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to Asda) on the Friday morning and stocked up on tinned goods and pasta, and the day before we had been to the bank and withdrawn all the money in my account so we were fine for money and food.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 . . . .

Merry Christmas

Christmas Soiree

Wednesday 15th December me and baby bass spent the day in the theatre rehearsing for the show in the evening. Act after act trundled through to practise their performance for that evening.

The acts were of variable quality but all of them performed with gusto and the parents were equally enthusiastic so quality was not an issue. Maddy played her clarinet (it is now back in it’s case) and sang with her friends, I sat with the band and played bass.

Christmas Pageant

Friday 11th December 7:00 pm

The exciting part of going to an American Church is you never know when it’s going to be a bit over the top. This was one of those evenings!

The nativity story with singing, dancing (sort of), a donkey and 3 camels complete with 3 wise men. If you were looking for an accurate portrayal of the Christmas story, this was not the place to be. If you wanted a good night out at an amateur production then this was the place to be.

Oh and there was a real baby as well!

Joseph

Herod, Caesar and wife. The guy in the suit on the right is Mark Jaffrey, musical director for the church. I’m sure I recognise his name!

one camel

no Three camels complete with animal handlers. You got to sit on the camels outside afterwards if you wanted to. The paler the coat the better the quality of camel.

Shepherds and angels

Real baby!

72 hours in Dahab

Due to the school being close for the election we came to Dahab for the weekend. There were 6 of us on the ‘trip’, Hannah, who arranged everything for us – a mini bus from school and a cheap hotel in Dahab, and Amanda and her bloke. It takes 7 hours to get here by mini bus, for those of you with maps Dahab is on the right hand side of Sinai about halfway up the Gulf of Arabia coast line.We can see Saudi Arabia as we walk along the main tourist street by the sea.

There wasn’t a lot to see as we drove here, desert mainly and we drove under the Suez Canal. There are about 6 check points to drive through but we had no problems at any of them on the way here. The most memorable moment was the bathroom stop! See picture! I hadn’t taken my camera in with me so these are from my phone.

Dahab is a quiet resort by the sea aimed at divers. All the restaurants are open to the elements and some are even Bedouin in style in that you take your shoes off and sit on the floor round the tables. The tables are candle lit by placing sand in a cut down 2l water bottle and then sticking a candle in it!

We stayed bed and breakfast at the Dahab Plaza – the restaurant wasn’t at the hotel, we walked down to the sea front and ate at ‘Same Same’, which is owned by the same man (Emad). So we could watch the sea (and Saudi) while we ate. Maddy’s favourite meal of the weekend was a ‘thick shake’, basically a glass full of ice cream!

So what do you do here? There are a number of trips you can book onto, but haggle the price down with the locals. They will take you as far as Petra (Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail) or up Mount Sinai to see the sunrise and St Katherine’s Monastery (where the burning bush is). As it was our first trip we stuck to the simple tourist activities.Sitting in bars, snorkelling, a horse ride to the Blue Lagoon and some quad biking in the desert. Quite enough for 2 days! We spent our last morning chilling by the pool.