Day 5 (cont): The New Public Guard; Things fall apart...

6:00pm

The coordinators at UChicago are now 70% sure that we will evacuate to France tomorrow. They’re changing the flight to 3:45pm. Even if this is resolved soon, the country will not be functioning for a while. There are no banks. Banks and ATMs are being robbed. She said people are boarding and bricking up their shops in the streets there. We need to leave the country. Apparently the Public Guard mentality has not reached Dokki yet. At least they have tanks near to them (though honestly I feel safer here, away from downtown with guys in the street armed with sticks, than I would in Dokki with tanks in Dokki Square).

They are now certain that this is the end of Mubarak and there may soon be no government in Egypt.

I knew this was officially the end of Mubarak as soon as Egypt made headlines on CNN…

Tahrir Square is so packed with demonstrators that people can barely move. They all paused at maghrib to pray together in the street. They have continued to be admirably peaceful in their protest.

6:30pm

We are preparing to have our last resources cut off. We’ve been advised to fill bottles with water and get out candles and flashlights. We’re also leaving all the lights on outside so the men can see in the streets. They will be up all night protecting us from robbers.

The looters are everywhere downtown. They are robbing everything – they have stripped all the gold stores, a major department store called Karfur, the headquarters of Saudi Airlines, even the Children’s Cancer Hospital.

The head of security in Egypt (???) is advising everyone to arm and protect themselves and each other until they can send more troops to Cairo.

Apparently Zagazig does not have a curfew right now and the police are there and are actually protecting people. Stores are not being looted there.

Amu Ayman just found out from a neighbor that the skirmish we saw down the street earlier was actually people chasing down a robber that was looting a store down the block from us. They caught him and turned him over to the army. Rabbina ma’ana…

Talked to Taunt Nagwa and my cousin Osama. Both had tears in their voices. They are praying for Egypt. They are proud that I am here with the family to witness this. 

Day 5 (cont): DON'T MESS WITH EGYPTIANS!

5:00pm

I AM SO OVERJOYED!!!!! After the warning from the Army that civilians should protect themselves against the robbers looting the city, the young men of the neighborhood are outside guarding the houses! Better yet, all over the city Egyptians are working together to catch the robbers and turn them over to the army!! They have armed themselves with whatever they can find – pipes, sticks, baseball bats, hammers, wires, wood planks – I saw a guy climb up in a tree and start breaking off branches and handing them to people. My God, Egyptians are so resourceful and adaptive. And they will protect each other at all costs. GO EGYPTIANS!!! DON’T MESS WITH EGYPTIANS!!!! I called Mom and Dad again and told them not to worry, we are being protected by the Public Army.

Now I can relax. Everyone is safe, my friends are all safe and together and not about to try anything dumb, my family is safe, back-up plans are in place, and we are safe from the bandits in the streets with the young people of Egypt protecting us.

  

5:40pm

Everyone is watching the streets from their balconies and watching the men patrol the streets with the make-shift ammunition. We heard shouts and yells down the block and saw a lot of people running down the street at the end of the block, and noises that sounded like gunshots. Many of the men ran to the end of the block… a short while later the commotion calmed down. We don’t know what happened, but everything’s fine.

Two screens on the TV right now: To the left, a man standing on top of an army tank, dancing and waving an Egyptian flag (with a soldier behind him gently trying to calm him down); To the right, ten or so protesters riding on an army tank with soldiers through the street. Unreal...

Day 5 (cont): Resigned to evacuation...

(Now that I'm back in town and with regular internet access, I can resume...)

Saturday, January 29, 2011 (continued)

3:30pm

The situation is getting worse. Many stores have been looted and trashed. This is not the work of the protesters – this is the doing of thieves and criminals set loose on the city. There is broken glass and debris in the streets everywhere downtown Cairo. People have poured into the streets in numbers even greater than yesterday. So far the army isn’t doing anything but supposedly they will be very firm about enforcing the curfew.

4:00pm

Talked to Mom and Dad again. Informed them of the contingency plan, that the UChicago group will be evacuated if the situation gets any worse. They were very pleased and relieved, especially that I agree that the best thing at this point is to leave the country and Dad doesn’t have to convince me himself. They will update my facebook and e-mail again, letting people know they can now reach me by cell. They are so glad I’m here.

I’ve pretty much resigned myself to notion that I’ll probably be in France tomorrow.