current interest from the former Bond, while not an insignificant amount, could now be added to our reserves for our voyage. A good result.
Finally, I heard too from the entertainment department at the Fred Olsen Cruises. There were no specific plans for a lecture or theme night on the Verne book, but a copy of the book would be waiting for us in our cabins and there would be showings of the film. Once on board I could discuss any further contribution I wanted to make with Sammie Firbanks, the entertainment manager, who, judgiing by her Facebook pictures, was a stunning looking young blonde lady. Again, I thought, a good result.
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