Khan shopping

I really wanted to go shopping in the Khan this weekend so that I could wander around while it is nice and quiet, but also to buy a few things and spend some money at a time when the businesses really need it. Scotty had a band practice with JT and so I went with a friend, Therese.
We got the Metro down there, as I normally do, changing at Sadat Metro station. This is the Metro station for Tahrir Square and it was all totally normal there for the change. We decided we didn't want to go to the square itself because there had been some trouble in Maadi a few days ago, and we still feel that this revolution is about what Egyptians have achieved, not us.
When we exited at Attaba Metro we came into the book market, but found that half the stalls were closed and it wasn't half as busy as it normally is. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that we were going through at 11am, not mid-afternoon as we usually go.
Onto Mohamed Ali street and I find my "sign man". I commission a new sign with the house number "38" for Fab and Sam's new place. I pay him the full amount and will come back in a few weeks time.
We pass some food; fresh food stalls and the deep-fried variety! They all look and smell yum!
Onto the route to Bab Zuweila now and I'm needing to get more coffee as we're on our last bit frm the packet before Christmas. After a few tries the man finds the thicker ground stuff that our Aeropress needs. I take two 1/4kg bags and also a small box of cinnamon and hibiscus tea that looks interesting: 23.5LE
We then walk a meandering route through the tent makers market and into the local market streets beyond. We try to find our way back on a circular route, trying to keep our bearings with the main streets. We find ourselves in the marble area where men are carving and polishing huge pieces. It's here that I find a hardware store that might have what Scott is after; an adjustable spanner. Therese's arabic is far better than mine, but neither of us know the words for "adjustable spanner", so I make the gesture. They come back with something that looks a lot larger than I was thinking of, but it will do. The only smaller ones they have are fixed size and I know we need one that we can adjust. 15LE job done. It weighs down in my bag, but it's OK. When I get home Scotty tells me that infact I have bought a wrench. I thought it was a little too big! Anyway, only 15LE spent and  we can get something smaller on Road 9 when we next visit there.
Back in the tent makers and I stop to buy some material for Fabs. I buy two bits of  "Ramadan material" that are both blue, but one has green in it and the other has red. 4m of each, so hopefully that is enough for her to do something with in the new place. 80LE
The shop owner now shows us some of his other hangings and cushion covers. Therese buys some cushion covers and then there are some nice hangings that we both eye up. He offers us a good price if we will take them both so we agree. We both now have a fish scene that we can hang by our bathrooms. Scotty and I had been thinking of getting something like this for a while - as we go diving - so now we have it. 100LE
I go and say "hi" to our usual man and he is pleased to see us and glad we are well. We discuss politics for a while and he says he thinks Gadafi will be the next leader to fall as he is "magnoon" crazy.
We've been out a while now and we walk towards the main Khan El Khalili. The only think left for me to get is any more revolutionary memorabelia that they might be selling. When we get into the main Khan we are bombarded with stall holders trying to sell us their wares. We didn't have this on the other side and although there are tourists here (only saw three other Westerners since we left Maadi) it's nothing compared to the normal numbers. This explains why the stall owners are desparate.
I find a shop with some black-white-red hats. They have the eagle on the front and then writing on one side about the revolution. 25LE can't complain at that price so I get one. He has loads, so I know I can get more if needed, but I think this is more a token, than something anyone will go around wearing.
Then a stall selling t-shirts. It's the only one which surprises me, but there you go. I get one for me which says "I love Egypt" in arabic and then the reovlution dates. For Scotty I get one with the outline of Egypt in the flag colours that also says something like "the men did it" which translates to a kind of people power message I think. 45LE each, he goes straight down to 80LE for the two.
Taxi back home and a cup of tea :)

Fixing the tap

There comes a time in every revolution when....

...memorabilia comes on sale!

 

 You may have read stories about people in Tahrir Square taking on responsibilities such as searching people as they enter the square or cleaning. Well the cleaning has spread well beyond Tahrir Square and is now taking place all over. Young Egyptians seem to be saying to themselves "what can I do to help?" and wanting to say "I am proud of my country" and so are taking to the streets in teams to clean them. After cleaning some teams are repainting the black and white curbs, or using coloured paint to brighten things up (such as the Grand Mall roundabout). With nationalism at its height, it's hardly suprising to have seen this in the next street from us.

Dahab - a relaxing holiday?

We were going to get away from it all, but with the news on Friday evening in the airport that Mubarak had resigned we knew we had more of a chance of having a relaxing holiday.
When we first discussed the break with Kevin we were unsure whether to spend the full week in Dahab, or just part of the time and then travel to spend time together in Cairo. This would be the longest we'd stayed in Dahab and sometimes there's only so much laid-back music and Bedouin seating you can take! We thought we might do a few activities, but then have some time to relax. We were right, and wrong in a way.

When packing I put three books in the suitcase along with diving gear, running gear and a uke. That'll keep us busy was the reasoning - and it did.
So what did we accomplish in our week?

• We established that Kevin loves cats, and would feed them from the table (if only Scott and I weren't there to tell him not to!)
• We went snorkling (twice for us, and five times for Kevin as he went snorkling at the dives sites whilst we were under)
• Alice grazed her knee snorkling (luckily it was the left knee so these scars will now join the ones from snorkling March 2009 and Road 9 February 2010) 
• We drank cold karkady, tea, nescafe then proper coffee (from the German Bakery), fresh orange juice, three new beers (Sphinx - predictably named, but gave us a stinking hangover from just one bottle. Castillo - new generic larger. Goldberg - new larger that is tastier than most as hops is actually listed in the ingredients)
• We love King Chicken (half a chicken, bread and tahini, rice, soup and potatoes cooked in lard all for 25LE = bargin!)
• We love our fresh bread and mezze starters and grilled meats.
• Scott loves beef pizza at the Jasmine.
• Our Valentines Day dinner was one of the worst ever (it was about 9.45pm when we got to the restaurant we wanted to try and it was new, but looked very nice on the front. After an hour they managed to bring the wrong food, cold. After some arguing about what was written on the menu we finally got half of the meal correct and some food. Scott was told to calm down and we paid them the exact amount on the bill leaving food on the table to encourgae the cats)
• We went on three dives to deserted dive sites (you know it is quiet when there is only one other group at the Canyon at 10.30am. We dived to the coral garden on the right of the Canyon instead of the Canyon itself and then at a dive site that has no signs and is accessed via a building site!)
• Kevin completed two watercolours and has photos ready for many more. One painting was finished using coffee as colouring)
• Scotty recorded a music video on his uke
• We went for a run
• We went for a walk....up a mountain!
• Kevin had a camel ride....up a mountain!
• We bought t-shirts and postcards
• We only nearly finished the books we were reading

Overall we had an amazing time - just the right balance of doing things and relaxing - but wish we could have all stayed for longer.

We do need to add that Dahab was deathly quiet when we got there. We'd heard from a friend who was already there that it was quiet, but this really surprised us. For example we got to the Jasmine on the first night (the restaurant we always hang out in) and we were the only people there apart from the chef and the waiter. When we ate there two nights later it was the same. Normally the place isn't heaving, but there are at least a fwe other groups of people there. As we walked down the front so many restuarants didn't have people in, or only had one small group. In our hotel for most of the week it was just the three of us and then one other guest. Diver's House and Jasmine didn't have anyone staying with them. So many shops or restaurants though were just closed - no lights on. When we bought our t-shirts we saw in their log book that we were the first people to buy something from them in four days.
It was really sad to see it so quiet actually. We've been complaining on our last few visits that it is getting more well known with tourists and therefore busier and more commercial. But seeing it so empty and so quiet made us really worry about the businesses here if tourism doens't pick up again. This time of year is off-season, but with everything that is going on obviously a lot of people had canceled their trips. We do hope things pick up again.

Not from yor usual correspondant

A friend of the family, Hugh, arrived in Cairo just as we were leaving for Dahab. He's a reporter with the BBC and we were gutted we couldn't meet up with him. On his blog though are a few of his reports and these two in particular show what was happening in the week after Mubarak resigned.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/pm/2011/02/hugh_in_egypt.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/pm/2011/02/hugh_in_egypt_1.shtml

What a difference a day makes (10th - 11th February)

 So after two weeks of rollercoaster emotions we are now preparing for our break in Dahab. It's hard to call it a "holiday" for sure at the moment, as we don't know what will happen still.
Thursday early evening and we hear through text messages and news blogs that Mubarak is about to make a speech. We take "about to" quite loosely and keep going with our packing whilst monitoring the blogs for updates.
Rumours are now abound about what might be announced. Stories are referencing an unnamed army official who is telling protesters that all their demands will be answered. This wording is interesting - when Mubarak first announced that he was not going to re-run in September they deemed this "all the demands will be addressed" but now that they are being "answered" this could really be it that he is resigning.
Curfew has hit and it's dark outside but full of anticipation. We hear some cars approaching the roundabout honking with delight at the prospect that Mubarak might be standing down "Beep Beep Be-Be-Beep!" The crowds in Tahrir Square and the news blogs are a-buzz with anticipation.
We stream Al-Jazeera on the computer and watch the army chief's speech. As the camera pans around the room of their meeting it is clear that Mubarak isn't there - Scott notes this as being key because Mubarak is the commander in chief and so should be there. I think it's interesting that they have shown this footage - they didn't need to show the meeting, so maybe the army are trying to make a point. "Communique Number 1" Scott notes is also the language of military rule....we could be in for something interesting.
Everyone remains on tenter hooks as we wait for Mubarak to make his speech.
He's on and facebook is alive with updates.
But what is he saying?
Throughout all of this the translators on the news have been doing an amazing job to translate speeches as they are made - listening to what is being said in one language while speaking another. The language here though is really flowery and imprecise. We're at a loss as to what is happening. It's certainly not being made clear that he is resigning which is what all the signs pointed to. If he isn't resigning now, then all the hype over the last two hours are going to make things a lot worse.
The speech is over and it is silent outside. Al-J say they are waiting for a full translation to confirm what has happened. Everyone is a little stunned - things have just shifted again from a hugely positive feeling to one of shock and depression. An end was in sight, people were on a high, and now this low feels lower than they were before any rumour of announcement came.
Before we go to bed we call Kevin and let him know that...well, basically we don't know what will happen now. By speaking Mubarak could have made things worse. It seems that he said he was handing over powers, but this was so vague, convoluted and unclear that no one is really sure. Friday has been a day of focused activity in Tahrir Square and so we decide that even though our flight is early afternoon we're going to go earlier to the airport just to be sure. We tell Kevin to keep his mobile on when he arrives at Manchester airport and we will text him an update - who knows if flights will go, or be cancelled, or the travel advice will change.
We know that no one will sleep well tonight as no one knows what tomorrow may bring.

We get up and it's quiet. Very quiet.
We keep ourselves busy for a few hours before our lift to the airport.
The drive to the airport is quiet. Most of the tanks we are used to seeing on the streets and Ring Road aren't there any more.
The airport is quiet.

A sign of the times? We hope not.

Our flight is pretty much full, only a few spare seats. But when you consider that EgyptAir have cancelled 60% of their flights on this route today and re-booked most people it's a very small number of people that are leaving Cairo today for Sharm.
In Sharm now and we settle in to our 6-hour wait for Kevin's flight to come in. We knew this would be tedious, but felt that it would be better to get here and wait, than be stuck in Cairo airport with problems. We have books, cards, games on the I-pod touch and TV to watch on the laptop. What we do though is use the dongle to get the internet up and running and check the news.
Nothing is happening, so we get on with the waiting.
Texts then arrive from Jane in the UK - another announcement is rumoured. "Soon". We keep on the internet for 30 minutes, but then decide to save the dongle until later, asking Jane to text us when it happens.
An episode of Being Human later (we love that show) and we check that Kevin's flight is coming in on time. It's due to be nearly 40 minutes early - brilliant!
Text from Jane "He's on now"
We log on and get to Al-Jazeera to watch their live stream. By the time we're there though all we can see is images of a cheering crowd in Tahrir Square. Everyone is going crazy and shouting and waving flags. This must be it - it is it, he has resigned. We log on to various news blogs to check the news that is soon flashing across our screen. It's amazing that this has just happened.
We look around us.
The airport is dead. We think we're the only people who know as none of the few police or check-in people have made any moves in the last five minutes. It feels very very strange to know this news and not be able to share it with anyone.

Just after hearing the news.

Sharm airport just after the news.

How we found out.

We think about the last two weeks and what a rollercoaster of emotions we've been through and then about the last 24-hours when Egypt's gone from highs of anticipation last night, to lows of confusion and now this.
Part of us is upset that we are not there in Cairo to celebrate. We've been there all this time and stuck by the city and the people, as they have stuck by their beliefs, but now we're in a deserted airport, alone. We are missing the biggest street party every in Egypt! But also we feel we deserve a break, a holiday - and Kevin does too - so this is what we can now go ahead and have with this news.

Reflections from the airport

We're currently sitting in the coffeeshop in EgyptAir's Terminal 3.  We're checked in for our 1.45pm flight to Sharm-el-Sheik, and it seems to be on time.  We're heading to Sharm to meet my dad, who booked back in November to spend half-term with us in Dahab.  We would have been in Dahab anyway, but he fancied the chance to get a break.

The airport is very quiet.  The drive up was uneventful - where a few days ago there were tanks on the ring-road today there were street sweepers.  The heavy military equipment at the gates to airport itself were replaced by a couple of Jeeps.  Police and army were still out in number, but it's nowhere near the levels of 'security forces' we've seen over the past two weeks.  Let's face it, we see more tanks going to the Grand Mall a minute away from our apartment than we did this morning on a 30 minute drive.

Life inside the airport is a surreal tension.  The airport seems to be functioning normally, apart from the complete lack of customers.  Waiting for our flight in the concourse coffeeshop with the few other people flying today, we're outnumbered 2-to-1 by barristas, cleaners, and duty free staff.  The full number were evident when the TV presenter on screen above us read out a statement issued by the military.  The TV has been blasting out the state TV channel's endless streams of propaganda since we arrived.  Just now it's got exciting film-style music while selected photos of the protests go over the top.  The majority of the photos are of government meetings and generic shots of the Egyptian flag.  There's not even a hint of the scale of what has happened, and what is still happening.

However, during the reading of the statement everything stopped.  Everyone gathered round in silence.  Although it was in Arabic, the fact we couldnt' pick out any key words suggested to us it didn't really say anything.  The faces of the staff confirmed it: a facial shrug-of-the-shoulders look, that everything they were hoping for was still just a hope.  Soon after we reached out the laptop and got online - confirmation that the speech said very little that will ease the situation today.

It's strange being back here.  2 weeks ago we were in this same terminal, in this same coffee shop, waiting for our flight to Luxor for Alice's birthday.  So much has changed since then, but so much is still ominously the same.  It's frankly unbelievable that after everything the protesters have done the same government, the same President, are still in power.  We're sitting in the same departure lounge, waiting for our flight, while the whole of Egypt is waiting for Mubarak's departure.  There's a sad parallel there somewhere.

Around Maadi (till 10th Feb)

So we're trying to get on with things in what feels like a perpetual weekend with no nights out.

Monday - Went over to Costa Coffee for breakfast and had our eye on the tank that has placed itself outside the Grand Mall roundabout. It just seems to be sitting there with a few army guys around it, not much else happening. Fatma came to clean today and she was so happy to see us (and to clean our apartment too it seemed!). She said she was contacted by the Phillipean embassy but she is happy staying now that things are better compared to last week.
Re-booked our flight to Dahab. We were due to fly on Friday in the early evening so we would arrive at the same time as Kevin around 8pm. There is so much disruption to flights at the moment though because of everything that is going on and flights aren't meant to be running during the curfew, so we suspect that our original flight may be cancelled. I convinced Scotty to book the 2pm flight. Mega early I know, but my reasoning was that if this flight was cancelled then we would be able to get a later flight in the afternoon and still arrive to meet Kevin. After all this time looking forward to this holiday I don't want to not be able to get there! Maybe we've gone overboard, but with a few films on the laptop and some books I'm sure we'll survive sharm airport for 5 hours!

Tuesday - Went to get my hair cut by "the French guy" (who isn't French, but his hairdressers is called Coiffure de Paris).
Called up and managed to get our dry cleaning returned to us (and sent off a huge amount of ironing). So we got back a duvet that we had found when clearing out a cupboard. It was pretty dirty and unappealing before, but now it looks OK. We put it in our newly bought duvet cover (which is very bright and energetic).
We queued for an hour today at the HSBC cash machine at the Grand Mall to get money out. We've got some cash at home, but we need to stock up for going to Dahab where we hear the machines are all out. The machine was defaulted to a maximum of 1,000LE per transaction and two transactions each. We took out 3,000LE because we didn't want the machine to run dry when there were so many other people in the queue behind us.

Wednesday - Duvet is brilliant. I always thought that you needed them in hotels because the air con there makes it colder, but it does make for a nice nights sleep here too.
We both finally went to the dentist! We haven't been here or in the UK since we moved out 2 1/2 years ago. Why? Well I guess we were uncertain at first about going to a dentist out here and then after that the excuse of being busy kicks in. We saw Dr Shalesh who was recommended by Daniel (he's having braces with the orthodontist at this practice and has had whitening done - he's American) and by a friend Brad who left last year. He was very good and we both had a quick check up before a clean and polish. Normally you have to get the hygienist for the clean and polish, but here the dentist does it! He noticed that I have a bit of the root exposed for one of my teeth where my brushing has pushed the gum up, so I've made an appointment to get this covered with a cosmetic filling. We had nearly 30 minutes each with him and came away feeling very happy - he was very good, excellent English and obviously internationally trained - and only 300LE each for the whole thing.
We can tell things are getting back to normal when we see a friends facebook update that Otlob is now open (although it is closing 2 hours before curfew each night, but hey at least it's open!)
Today cash machine had a queue of only three people and the withdrawal amounts are back to normal. Good sign.
Second tank has taken up position at the back of the Grand Mall. When queue for cash I waved to the guys who work at Saveway and then went over to them. I asked why the tank was here today (thinking it might be for the TelecomEgypt protests which we heard were pretty big by their satellites office) and they say it is because of the banks. I buy some supplies and they deliver them along with two crates of water.
Later in the day we go back to Saveway together (this is why they think I am crazy...because I always make multiple trips to buy odd items!) to buy some juice for the Grand Malt's latest experiment. Scotty has at last found a 7lt water bottle that he has turned into a demi-john and we're going to try and make turbo cider with the yeast that we reclaimed from our last brew (bottled on 25th Jan incidentally...as yet un-named). When we are in the shop though we get a little excited an instead of just buying apple juice we go for some "cocktail" and "peach and mango". If all goes to plan it will end up a little more like a very alcoholic version of Reef.

Thursday - Fatma came again today and she was very grateful for the 50LE extra we put in her salary this month (because we had to pay it in two installments because of the banks).
Managed to go and pay for the internet and top up the dongle ready for Dahab at Etisalat. Not gone to pay our phone bill with TelecomEgypt as we hear that they are striking.
In the taxi on the way to Road 9 I go around the Port Saied roundabout where the Maadi Police Station is. As I do two army personnel trucks pass me. They have three army guys with big guns in them facing four or five Egyptian civilians who look pretty roughed up and have got bandages on their wounds. Not good.
As I queued to get cash out (six people in the queue, crisp notes out of the machine) I see that at the Grand Mall there are two tanks again. Egyptians are taking their photographs by them and placing flowers on them. I took some photos from a distance, but don't yet have the confidence to ask if I can take a photo right beside the tank. Maybe I will soon - if they say no, then I just walk away.
Got a delivery from Gourmet Egypt as they have 10% off everything so we have some stuff to cook up today and freeze raedy for our return from Dahab.
We're going to get a massage in a bit from the Dutch place - a little treat as these are tense times!

Tank at the front of the Grand Mall facing the roundabout.

Tank outside Saveway (although they probably have put it here more for its proximity to HSBC!) You can just see our building on the right-hand side behind the palm tree.

These tanks have been very well designed as their camouflage works well in both desert and urban settings.

Getting the news out

Jane got in touch with the Buxton Advertiser to see if they were interested in running a story with a local perspective on what is happening here at the moment. They were (!) and so Scotty wrote a piece for them to use in the next issue of the paper.

Buxton Man Praises Egyptian Protesters was on page 11.

Scotty wrote a much long piece for them that covered a lot more, so here is the full thing:

 
Since moving to Cairo in August 2008, my wife and I have always said that 'every day is an adventure'.  Although we live in a suburb of Cairo that contains a large number of fellow ex-pats, simply stepping out of the door reminds us that we live in a country far removed from anything we knew in the UK.  Our apartment is near to a large shopping centre, but opposite this is a man who sells woven baskets from the back of a donkey cart.  Nearby is a flower shop, behind which the proprietor has built a small structure in which he keeps his chickens away from the stray dogs that roam the streets.  On the other corner are two chairs, where policemen armed with rifles usually sit 24-hours a day.  The seats are now conspicuously empty.

We moved to Egypt just a month after our wedding.  We have always wanted to experience the excitement of living in another culture, and as I had taught History in the UK for four years and my wife had worked in disability policy and education, we were able to secure jobs at an international school in Cairo.  The country and our jobs are both fantastic, and just a month ago we signed new contracts to extend our stay.

I don't think that anyone could have forseen the extent of the protests that have spread across Egypt since the 25th January.  The 25th is a national holiday, and a Facebook group had grown to quite extraordinary proportions encouraging Egyptians to go onto the streets to demonstrate in favour of a more democratic government.  I don't think that anybody ever believed that the protests and marches would become as large as they have.  Egypt has had the same ruling party since the overthrow of King Farouk in 1952; tensions have been building regarding the 30-year Presidency of Hosni Mubarak and the potential that power would simply pass to his son Gamal, but I honestly don't think anybody predicted the size of opposition that would come onto the streets.  For us, watching the development of the protests on the internet, it seemed surreal.  We were seeing areas of the city that we visit regularly although it was clear that the protests were all focused in the downtown area of Cairo around Tahrir Square - at least 10 miles from where we live.

Work continued as normal the for the two days after the 25th January protests, although we were encouraged to go home immediately at the end of the day rather than staying to run to offer after-school activities.  However, we felt perfectly safe in the area we live, and continued to simply watch the protests online.

We knew that a large protest was planned for Friday 28th January, but as we had not experienced anything of the protests in our part of the city, we went ahead with existing plans.  28th January was my wife's 30th birthday and we had booked to take part in the Ramses Run, a 12.5km road race in the city of Luxor past the Valley of the Kings.  We were running to raise money for a charity we support in Cairo, which provides education to Zaballeen children (the lower-class community that exists by collecting and recycling the city's rubbish).  I encourage readers to watch the award winning film Garbage Dreams which highlights the plight of the Zaballeen.

We flew to Luxor on Thursday evening and ran the race on the morning of Friday 28th.  Afterwards, we sent text messages to friends and family at home to let them know how we'd got on, and felt quite upset that we didn't receive any replies.  We returned to the hotel for lunch, and as Friday prayers drew to a close we began watching the satellite news and tried to log on to the internet.  This was the point where the communications shutdown became clear.  Our family hadn't replied to our texts because mobile phone communication in Egypt had been severed.  The internet had been completely suspended.  Our only line to the outside world was satellite news and the expensive hotel telephone.  Having reassured our parents of our safety at the hotel in Luxor, we watched events unfold with shock and disgust at the levels of violence being meted out by the riot police on the protesters.  Later that evening a curfew was announced amid news of looting and rioting filtering out into the suburbs of Cairo.

That evening we formulated our plan: get back to Cairo.  We could have stayed safe and comfortable in our hotel in Luxor but Cairo was our home and it was where our friends and colleagues were.  Early on Saturday morning the mobile phones sprang back to life, and we began discussions with our school about our situation.  We said we would try to fly back to Cairo before the 4pm curfew, but knew that we would be stuck in the airport overnight if we arrived late.  We took a taxi to the airport in Luxor, and saw for the first time the real effect of the protests.  Although the streets of Luxor were quiet, there were tanks parked at key intersections and a distinct lack of police.

At the airport we somehow managed to pay a change-of-booking fee and get onto the next available flight from Luxor to Cairo rather than need to wait for our later flight.  As we made our way through security to the gate, we met a couple who had run the race with us the previous day.  They told us how the headquarters of the ruling NDP Party in Luxor had been set on fire 10 minutes previously: we had driven past it just a few minutes beforehand.  This coincided with phone calls from friends saying they'd heard that the shops near our apartment had been looted, and that there were signs of vehicles being set on fire.  The first reports of locals arming themselves with sticks and knives were also filtering through.  It was a scary realisation of the extent of the uprising and how close it was to our lives in Egypt.  We feared for our friends, our neighbours, and our home, but without getting back to Cairo we would never know how true the rumours were.

On landing in Cairo we realised we had arrived after curfew - there was no way we could get back to our apartment that evening.  However, our school's organisation went into overdrive: they secured security passes through the curfew, provided a school bus to drive us from the airport, and our headteacher offered her spare room for us to stay in that night.  While driving into her suburb of Cairo the usually packed roads were eerily quiet.  We were stopped and had our passports checked by the army who had created a roadblock with two tanks and an APC.  It was like an alternative reality.  Later that evening a series of further roadblocks were set up by the locals keen to protect their community from potential looters.

The next morning we went to school, from where we met with a group of colleagues who had just brought back a group of 40 students from a ski trip in Switzerland.  School provided transport for us to go home, and although keen to get back we were all very nervous at what we would find.  In the end we had nothing to worry about: the shops near our apartment had their windows covered and it emerged that the 'looters' were actually shopkeepers removing their stock for safety.  Our apartment was untouched and our relief was immeasurable.  Our Egyptian neighbours welcomed us back and said we had nothing to worry about.  Nonetheless we chose to move in with some friends a short walk away, in order to remove ourselves from the potential flashpoint around the shops.  We were probably over-reacting, to be honest.  The local community have come out in force to create roadblocks and secure their homes against any potential rogue elements.  Reports of 'vigilante' groups in the Western media bring the wrong image to mind - these are not violent gangs but instead are honest local people protecting their community.  We are part of that community, and feel incredibly safe.  Clearly the escalation of events in Tahrir Square causes concern for everyone, but they are taking place at least 10 miles away from our home.

Some friends have left the country, but others have chosen to stay.  Although our school plans to remain closed until 20th February, my role as Online Learning Coordinator means that we have been able to offer education over the internet to our students no matter where they or their teachers are.  We have a routine now: wake up at the end of the curfew and head to our apartment for a few hours.  The British Cairo Association clubhouse remains open during the day and acts as a meeting point for ex-pats from the area around lunchtime.  We ensure that we are home before the evening curfew and turn on the news to follow events throughout the evening.

The political situation remains unclear.  The extent of change that has already taken place over the past 10 days would have been unbelievable before 25^th January.  However, the large protests continue to demand an immediate change to government.  As an historian I clearly have my own interpretation of events based on historical revolts and uprisings.  However, at this point in time it is frankly impossible to know how events are going to unfold.  The peaceful protests of the pro-democracy demonstrators are incredibly moving: these are the Egyptian people we have known over our time here.  We hope that they achieve their aims.

Living through it: 2nd - 7th February

There are a number of things that helped us with the decision to stay. Number one was definitely the support of our families. They are at the end of the phone, email and text and this has been really reassuring. We know that if our families had said they would prefer us to be out of Egypt and in the UK, then we would have gone, but they have said that they draw confidence and reassurance from us. That we're "sensible" and they trust we would leave if we needed to leave has helped reassure us too. The other has been the support and feeling of the community here in Maadi. That's the community of friends we have here who are also staying and also the community that we have lived in for the last two and half years. Here are a few photos and anecdotes over these few days.

It's ten-to-eleven and we get a phone call. The BCA will open. At 11am. It will need to close at 2.30pm because curfew starts at 3pm, but a drinks a drink so we get down there!

It's so great to see people! To know that we are not alone! It's been brilliant to be able to stay with Flossie and Caz, but with the Internet down everything has felt isolating. Getting out of the flat and seeing that there are lots of other people who have not headed off (yet) lifts everyone's spirits.

It turns out that the BCA is an evacuation point. So if the Embassy does decide to evacuate (rather than give generic ambiguous advice) then all we need to do is turn up there with our suitcase and they'll come and collect us! Brilliant! Also the main guy at the BCA is a "warden" which means he has direct contact with the Embassy and so will be told first if anything changes.

At 2.30pm we start to head back to the flat. Although they are serving booze the kitchen isn't yet open so we are all a little tipsey!

 We've mentioned in other posts about the road blocks that have been slowing and stopping traffic on the streets. These vary in their extent and the materials they are constructed with. Here are a few of our favourite (that are also some of the most effective I will add!).

Middle-class Roadblock

An ingenious use of a set of football goal posts

What better use of a Christmas Tree at the end of January?

Again we mentioned before that we felt a lot safer knowing that the bowab army were out in force. During the day their nests remain undisturbed and the fires are smoldering. It honestly was reassuring knowing that they were out there and that they cared about protecting the people and property of their neighbourhood. Of our neighbourhood.

Some were a bit more hard core than others though. This was along Road 206 where they had their case of Molotov cocktails ready.

We were truly impressed with the organisation that there was in the area. We found these two notices taped to the police booth that was part of the road block on 213 / 231 The Degla Security Watch list listed the names and numbers of  two people for each crossroads in the Degla Maadi area. It was accompanied by a map showing where each roadblock was set up. At the bottom of the Watch List it also had the number of the Tank Commander. Brilliant!

So now we are in the position where we are trying to live as normally as we can.

We're living back at our flat now (Flossie has changed her holiday plans and has flown to the UK). It is quiet in the street after curfew, but a few cars are still going around. On the news sites they say that the curfew is "notional" and taken more as a guideline than rule (guideline being that if you are out after curfew you will be stopped and questioned). The first thing we noticed after getting back here though was that the dogs are louder in the wasteland behind our flat, and the mosque is louder in the mornings! We're managing to sleep though and right through to 8am as we're still tired everyday.

Curfew has been reduced so it is now 7pm until 6am. The first time we were out walking at 6pm was really strange and felt odd to be our after dark. This makes life easier and you feel a bit more confident about being out during the day.

There are definitely an increasing number of cars on the road during the day. Just a few days ago the ratio of cars to taxis was crazy with five taxis coming past you before you saw a car. They were after the business and who can blame them? Now the ratio is more normal

Saveway has restocked its shelves. No longer is only one type of pasta gathering dust on the bottom shelf and there no bread. I'm managing to time my visits with the fresh aish delivery and we've had more water delivered. I'm yet to get fresh milk but we can live with long life for a while.

Banks are starting to reopen. We didn't both queuing on the first day the cash machine was working (Sunday 10am - 1.30pm apparently) but did queue on Monday. It took us an hour, but we managed to get money out (1,000LE is allowed per transaction and you're allowed two transactions a day). We didn't use our full allowance though as we felt a little guilty. We will try and go again in the next few days.

Shops are reopening too. We had breakfast in Costa Coffee today while Fatma cleaned the apartment. She didn't come at all last week because of everything. But she seemed very happy to be back at work today. Our trip out also took us through the Grand Mall. The "looting" reported to us when we were in Luxor was simply shop owners removing their stock for safe keeping. When we first saw the mall on coming back to Maadi we saw that many of the shops had painted their windows, put up newspaper or boarded them to prevent people seeing in. Today though they were cleaning this off, dusting the shelves and returning stock to them. We bought a duvet cover as in our "hiding of instruments" we found a duvet at the back of a cupboard. This duvet has now been sent to the dry cleaners (another sign of normality that they will come and collect!). Arzak has also reopened. Not only are they serving (and they were busy when we've passed over the alst two days, but they are also delivering! A fleet of drivers were ready in their jackets, their mopeds revving on the side of the road.

There are just a few army guys around now. We've seen one or two around the mall in recent days. Now we haven't seen any tanks, but that's more because we haven't left Maadi in the last few days, than they've gone. We'll have to venture out a little more in the next few days, but for the moment we are happy with our walks between ours place, Grand Mall, Degla, BCA and Road 9. Both of us have been out on our own too. We just tell each other where we are going and make sure that we have our passport, phone and school ID (might help!).

The police are coming back slowly. Someone noted today that they have lost their swagger. But they are coming back. I think they have also lost their guns. The ones we have seen only have hand guns on their belts rather than the shot guns they normally have on the street corner. Maybe this is because the street corner guys aren't back yet, only the head honchos and the traffic police.

Over the last few days it has been reported more that westerners are being taken in for questioning. We haven't spoken to anyone directly who has been taken in, but do know of two friends of friends who this has happened to. Both stories are connected with having high-end cameras out and taking photos. We're just sensible and aren't going to use our D-SLR. We haven't been taking many photos and those that we have taken don't faff about with any zoom (sorry!) but are point - shoot - put away quickly! We're trying to be positive with the police and army guys though. We're trying to make eye contact and say hello (masr a kheir), rather than shy away from them. Our thoughts are that this will show that we are from the area and belong here as much as they do. we have found that they are very happy to respond and trying hard to be nice too!

One thing that has remained constant during the time we've been back in Maadi has been the newspapers. There is a street corner stall between our place and Flossie's so we have been buying papers every day to chronicle what has been happening. It's been interesting to see what photos are shown, and which images are missing. We can't read the papers, but hopefully we will get some bits translated at some point.

Domestically speaking now we've realised the value of satellite TV and think we're going to try and get one installed. We only get four Egyptian channels through our ariel on the back balcony (which isn't even the same room as our TV) and apparently it only costs 300LE for the dish to be installed and then you get all the free channels which includes BBC World I think. If we had been at our place on 28th January we would have had no idea what was going on with no phones, TV or internet.

I'm determined to use the time to get through lots of books - goodness knows I have enough! It was distracting trying to read with the TV on, but then we couldn't really turn it off for the first week because things were happening so quickly and changing all the time. Now it's easier to read and so take a break for the constant updates on downtown.

We're also doing lots of cooking for ourselves at the moment with no way to eat out or order in (our little luxuries!). As friends have left Cairo they've left their fresh food with us which has lead to some afternoons being a little like Can't Cook, Won't Cook with their red pepper and green tomato (or is it the other way around). We've made carrot soup, ratatouille, chili (using a small amount of left over chili, meatballs, left over veg stew and special ingredient Dragon Fart sauce), omelet and chips, birthday Victoria sponge (well this was made by Caz and the bowab army were going to use in in their defences!). Some days though we have eaten badly - sitting in front on the TV does lend itself to eating crisps and chocolate. Not good. Early curfew has also meant we've had to be strict with ourselves before we have the first drink of the day. Flossie and I would normally manage to put off the first white wine spritzer until 6pm!

After toying with the idea we decided not to put another brew on. We were really excited by the idea of brewing through a revolution, but with all the ups and downs, stays or gos it was impossible to decide to put one on. Also if we had put one on during a "stay / up" feeling this would have had an effect on us in the down. We wanted to be able to leave and go to the UK if we wanted to - and not have to stop and stay just so we didn't lose 40 pints of beer! We do now have 12 water bottles full of boiled water ready to clean for future brews!


What next?
Well although there is no curfew on Sinai we are a little paranoid that our flight to Sharm will be affected. All the flights are messed up at the moment. To play it safe we have rebooked a flight for lunch time on Friday. We'll have a fair few hours to kill at the airport before DaddyB lands, but this seems a better option that being stuck in Cairo. Until then we've decided to use the time for various things we don't normally get round to: Tuesday I'm going to try and get a hair cut, Wednesday we've both got dentist appointments (first time in two and a half years....) and Thursday we've both got a massage booked. Oh, and each day popping to the BCA for an afternoon shandy!