One of the first things I did when I arrived in Kiev was take the subway to Maidan, the setting of Ukraine????????s Orange Revolution in which over one million people camped out and protested against phony elections. It is now a scene of perpetual nostalgia for those cold days and nights when the one thing keeping them warm was the feeling that, for once, good things were going to happen. There would be free and fair elections, the criminals in government would get their due, and the corruption that plagues everything from multi-billion dollar deals to traffic tickets would be purged from the system.

Some of this has happened, but for whatever reason, much of it has not. Many people I talked to said they were disappointed with President Yushchenko and disillusioned because of the breakdown of the Orange Coalition following months of political deadlock.

Now that Viktor Yanukovich ???????? who Yushchenko challenged for the presidency — has become prime minister, views on the street range from wait-and-see to outright apocalyptic peril.

Those in the latter category seem to be the majority in the capital. They worry that the old days of stolen elections and media censorship will return under the man who helped make all of that possible in the past. It should be no surprise then that Yulia Tymoshenko, the so-called ???????goddess of the revolution,??????? was the top pick in Kiev for the position.

The fiery and passionate politician has captured the hearts of the people in Kiev and western Ukraine with her talk of fighting corruption, the eastern clans, and Russia. Her popularity is blinding in its magnitude. Even if you can????????t speak, even if you can????????t listen, you can at least see it everywhere you look.

An entire side of the square is full of tables selling tourist merchandise. Ukrainian music CDs, shot glasses, scarves, and other overpriced knick knacks litter them. But then I saw her: the face of Yulia Tymoshenko. Her likeness was printed on t-shirts and buttons, the heart-shaped symbol of her ByUT party sufficing as its own standalone as well.

A pillar for the post office nearby has been contained in glass, preserving the memories drawn on it over a year and a half ago. Graffiti slogans reveal the hope of a political generation born in the community set up on the streets of those winter months. Images of young men and women discussing and deciding the national political debate over street campfires and hot tea are as vivid as the day they happened.

And even the tents are still there; an emblem that has become a political mainstay in Ukraine. Next to the post office were a few tents set up by veterans of the Afghan war wondering where their pensions went. Across the street is a larger camp representing an independent political party, and even further still is a tent camp representing an offshoot of PORA, the grassroots civil initiative that helped launch the Orange Revolution.

I crossed the street and approached the PORA tents ???????? these were the people I wanted to talk to. Undoubtedly they were there during the revolution and it would be interesting to hear what they had to say about the current political situation. Were they disillusioned? Have they given up?

The answer lied in a small group of people gathered near the makeshift wall surrounding the camp. They were reading snippets of newspaper articles, photos, cartoons that were pasted on large cardboard cutouts, portraying the devious acts as well as the promises made during those days. A steady stream of people came and went; others — from a businessman to a babushka ???????? stood by and talked politics with the campers. A teenager on his cellphone guarded the entrance.

I wanted to get in, so in the only way I knew how, I asked: ???????English????????

The man at the entrance had a confused look on his face, but after a second realized what I was asking and indicated for me to hold on. He reappeared shortly with a young man at his side who looked like he hadn????????t had the luxury of a shower for a couple days. He spoke some English, and after I told him what I wanted, he let me into the camp.

We entered one of the open tents where two university age students were playing cards. The young man we were with found some plastic chairs and we all sat around the table.

Sergei is his name, a 23 year old student of political science who has been an activist for a few years now. He is one of the main coordinators of the camp, making sure that the little village of 52 volunteers, most between the ages of 20 and 30, runs smoothly. And it does. PORA????????s base is well-regimented. Political leaflets are handed out as leaders try to persuade passersby to support their cause, the camp is kept clean, intruders are kept out, and volunteers are sent on missions to bring food and drinks for those staying in the tents.

He explained to me that he and the rest had been out on Maidan for nearly a month and would be out there until August 24th, Ukraine????????s independence day, because they don????????t like the coalition that was formed in parliament and believe that their country needs change. They no longer want to be part of Russia????????s sphere of influence and because of it consider themselves true patriots of their country.

Given the breakup of the Orange Coalition and Viktor Yanukovich????????s approval as prime minister, he was obviously upset.

???????I do not believe in Yushchenko now because he is doing nothing, nothing for our country,??????? he told me.

???????Who do you believe in then????????

He laughed a bit to himself at that one, saying something to his two friends sitting next to us. They laughed a bit too. It was one of those laughs that you have when you feel that things are going against you so badly that it????????s all you can do.

???????We haven????????t a leader, a leader in whom I believe.???????

I thought about what he said for a moment. From what I had already seen this seemed like the prevailing political mood in Kiev.

???????So you obviously know what you believe in, but what is the goal of the tent camp then? Who do you want to shape this????????

???????Shape this? Yulia Tymoshenko.???????

???????Do you think that she is the right leader for the job????????

???????Yeah.???????

I left PORA????????s tent camp around seven in the evening, just as a crowd of several dozen people began to gather in front of the camp of the independent political party next door. Some black-suited politician born in the days of the Soviet Union was giving a speech on the steps of the square.

I had no idea what he was saying, but after a few minutes he held the microphone out and let other speak. Several people got the chance to ask question and voice their opinions, often for minutes at a time to the sound of claps or boos, and the politician responded to them in kind.

A news crew was there, probably giving him more attention than he deserved, but nonetheless what I saw was a burgeoning independent media in Ukraine that could choose what it wanted to report instead of taking orders from the highest people in government.

I ended up accidentally catching the broadcast later on while I was in bed flipping the channels between bad music videos and bad soap operas. I thought, if anything, at least the Orange Revolution had achieved this.

People and media can exchange ideas freely without fear of being intimidated or even killed. Maidan has been turned into a perpetual political forum for debate, where not only the politicians but everyday people, from laborers to house moms, have a voice and a say in where this national discussion heads. Even as these people go about their daily business, they continue to stop to see what the latest message is, even though elections are long over. The tents never really left, both the square and the minds of the people that occupied them.

Whatever may happen under Yanukovich????????s premiership, if so many people believe what Sergei does, then it is wildly apparent that Kiev will fight hard for the freedoms it has won. With such vehement opposition, nothing can turn 2006 back to 2004.

*****

This is my first piece in a series of pieces from my travels to Ukraine and Belarus. The next few pieces will focus on post-Orange Revolution politics in Ukraine, how things have turned out and where they’re going, if things will fall back to the dark days of authoritarianism, and even how the country’s democracy activists are disappointed with the little media coverage they get abroad. Interviews with a program officer with Freedom House and a key coordinator of the Orange Revolution, who is now involved in other pro-democracy projects, are included.

I will then begin to post my pieces from Belarus, the last dictatorship in Europe. It includes interviews with democracy activists who work underground just for something as basic as free speech. One activists organizes protests in front of Belarusian embassies, another works for an organization that distributes political information on the internet, and another is a student who was expelled from the state university for political activities against the president. I have so many stories ready from Belarus that it is impossible to count. The interviews will be in mp3 format so that you can download and listen to them.

The writing promises to be great and the material unlike anything you have seen anywhere else. As Michael Totten would say, please hit the tip jar to support this non-corporate writing. It will only be used to cover the cost of the travel and writing. After this series is done, I am hoping to take you all on an adventure to other dictatorships in the world, from Cuba to Uzbekistan. I have the connections, just not the money, so if you think you would like to read about this then please feel free to contribute in any way you can. Thank you!