The Things I've Seen

Sorry I haven't posted for a while (nods to Max) but I've had poor access to internet and as of now I'm in a coffee shop in Jordan. In the last week and a half I've been on 3 continents but before I talk about that I want to share my experiences of the Egyptian revolution. So here it is.

January 25
The national holiday of Police Day in Egypt began as many thought it would. The Egyptian riot police flooded the street and as protestors began to voice their opinions the police showed uncharacteristic restraint (they only hurt some people).



Despite being told not to I explored a bit and got a few pictures including this one of the infamous riot police

 As the night progressed the protestors gathered in unanticipated numbers striking a fear into the Mubarak regime. State television announced that tomorrow protestors wouldn't be delt with so leniently. Defiant protestors gathered in Tahrir square and many spent the night.

My roomate's picture taken as we neared Tahrir square.

Twitter was blocked at some point this day. Interestingly Tahrir mean liberation so the square that has become the center for the movement is called Liberation Square.

January 26
Protests continue nonstop from yesterday. Images of riot police using brutal tactics can now be seen on the TV but the Egyptians seem undetered. Facebook is blocked today because it and Twitter were used extensively to organize the protests. Classes are cancelled for the day but no one is thinking that this is the begining of a revolution.

January 27
Very few protestors turn out and at about noon Mubarak blocks the internet and mobile phone service. Such a move is completely unprecedented in the entire world and it is seen as a desprate act by a teetering regime. In the evening I went to one of my Egyptian friends home for dinner with his family and had a great time. On the drive there I saw big police trucks parked along the side of the road. They were clearly preparing for something. The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest though illegal opposition party, announced they would support protests tomorrow. Prior to this they had been silent.

January 28
I got home from my friend's house at 1 in the morning and went to bed. In the morning I woke up to the Friday noon prayer, the most important prayer for muslims and when they usually go to mosques. As soon as the prayer was over I could here chanting and shouting from my balcony. This would be my vantage point from the revolution for the next 3 days. Roughly a quarter mile away was the University of Cairo were protests were begining and the police were having none of it.

Teargas was lobbed through the air for about an hour and caught on the wind, I could feel it in my nose and eyes

Elbaradei was praying at a mosque and as soon as the worshippers began to exit the police fired teargas trapping many inside. In other places christians tried to protect the mosques from the police to repay muslims for there protection during coptic christmas.

I have a video of this you can hear their chanting on but I wasn't able to upload it

Protestors marched past my square a few times on their way to Tahrir square. I apologize for the wandering frame but I didn't want to be looking through my camera the whole time.
By 4PM we heard that Suez and Alexandria had completely overwhelmed the police in both cities. At 5:30PM curfew is announced for 6:00PM. It goes largely ignored and at 6:30PM Mubarak orders the army into Cairo. At first they are welcomed by the protestors but their role quickly becomes unclear. A half hour later the NDP party headquarters in Cairo is set on fire and the police disappear from the streets. Gunshots can be heard from my apartment and the occasional explosion means I'm not sleeping anytime soon. At midnight Mubarak makes his first appearence since it began and announces he is disolving his government but it is too little for the people of Egypt and they don't stop protesting and burning police stations. By now at least 200 people are injured and 10 are dead. It will get much worse soon.

January 29
Protests continue on a massive scale and the police are nowhere to be seen. The people are very friendly to the army and they seem to just be there as peacekeepers. The phone network is also reactivated but internet remains off. Curfew is announced for 4PM but again no one pays it any mind. Shortly after curfew Omar Suleiman is sworn in as Mubarak's vice president. This is the first time in his 30 year reign he's had a vice president. Smoke and gunshots spread around the city and looting becomes a major problem with the police absent.

Smoke rises above Cairo as the sunsets



Looters stole an ambulance and exchanged gun fire with our apartment building’s doorman shown here in my roomate's picture.

The people of Egypt set up roadblocks in their neighborhoods and armed themselves with whatever they could find including knives, hunting rifles, sticks, hatchets, swords, and dogs.

January 30

At midnight Armored Personel Carriers rolled through our neighborhood to the cheers of the men manning roadblocks.

It rained in the early morning and a red flare was shot into the sky. I have no idea why but at this point we didn't know anything about anything. I finally fell asleep despite gunshots around 4AM and at 7AM our program director woke us all up and told us to pack in case we were evacutated. The news reports thousands escaping from prison to reek havoc on the city. By noon the protestors have woken up and regrouped. At 2PM we finally find out that we are going to be evacuated to Greece and classes will be continued in either Jordan or Morroco. At 4PM curfew is again imposed and ignored. In an attempt to frighten the protestors fighter jets buzz the city and shake the windows of my apartment. Its rumored that Mubarak gave the army the order to fire live ammunition at the protestors but the army ignored it. My neighborhood refortifies for the night and gunshots are heard less than a block away at about 9PM.

Military helicopters also flew around most of the day

My neighbors set up a road block

January 31
We are woken up at 7AM again and after an unbearable wait for our escort to the airport we leave. At 11AM we finally arrive at the airport.

Tanks are everywhere on the streets on the way to the airport

After uncertainty if we would actually be able to take off we leave Egypt at 7PM, 12 hours after we woke up.

In subsequent posts I'll tell you about Athens and Jordan but I'm done for today. Thousands are injured and hundreds are dead but end may be in sight for the Egyptian people.