Monday 7th February

Phil, my ‘little’ brother

I’ve just realised it was Phil’s birthday yesterday, so happy birthday! No you won’t be getting an E card.

There, with that out of the way I can tell you how non eventful today actually was. Geoff and I were soooo lazy we didn’t get up until gone 10 and then quickly popped across to the shop to grab some bread and tuna for the Home group lunch we were having at Liz’s after the prayer meeting. Their gas bottle has run out so there wasn’t  any chance of anything hot apart from the delicious bread Liz had made in her bread maker. By the time we got back from the shop Brian was waiting outside to collect me and the guitar so I grabbed what I needed and went.

The prayer meetings are still going strong and today the worship leader turned up, which was good as I think plan B was I was playing! I got back from home group at about 4pm and have decided to start on the next module of work for year 7, I am trying to give the various topic areas a ‘Pam touch’ and a functional maths project to go with them. I may be wasting my time if the new UK government decide that functional maths is no longer  the focus and it truly wants to go back to rote learning, but the kids in year 7 enjoy it so I will probably keep it in as we are not so tied to the curriculum here.

The queue at the bank was big this morning and Ruth tells me she could only take out 2000 LE when she went. By the time I got back this afternoon it had died down to maybe half a dozen people so we may try to access Geoff’s money tomorrow as his dongle (the thing you stick in your laptop to connect to the internet via Vodafone) has stopped working even though he has unlimited download and it isn’t due to be topped up (they say recharge here) until the 15th. We would access it via the landline but the last tenant didn’t pay the bill so the phone company want a letter from the landlord saying he will act as guarantor, easier said than done!

More tomorrow . . . . 

Sunday 6th February

 

I thought I’d do a day by day update until i go back to school, so here is what today has brought.

When they say the banks are open it means queue at a cash machine and they will work until the money runs out, at least that’s what’s happened at the HSBC at the Grand Mall. We were fortunate (or God timed it well for us) in that I had emptied my account on Thursday the 27th after school and have had no need to worry, we even managed to pay the January rent when Mohamed came to collect it.

Shops are definitely coming back to life, we wandered around the Grand Mall this afternoon to see many shops (clothes mainly) opening and others putting their stock back. So it looks like life will carry on around the protests.

Taxis are back on the streets in force honking their horns at you to see if you need a lift.

Maadi Grand Mall – 5 floors of shops, a little like the Prospect Centre in Hull.

We are still meeting on a daily basis at the Church to pray and Geoff is still escorting me there and back. The uniformed police were back outside the church today, on Saturday it was just 3 of the non-uniformed (secret) police, you can tell who they are from the side-arms they carry. It is nice to see them back, another sign things are returning to normal. Foreigners are considered honoured guests in Egypt and although it may seem strange to have police outside the church it is part of looking after their guests and keeping them safe.

Keep up the prays please, they are really working. The church has put out the following pray requests:

• Praise the Lord for the relative safety of the last couple days here in Cairo
• Pray for Egypt. Pray that the Lord will work His perfect plan for this country.
• Pray the the Lord will do His work within each one of us individually - that we will all grow closer to Him during this time.
• Pray for the MCC council and staff as we seek the Lord's guidance in light of the recent events.
• Pray that the Lord will meet our needs as we go through a time of a significantly smaller church.
• Pray for many of our church family who are traveling to/from Egypt.

More tomorrow . . . . . . . .

Saturday 5th February

 

Thank God yesterdays protest was peaceful! Egyptians are much encouraged by this fact and life is trying to return normal. Geoff and Maddy walked to Road 9 while I was at church and reported back that the book shops were open and so was Pizza Hut. It was on the BBC news that the banks are due to reopen tomorrow so I guess I’ll be back to school soon.

Just to see if this return to normal was happening over at the Grand Mall we popped across to find the cake shop was open. Hurrah it was, so we had cake ( a little Marie Antoinette given the circumstances but Hey! . . ). 

Tomorrow we are going to look and see if McDonalds is open!

School have asked us to put work on the OLE (Online Learning Environment), so I’ve left some work on there for the classes I teach, they will be so happy. At present our return date is 13th Feb, with one day off for the prophet’s birthday, and the week after should be half term. It will be interesting to see if we get the break as many staff have booked to go away.

Friday 4th February

We set off for the church this morning for a 12 noon service only to find that due to the expected unrest today the police had advised that it should be postponed until tomorrow, so we carried on to Road 9 to the Metro (a shop not a place to catch trains) to buy food. Not that we don’t have any, but it’s nice to keep topped up with bread, fruit and veg. All of which are in the shops at the moment.

On the way we walked through Port Siad Square (more of a roundabout than a square) where there is police station and took the tank photo on my phone. Listening to the problems some journalists are having with their equipment I am not keen on taking out my proper camera, so you are stuck with this at the moment.

There is a police station here and the tanks (4) and 2 armoured personal carriers are looking after it. It was nice to see the police again, their presence on the streets is sadly lacking. Occasionally they drive past in their vans, but they are generally out of sight. Before the protests there would be 2 or 3 outside the embassies as we walked around, but they are not there any more!

So we are sat waiting (watching the BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera and the inflammatory Iranian Press TV), listening to the army helicopter flying overhead, to see what will happen in Tahrir Square and the impact it will have . . . . .

An interesting time in Cairo!

 

Tuesday 25th January was Police day and a day off school, this was when the first organised protest started. After this they arranged to meet on Friday after prays, from there the protests have gone from strength to strength. They are calling for President Mubarak to resign after 30 years in power because they are fed up with the corruption, poverty  and unemployment.

Shops, banks, phones and the internet have all been closed over the past week. What did we do before mobile phones and the internet? We have shopped where and when we can, stocking up on basics. We had managed to shop at Carrefour (equivalent to Asda) on the Friday morning and stocked up on tinned goods and pasta, and the day before we had been to the bank and withdrawn all the money in my account so we were fine for money and food. As other shops have opened and closed we have picked up other bits and bobs and loo rolls (when these run out we are on the next flight out of here). The Grand Mall is closed and protected by the shop keepers from looters. They sit at the entrance and stop any looting. They have also painted some of the windows white.

At the end of the streets the doormen and some of the residents have put roadblocks up to deter the looters, this is all very good natured, even the ones that check your cars and adds to a secure feeling within the community.

The other impact on day to day life has been the curfew than came into effect on Friday the 28th. I was sat at church at the time when they announced there was a 6pm to 8 am curfew being put into place, as it was 5:50pm at the time I walked very quickly. Geoff and I had been discussing what the next moves might be on the way down to church and this was one of the options we had come up with! (Sorry to disappoint you Nick, but he walks me there and then comes back and picks me up afterwards, he did wait outside once but the police asked him to move on!). The protestors ignored this curfew so it was brought forward to 4pm and then 3 pm and they still ignored it. Thankfully, today (Wednesday 2nd), it has moved once again this time to 5pm.

We can also hear the sound of the army helicopter circling the city, reminiscent of being on Bransholme, and gunshots during the curfew. When the F16’s flew over the protestors we heard that too as we were in their turning circle.

Yesterday Maadi Community Church started a daily pray meeting at 12 noon, which Geoff escorts me too and then waits until it finishes to walk me back! We went to a school meeting first today where the Director gave his opinion on what was happening and added some background to the characters involved in the political changes that are happening. He also came with some money for those people that needed some.

Today the internet has been restored, thank you to everyone who sent a message, I think I’ve managed to reply to you all now. Some of the banks are now open and shops are restocking their shelves with local goods. The protestors are still in the square and are planning for another day of protests on Friday. we shall have to wait and see what happens then.

Please pray for calm during this time of transition, the safety of all God’s children out here and that He will be glorified in all that happens.

It’s messy but His hand is in everything.

It happened this January

The first exciting thing was Geoff got a job! He now has a contract starting in September with MESC (Modern English School Cairo) and, as a member of staff didn’t come back after Christmas he is there already! He is teaching science and psychology  in the American section, which makes it a bit more of a challenge for him! The not so exciting side to this is I now have to help with the house work again, cooking, washing, ironing . . . . . it never seems to end.

The other interesting thing was a thunderstorm with real rain and thunder! It was at this point we realised we might needs coats!

Alison and Ryan Visit Cairo

 

Christmas isn’t a big thing over here, only 10% of the population celebrate on January 7th so we had a quiet time and a roast beef lunch, we saved the turkey for Alison and Ryan’s visit.

They turned up in the early hours at terminal 1 in Cairo airport, but we had gone to terminal 3 as that’s where we came into the country. Luckily we had enough spare time to chase round and find the right place before they made it through the gate! Then back to the apartment to sleep.

Where do you take people in Cairo on New Years Eve? McDonalds of course!

We also went to the pyramids, Coptic Cairo, across to the mall, . . Alison and Ryan also went to City Stars to see ‘Due Date’ and wander round the shops as well as a Nile dinner cruise with belly dancing.

In between all that they popped across to the Red Sea and stayed there with Geoff and Maddy for 3 days.

Anyway some pictures . . . .