Okay okay okay I know it has been a long time since my last post and I am sorry. I will try to be better in the upcoming months but the last few weeks have been busy.......... (I am lazy).
In this post I am going to explain my views and experiences of the revolution in Egypt. I want to avoid getting political with any of the issues I just want to tell the story from my point of view.
Anyways I was at work on Wednesday January 25th 2011 and we heard about some riots going on in Cairo. At the time I didn't think anything of it and didn't really start paying attention to it until a few days later. We had a three day weekend because of the Police Day so I went golfing one day and hung out at my deserted beach the other two. Saturday afternoon my boss comes over to my place and tells me that work is cancelled for tomorrow because of the riots. I knew things were starting to escalate because they had non stop news coverage of what was going on in Cairo and facebook was blocked in Egypt. So not a couple hours later I get a call from my boss and asks me where in the world I want to hide out for a few weeks until this stuff blows over. Now I know what you are thinking if someone offered you a free trip to anywhere in the world going back home wouldn't be your first choice. Well I was afraid of the wrath of my mother if I wouldn't have come home immediately after something like this occurred. So I told them to send me back home until this blows over. So initially the plan was to fly out that day and then return when things are safe. The problem was that there is really only one place to fly out of in Egypt and that is in Cairo. At that time the airports were one of the worst places to be and chances of getting a flight out of the country in the next 48 hours were slim. So they made the decision to keep us in our current location for the time being. I was located in a place called Marina. Marina is a guarded compound that has thousands of villas in it located on the Mediterrian about an hour west of Alexandria. So I was a safe distance away from the riots.
The next few days were very very boring!! No internet, no long distance calling, and only 2 or 3 english speaking channels on the TV. We couldn't leave the compound because it was to dangerous. I didn't have any books and ran out of movies to watch so the days were very long. Although I was very lucky to be where I was. A lot of Egyptian people that I work with live in Cairo. Most families own and live in apartments in Cairo. The men in each apartment complex would all meet on the ground floor with bats, knives, or whatever they could get their hands on and stayed there all night protecting their families from protestors breaking in and stealing things. Fortuantly everyone I work with made it back to work safely.
I promise to post the rest tomorrow........
In this post I am going to explain my views and experiences of the revolution in Egypt. I want to avoid getting political with any of the issues I just want to tell the story from my point of view.
Anyways I was at work on Wednesday January 25th 2011 and we heard about some riots going on in Cairo. At the time I didn't think anything of it and didn't really start paying attention to it until a few days later. We had a three day weekend because of the Police Day so I went golfing one day and hung out at my deserted beach the other two. Saturday afternoon my boss comes over to my place and tells me that work is cancelled for tomorrow because of the riots. I knew things were starting to escalate because they had non stop news coverage of what was going on in Cairo and facebook was blocked in Egypt. So not a couple hours later I get a call from my boss and asks me where in the world I want to hide out for a few weeks until this stuff blows over. Now I know what you are thinking if someone offered you a free trip to anywhere in the world going back home wouldn't be your first choice. Well I was afraid of the wrath of my mother if I wouldn't have come home immediately after something like this occurred. So I told them to send me back home until this blows over. So initially the plan was to fly out that day and then return when things are safe. The problem was that there is really only one place to fly out of in Egypt and that is in Cairo. At that time the airports were one of the worst places to be and chances of getting a flight out of the country in the next 48 hours were slim. So they made the decision to keep us in our current location for the time being. I was located in a place called Marina. Marina is a guarded compound that has thousands of villas in it located on the Mediterrian about an hour west of Alexandria. So I was a safe distance away from the riots.
The next few days were very very boring!! No internet, no long distance calling, and only 2 or 3 english speaking channels on the TV. We couldn't leave the compound because it was to dangerous. I didn't have any books and ran out of movies to watch so the days were very long. Although I was very lucky to be where I was. A lot of Egyptian people that I work with live in Cairo. Most families own and live in apartments in Cairo. The men in each apartment complex would all meet on the ground floor with bats, knives, or whatever they could get their hands on and stayed there all night protecting their families from protestors breaking in and stealing things. Fortuantly everyone I work with made it back to work safely.
I promise to post the rest tomorrow........
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