Run Fail.

So there I was, about to go out for a much needed run in the desert to help cleanse my head and I get a phone call from work. The phone call pretty much says everyone living in Maadi is being told to take the early ride home, stay home, and stay put. Dangit, what to do. At first we think about ignoring it, because if we had received the phone call 15 minutes later we would have already been in the desert.

But then about 5 minutes later a follow up phone call: a police officer may have shot and killed someone in Maadi. Hrm.. that probably isn't going to play out well. So we bailed and went home. A quick hunt on google turns this up. It's impressive how fast news gets around here. I'm not quite sure when the video was taken, but comments have only been going for an hour.  Twitter is all over it and it's already on Ahram (an Egyptian paper). The other scary thing is a buddy & I had just gone running through this very circle yesterday morning around 6:30am.

When I went by CAC to meet up with some runners there were tons of people out painting the sidewalks. They even had a big pile of brooms and looked like they were organizing to clean up the neighborhood. Did they already know about this and not care?  If they don't know about it, what will happen? Maybe it'll be nothing. Maybe it'll be something. Who knows.

Ugh. I was really looking forward to going for a run today.

Settling Into a New Cairo Norm

Egypt has taken a back seat to many other protests and governmental crises throughout North Africa and the Middle East. In particular the limited news coming out of Tripoli makes me extremely glad that we were in Egypt for this whole thing. I think we all decided to evacuate because we were concerned that the tragedies that are unfolding in Tripoli could have happened here if President Mubarak decided to hold on to power harder. But families were able to evac via plane in relative smoothness. (Getting 2300 people out on a dozen or so chartered jets in 36 hours will never be smooth, but I think Meg will agree it was reasonable.)

Tripoli has a much smaller population of Americans to evacuate, but the number of foreigners there (Egyptians have a HUGE expat population that are fleeing), the limited resources that were already there and are now further complicated have made it harder to get out. (The first efforts to get people onto commercial flights didn't work.) Now, toss in weather and the people staged and ready to get onto a ferry to cross the Mediterranean are told they can't leave because of the 5m swells. All this while the violence continues to escalate. I'm not entirely sure how bad the news in Egypt sounded to the external world, but from my external location in Egypt it sounds like Tripoli is already in a significantly worse condition with a dictator who is borderline (?) insane.

3 weeks ago I would have had a hard time saying it, but we should all count our blessings that we were in Egypt and not someplace else while these historical events unfolded in North Africa.

Here in Egypt, we are settling into what I'm calling the "New Cairo Norm". (Telemark lovers will catch the reference. :) ) Things are not stable here, but they are calmer. There were reports on NPR yesterday about a fire at a Ministry of Interior building, and there are labor protests that seem to be sporadic and widespread. There are still regular calls for protests in Tahrir square, during the week they remain small, but on the weekends they seem to spike. Generally they are very peaceful and very calm. Maybe they'll be tolerated, maybe the government will eventually get tired of them and say their negative impact on Egyptian tourism needs to end. Time will tell.

The Egyptian economy and its tie to security continues to be a concern for me. Banks are back to work now after about a week of protests. (This is a pretty big issue if people can't get money to pay for food or employees.) The Egyptian stock market has been closed for the last month and won't reopen fearing money laundering of blacklisted foreign ministers. This is probably the truth, but it has the convenient side effect of keeping the exchange rate fixed during this crisis. As soon as it reopens what happens? Since they've cleared a good chunk of the unsettled times and Egypt is now off the front page, maybe they won't see the value plummet as bad, but inflation could still be a problem lurking in the future. Couple in the widespread unrest throughout the region and the worldwide economic crisis that has just started to recover and I wonder how much foreign aid will come into the region. If it does come in, from whom? China? Iran? Ultimately, the real economic impact will not be felt for quite some time.

But personally, we are settling in for the long haul. We are now on a 5 days / week work schedule and hours have returned to a more normal number. This is largely enforced by the restrictive transportation issues -- I'm only allowed to go to/from work via an Embassy van, of which there is only one departure time in the morning and 2 in the evening (an 8 hour day or a 10 ish hour day.) Neighborhood security seems to be reasonable, but our policy is that we're not supposed to be moving after dark. If you consider when I get home from work, that ultimately means I'm either stuck at home or stuck at work other than on days off. Finally, the curfew (midnight - 6am) is keeping the Golds Gym from opening until 7:30am. (Have to wait for employees to get the place ready.)

I've started taking Thursdays off as part of my weekend so I can run with some teachers in the desert. It is also a day I can hit the gym and do a double session. On days when the van permits it, I've started running before I go to work which is a nice change. I'm going to try to make a bigger effort in waking up early and getting on the bike trainer before I go to work. Hopefully as things get more stable, the movement policies will become less restrictive and I'll be able to get some more outdoors time. At the moment, I feel like I got to the gym and outdoors more in my time in Baghdad, but I'm working on fixing that.

One day at a time. Things will get better and I'll be that closer to Meg's eventual return.

Videos from Athens

The following video was taken of riot police positioned in front of the Egyptian Embassy to Athens. They were preparing for a local transportation workers strike.

This video shows the view as you approach the entrance to the Acropolis grounds:

This is a view of Zeus's Temple from the Acropolis followed by a pan of the surrounding city:

This Amphitheater was just below the Acropolis, I didn't see what it was called:

A view of a city street in Athens as we walked to lunch:

Athens in a Day

This post is a bit late, but during the evacuation form Cairo our first stop was Athens, Greece. We landed in the Athens airport around 4:30 am and arrived at our hotel downtown around 8:00 am. After 1 hour of quiet time in our rooms and a fabulous hotel breakfast we decided to take advantage of our day in Athens and get out to see some sites.

From our hotel we could walk to the Acropolis. Fortunately the family I was traveling with had been to Athens the previous year for a vacation and were able to remember how to walk to these places. Along the walk we passed by the Egyptian Embassy to Greece as well as a labor strike that was going on that day. Coincidentally the riot police were lined up across the street in front of the Egyptian Embassy. We found it hilarious, in a dark sort of way.

After walking up to and around the Acropolis we headed back into town for a big lunch of Souvlaki, Tzatziki, pita and salad. The mom & SIS (Stand In Spouse) had a beer. Delicious!

"Sorry for the inconvenience, but we're building Egypt."

I have been following the Twitter feed on the BBC website dedicated to therevolution in Egypt. What I appreciate about this feed is that itbringstogether the opinions and ideas of people from all walks of life. Political leaders, journalists, university students and poor citizens are all posting. Some from other countries, some from inside the crowds in Tahrir Square. this morning I found the following posts, which made me pause:

1030: The BBC's Paul Danahar is observing the clean-up in Tahrir Square: "The infrastructure of the revolution is being quickly dismantled," he says. "The angry young men who led this revolution seemed to have been replaced by their mums who are now cleaning up the mess. This is the first revolution I've covered when the people cleaned up after themselves. Perhaps the mark of a people who spawned one of the world's oldest and greatest civilizations."

1055: There's a sense of humor among those still in Tahrir Square this morning. According to the AP some are wearing placards bearing the slogan: "Sorry for the inconvenience, but we're building Egypt."

As for my personal response, I was overwhelmed with emotion yesterday. A

fter a deflating speech by Mubarak the night before when he said (I think) that he was not going to resign the office of the presidency I felt as though he had just flipped the bird to his entire country, not to mention stamp my travel orders for at least 6 more months in the U.S.

Then, the following morning, the news came that Mubarak had resigned the office of the presidency and turned control over to the military high council. I was brimming with pride in the Egyptian people. I felt the swell of nationalistic pride, even though I am not Egyptian. I wanted an Egyptian flag. I wanted to run around in the Buffalo snow and shout, "Allahu akbar!" I was amazed.

I felt as though I could finally let out the breath I had been holding since January 27th...only to hold the next breath I took. Now we hold our breath as we hope that the players who bubble up will bring wisdom, empathy, selflessness and a long-range vision to the table. We hold our breath to see what will develop this week, this month and in the long days ahead. This is far from over.

Obama’s Remarks on the Resignation of Mubarak

I have chosen to copy the text of President Obama's remarks this afternoon into our blog because I know that we will print and bind this blog into a book at the end of our tour, as we did with Georgia. As I listened to these remarks this afternoon I thought that the president captured the significance of this revolution and I wanted to record it for our memory.

Good afternoon, everybody. There are very few moments in our lives where we have the privilege to witness history taking place. This is one of those moments. This is one of those times. The people of Egypt have spoken, their voices have been heard, and Egypt will never be the same.

By stepping down, President Mubarak responded to the Egyptian people's hunger for change. But this is not the end of Egypt's transition. It's a beginning. I'm sure there will be difficult days ahead, and many questions remain unanswered. But I am confident that the people of Egypt can find the answers, and do so peacefully, constructively, and in the spirit of unity that has defined these last few weeks. For Egyptians have made it clear that nothing less than genuine democracy will carry the day.

The military has served patriotically and responsibly as a caretaker to the state, and will now have to ensure a transition that is credible in the eyes of the Egyptian people. That means protecting the rights of Egypt's citizens, lifting the emergency law, revising the constitution and other laws to make this change irreversible, and laying out a clear path to elections that are fair and free. Above all, this transition must bring all of Egypt's voices to the table. For the spirit of peaceful protest and perseverance that the Egyptian people have shown can serve as a powerful wind at the back of this change.

The United States will continue to be a friend and partner to Egypt. We stand ready to provide whatever assistance is necessary -- and asked for -- to pursue a credible transition to a democracy. I'm also confident that the same ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that the young people of Egypt have shown in recent days can be harnessed to create new opportunity -- jobs and businesses that allow the extraordinary potential of this generation to take flight. And I know that a democratic Egypt can advance its role of responsible leadership not only in the region but around the world.

Egypt has played a pivotal role in human history for over 6,000 years. But over the last few weeks, the wheel of history turned at a blinding pace as the Egyptian people demanded their universal rights.

We saw mothers and fathers carrying their children on their shoulders to show them what true freedom might look like.

We saw a young Egyptian say, "For the first time in my life, I really count. My voice is heard. Even though I'm only one person, this is the way real democracy works."

We saw protesters chant "Selmiyya, selmiyya" -- "We are peaceful" -- again and again.

We saw a military that would not fire bullets at the people they were sworn to protect.

And we saw doctors and nurses rushing into the streets to care for those who were wounded, volunteers checking protesters to ensure that they were unarmed.

We saw people of faith praying together and chanting – "Muslims, Christians, We are one." And though we know that the strains between faiths still divide too many in this world and no single event will close that chasm immediately, these scenes remind us that we need not be defined by our differences. We can be defined by the common humanity that we share.

And above all, we saw a new generation emerge -- a generation that uses their own creativity and talent and technology to call for a government that represented their hopes and not their fears; a government that is responsive to their boundless aspirations. One Egyptian put it simply: Most people have discovered in the last few days…that they are worth something, and this cannot be taken away from them anymore, ever.

This is the power of human dignity, and it can never be denied. Egyptians have inspired us, and they've done so by putting the lie to the idea that justice is best gained through violence. For in Egypt, it was the moral force of nonviolence -- not terrorism, not mindless killing -- but nonviolence, moral force that bent the arc of history toward justice once more.

And while the sights and sounds that we heard were entirely Egyptian, we can't help but hear the echoes of history -- echoes from Germans tearing down a wall, Indonesian students taking to the streets, Gandhi leading his people down the path of justice.

As Martin Luther King said in celebrating the birth of a new nation in Ghana while trying to perfect his own, "There is something in the soul that cries out for freedom." Those were the cries that came from Tahrir Square, and the entire world has taken note.

Today belongs to the people of Egypt, and the American people are moved by these scenes in Cairo and across Egypt because of who we are as a people and the kind of world that we want our children to grow up in.

The word Tahrir means liberation. It is a word that speaks to that something in our souls that cries out for freedom. And forevermore it will remind us of the Egyptian people -- of what they did, of the things that they stood for, and how they changed their country, and in doing so changed the world.

Thank you.

"This is what freedom sounds like"

"In the name of God the merciful, the compassionate, citizens, during these very difficult circumstances Egypt is going through, President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak has decided to step down from the office of president of the republic and has charged the high council of the armed forces to administer the affairs of the country.

May God help everybody."

-Vice President Omar Suleiman

Protestors pray among the tanks

Do I stay or do I go now?

On January 30th we made the difficult decision for me to leave Cairo. It was difficult for several reasons:

1. We both know that the decision to move to an authorized, and now ordered, departure status is a complicated and expensive one for the government. But the decision to lift this status and allow those who left to return is even more complicated and delicate, therefore taking longer. We wont be allowed back until the government is sure they can provide for our safety, including food, water and other basic life essentials. They can't afford to evacuate us again.
2. Cairo is our home. Our life is in Cairo, my husband, our friends, our jobs...our life. I am profoundly grateful for the love and support from all of our friends and family in the U.S. You guys know how much you mean to us and feeling the wagons circle around us is phenomenal. I am so lucky that I have an amazing family and group of friends who have all offered us endless support. Even with all of that, it is still hard to leave our life together.
3. My school had not closed by the time I made the decision to leave. I know that may seem like a small matter from the clear light of day, but leaving my colleagues and friends behind who were at the mercy of the school was incredibly difficult. At times like this you draw back to your core group. There are a group of us who have become quite close since we all started this school year off together as newbies. Being separated from them and knowing that they were still waiting for school to make a call felt wrong.
4. Looking out of our apartment window, things didn't seem that bad. I know when I describe the boabs (doormen) and other men in the neighborhood patrolling our street with clubs & crowbars, military tanks rolling in and occasional gun fire at the end of our street you will think I am crazy for saying it "wasn't that bad". I suppose that one's mind compartmentalizes these things and compares them to the events taking place in Tahrir Sq. and ranks them. All I can say is that I felt safe in my apartment. It's tough to leave, knowing the ramifications of that decisions, when you look out your window and see this:
   

In the end, I left the call to Seth. I trust him completely and I know that he has information I don't have. No matter what other rumors are milling about, when he says "Go." I go. This isn't about what I want. This is about what is the best decision for our team: him and I.

Two days later it turns out we made the right decision as the embassy went to an ordered departure, which means I would have had no choice. By leaving when I did I made the entire trip with my dear friends and their children rather than alone with thousands of strangers. Good call Seth.

You know your protests have made it when....

... Anderson Cooper, BrianWilliams and most of the top news personalities are reporting live from your location.

The protests appear to have taken a violent turn, which is not a good sign.  Meg departed when we went to an Authorized departure, but we are now at an ordered departure. Meg is about to touch down in Washington, DC in a few hours. Her arrival in NY may depend on whether or not the snow allows her plane to take off.

I'm here for the duration. For the moment, my neighborhood is fine. It seems to be much calmer and safer at my apartment building than earlier in the week. Depending on how things unfold, I don't think I'm as worried about looting as we were earlier. Life support issues (food, water, etc) remain a concern for the population, so I'm glad Meg has departed. Work has a lot of systems in place to support that, so it's not that big of a deal for me.

Working hard and little sleep has got me pretty sick. Hopefully things will stabilize a bit this week.