Kenya

In March, after teaching for two whole weeks, we had our previously scheduled Spring Break. I was able to travel to Nairobi, Kenya, to visit good friends of mine from DCHS, Brian and LeeAnne. They've been living in Nairobi since August, after a four year stint in Korea.

I loved Nairobi, and the national parks all around. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to go to another zoo again!

I spent the week with some other girls who were visiting at the same time, traveling from park to park, taking in nature that I never see here in the concrete jungle we call Cairo. Being in Brian and LeeAnne's presence was fantastic as well, a great time to debrief and refresh for what is shaping up to be an interesting and exhausting school year.

Pink is the colour of freedom

Pink is a hot colour this spring in Egypt.

Yesterday for the first time in .... well, a long time ... Egyptians voted. There was a referendum on amendments to the constitution. Now I'm not an expert on the issues presented, but I've heard the preliminary results were a "yes." I'm not sure what that means.

But it doesn't matter.

What matters is that Egyptians voted. They stood in line (I know!), waited for hours (this is still Egypt, after all), and they cast their "yes" and "no" for the constitution. There were no reported bribes, no stuffing of ballot boxes, and no fighting.

How do you track and register almost 40 million voters in just a few weeks, in a country that does not have the technological infrastructure?

You paint their finger pink. No word of a lie. Cast your vote, dip your finger. It won't wash off for a day or two.

This is Gada. She works at our school. Gada is female, she is Muslim, and yesterday for the first time in her life she voted.

She looks brilliant in pink.

Revolution Tourism

On Saturday we ventured out to Tahrir square to see where history was made. History is still being made, I suppose, and it was very interesting to see first hand the things that have been on the news lately.
There are still small groups forming to protest, especially on weekends. Saturday was the first day that traffic was allowed back in the square, so these soldiers are doing their best to keep a swelling crowd away from the streets. At the time this picture was taken, things were peaceful.

This is the courtyard of the National Democratic Party headquarters (the name of the party leading the government). It is right behind the big pink Egyptian National Museum.

Piles of barbed wire all over the place.

A view of Tahrir and the Egyptian National Museum, with the NDP building in the background.

Street art commemorating what happened between January 25 and February 18, approximately. There are lots of murals around my neighbourhood too, and I will take pictures of those soon.

Returning Home (Home?)

I've been back in Cairo for 4 days now. It is hard to explain to outsiders, but as much as things have drastically changed, things are oddly similar to how they've always been.

I was greeted at the airport by men giving out flowers, saying "welcome in Egypt." They had signs saying they were from Egypt tourism. The general feel on the street is that Egyptians are happy to see foreigners (their livelihood) coming back. This is especially the case in Ma'adi. Mohamed the fruitman gave me strawberries for free last night saying, "thank you for coming back."

The youth of Egypt amaze me. There is such a sense of pride and civic duty which did not have to be taught in school or preached about. They have taken to the streets, painting and tidy-ing up. There are signs posted in front of various buildings in English and Arabic, requesting that people use trash cans and don't make a mess.

There are murals everywhere (pictures coming soon) of the Egyptian flag, and also of beautiful religious symbols showing the Muslim crescent with the Christian cross.

At school things are also back to normal. We have 90% of our children in class, some are gone for now, some are gone permanently. The principal spoke this week to the students about "now what" and what they can do right now to be agents of change. As I listened, I realized that for the first time his words might actually be true. These children of privilege have heard all their lives that they are the future of Egypt and will have power to change it, but for once, it actually could be true.

Children I teach now can actually really dream of being the president/elected leader of this country.

Of course, not all the change has been so positive. When people are on emotional highs, sometimes they do things with their energy that is not wise. Another foreign teacher from another school had her purse grabbed from her by a moving car in Ma'adi the other night, which is completely out of character from Egypt. Yesterday there were further problems because a police officer shot a micro-bus driver. These things remind us that not all is as happy as it seems, and caution and street smarts are a necessity. One of our own bus drivers was involved in an incident where he hit another car, was pulled from his bus and beaten up. Again, it happens, but it is not the way things normally are now.

My neighbourhood is fine. I am never home when the electricity and gas man collect fees, and then they started to think I was gone for good. Yesterday I was chased down the street by the gas man, who saw me and didn't want to miss me again. "Madame, madame, he yelled. Please, madame, the gas."

My natural gas bill for 4 months? 35 LE. ($7)

Yes, it is good to be back in this country.

Images of the Revolution (from my lense...)

Here are some shots showing what life was like for this Canadian in Cairo when the going got exciting...


This is Road 223 on January 28, the first day that huge things happened. Clearly Rd 223 didn't get the message.


With no cell phones and no internet, we had no way of canceling Jen's birthday party, and so we met for food, fun, and revolution.


The next morning this is the entrance to my neighbourhood. The boabs and local men blocked all the entrances so that anyone hoping to loot and riot would be turned away. This was touching, this is the real Egypt.


On our first trip out of Ma'adi in days, we found that the entire suburb had been surrounded by tanks. There were check points everywhere.
En route to Sharm el Sheikh, on the Sinai Peninsulah.

Walk / Talk / Sing / Honk like an Egyptian

I wish I were in Cairo right now for the party. The people of Egypt have spoken and been heard. Hosny Mubarak has stepped down and people are wild with excitement.

No doubt, there are long hard days ahead.

But for now, Egypt is proud, and I am proud to know Egyptians. I can't wait to go back and finish the school year.

A revolutionary Journal

Here is the quickest break down of how I have ended up back in Canada. [Incidentally the phrase 'break down' has been used to describe a lot of things lately - including me.]

Friday January 21 @ Church.
I am talking with some friends about Egypt and Tunisia, and the protests planned for Tuesday's "Police Day" holiday. A friend who knows more about the Middle East and Egypt than any of us, explained that there were protests planned but the police knew about them and it was Egypt, after all, and nothing would really come of them. These things always lose momentum quickly.

Tuesday January 25, Police Day
We had no school, and were urged to stay away from large crowds of people, and preferably stay in Ma'adi. Things would not be too bad, but pay attention.

Things were far worse than everyone thought, and the protests were huge. We stayed in all afternoon, clicking refresh on a website that gave a live feed about the protests. It appeared that the problems were worse in Alexandria and Suez than in cairo.

The government blocked Twitter to squash the movement.

Thursday January 27
The leader of the oposition, El Baradei returns to Egypt after a personal exile out of fear of his life. There are calls for massive protests and demonstrations after prayer time on Friday.

Friday January 28
When I woke up I saw that I had no internet connection. At church, others expressed the same thing. By the time church was out, no one had any cell phone use at all.

At home, I was glued to CNN And AlJazeera along with everyone else. Things were getting drastic and a bit crazy. Violence, shouting, and passion. Go Egypt!

Being without means of communicating is a scary thing, especially when you live alone. We had a birthday party planned for a friend, and we could not cancel it, so I headed to Sara's house, threw some overnight clothes in a bag, and spent the night. As we watched tv, we saw that the government imposed a curfew for 6pm. We tried to go out to take some of the girls home from the party, and every single person on the street (there weren't many) tried to force us back inside. One man said "this is big day for Egypt, but not safe, not good." We put them in a taxi and went back inside.

Saturday January 29
In the morning I returned to my home, and eventually cell phone use was available, at least sporadically. I did some things around the apartment, packed another overnight bag and headed to Maggie and John's. I just didn't feel safe being by myself, as we heard that the police were no longer going to be protecting people and had retreated.

Sunday January 30
Throughout the night we had heard gunshots and saw many men on the streets with sticks. This was a touching "Egypt moment" where the young men in our neighbourhoods and the boabs (door people) took to the street to protect Ma'adi against looting. Without police, they knew things were in their hands. Later we learned that the gunshots were a method of communication, not a problem.

I also learned later that people who lived on Road 9, or in other areas of Ma'adi and Cairo, had a lot more problems than we did in Degla.

As Sunday progressed, things became less and less secure, as we learned that entire prisons had been emptied out, and that things were getting a big chaotic. It's hard to say that I ever felt 100% unsafe, but things were not stable. The school called us and said "pack a bag, possibly one for multiple-country evacuation. We are going to Sharm el Sheikh to wait this out."

Monday January 31
8 hours in a convoy of 4 buses headed through the Sinai peninsula. In yet another "Egypt moment" we were mistakenly led through Egypt's most dangerous city, Suez, instead of around it.

We arrived safely in Sharm, and were told that our stay was indefinite.

Tuesday, February 1
Breakfast. Meeting. Run. Shower. Lunch. Friends. Supper. Drinks. Bed.

Wednesday, February 2
See above. Internet comes back on.

Thursday, February 3
Lather, rinse, repeat.

Friday, February 4
Before going to bed, we were called to an emergency meeting. We were told that by the end of the weekend we would be flown to our home of record to wait things out. Egypt wasn't going to fix itself any time soon, and it would be cheaper to send us home than to pay 10 000 $ a day to keep us all at the resort. We were elated.

Saturday February 5
12 hours after being told we were going to our home of record, the school announced that Cairo was safe, and we would be headed back there on Sunday to resume life as normal. Shannon breaks down, but is not the only one. This is not the time for up and down roller coaster emotions, and we're done. I booked a ticket for Canada.

Sunday, February 6
I left Sharm El Sheikh for Canada, via London. In my suitcase I have 3 swimsuits, 4 pairs of capris, 12 t-shirts, 2 light sweaters and 2 pairs of jeans. Definitely ready to go to Canada.

Monday February 7
Upon checking in for my Heathrow-Pearson leg, I started to cry uncontrollably. I got my own row out of the deal, and yes, I have now learned an important life lesson.

Monday February 7 - ???
I'm in Canada, waiting. The Western attention span with Egypt is very short, and this frustrates me. I check BBC and AlJazeera regularly, but this just isn't news anymore. Nor is it finished.