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.
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.
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.
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. |
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. |
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.
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