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Thinking about Libya

You always have a different perspective on a place when you’ve actually been there, rather than just seen it in pictures.

I’ve been thinking about Libya quite a bit recently, after the unrest going on there. It was only a matter of time before things came to a head there, regardless of what has been going on in surrounding countries.

The thing that stood out to me when I was there 5 years ago was the enormous Gaddafi propaganda. Every place where you might see a commercial billboard in another country, Libya had a huge picture of Gaddafi. Signs, slogans, posters. Watches were the souvenir to buy – I still have a watch somewhere around the house with a picture of Gaddafi on the face, celebrating 37 years of rule. You don’t have that much propaganda if everyone truly loves you.

It was an unusual country to visit, in many ways one of the lowest hassle Middle Eastern countries. Few tourists visit, so there hasn’t been the same development of touts, scam artists, and general level of people selling you crap you don’t need. Instead, people are reserved but friendly. It is sad to think of them at war with themselves, people being shot at by their own government. Most of the people killed will just be ordinary people, trying to go about their lives.

I recall staying in a small town in the desert, walking around, when I met a young man who asked me “What are you doing here?” He couldn’t understand why I would be in Libya, when I was lucky, I had a passport and money, I didn’t have to stay there. He did. He was learning English, maybe he got lucky, and was able to escape.

As an aside, it’s not widely known, but Libya has some of the best Roman ruins anywhere. Hopefully Gaddafi will either see sense and leave, or someone will knock him off, and this can end, without further loss of life, or damage to the archaeological treasures.