Cairo Traffic: An observation

I have a question, every friday I go to my father on the Cairo-Fayoum Road, and have to my way home on the ring road via the Mehwar. The intersection was always a nightmare and I used to have to plan ahead about how to tackle this intersection, or rather avoid it all together. If I got caught on the wrong side of the intersection it could mean about 45-60 mins of waiting at this junction. A true nightmare, and it didn't make a difference what time I started my journey home, I would always meet the same problem (unless I waited to midnigth or so, I think)

Amazingly every since the 28th January my drive back to Mohandseen has been different, arriving at the junction it always seems to be empty and the traffic is flowing well through it. I honestly totally forgot the sight of cars lined up for a distance on the ring road waiting to merge.The first few weeks I reverted this to the curfew and the stress and fear that people had making them less mobile around town. However lately the curfew has been pushed out and people didn`t really bother much about it, nonetheless the junction remains to be clear at different hours of the evening. It is really baffling me, how come the problem just dissappeared?

The only difference I could make out is the Police men at the junction and a little further in Lebanon square, or rather the lack of them is more correct. Is it the notion that they always needed to have lebanon street under control becuase of Habib Eladly, ex-minister of interior? no clue but hope that if the policemen are the reason for all the delays that were at this junction that they pay them double to stay at home :) and make sure they stay put.

Tahrir Square March 17th Where is everybody

I had to go to GardenCity in Downtown Cairo today, and after finishing the things I had to do I was thinking what was the best way to go back to Dokki, and for some reason as soon as I was in Kasr Eleiny street I found myself walking towards Tahrir square. I saw a few people demonstrating in front of the prime minister’s office, didn’t know what they were asking for and my curiosity to know was faint at best. I kept on walking towards Tahrir square to that the subway.

In Tahrir square this afternoon it felt pretty different, I was a passer-by not a demonstrator and revolution seeking individual for a change. Amazingly I was hard for me to remember when I was last there and was extremely surprised that I last there briefly almost 2 weeks ago (I refused the call for going last Friday and thought it was not called for what so ever) and despite that it was such a small period of time the feeling was totally different.

I have to say that my feeling of Nostalgia for the days from Jan 25th till the March 3rd, and I really miss them with all the happiness, fear, sadness, anger, and pride. The memories came quick (after all it is still only 7 weeks since it all started despite that it feels like a decade), and I hope that the realities of Egypt in the next years would make me feel happiness and pride whenever I popped into the square.

Where was all the people that were here, the tents, the discussions the chants the energy the spirit of all the people of Egypt that lived settled in the square during the revolution. It felt different, street vendors were lined up where they used too before selling all kinds of different stuff (most from China, as a matter of fact even passed a Chinese young lady selling stuff on the side walk), shoe cleaners, food vendors all the usual stuff. Traffic was flowing in the square, which is something I forgot how it looks for a long time when the square was one small continent (not even a country) with a lot of different people unified for a common good.

My eye was quick to notice from a distanse that KFC was back in business, amazing that he didn't change the colonial’s image to a more familiar Egyptianized version. Saw them renovating Hardees (Sabry you can use it as a landmark again) the shops selling bags were all setup, ticket offices were open and “Z” was in business. However, it didn’t feel the same, didn’t get the feeling it was as busy as before and definitely look at a different scene than the one I saw day in and day out in Tahrir where this was the headquarters of PR, entertainment, medical support and many other things. Shops were open and life was coming back.

I stepped into the subway to cross from the Mogama3 to the corner of Talat Harb street to buy a flag (lost the "good" flag that I had in the revolution so thought I would pick one up). The flags of the world is located on the corner building and was close to all the action. The building looked its same old image and the office was just the same as I saw it 5-6 years earlier when I bought the flag to show my pride to be an Egyptian. Talked with the owner and he mentioned stories about things that happened to the store and the flags that got stolen from his shop and on the mast he has, and how he had to protect the store in different days from even silly vandalism. It was a reality check that within all the love, good manners and fascinating environment in the square, there were real people, who span a huge variety of different values and ethics. The guy also mentioned that a lot of people asked him for the old flag and that one customer gave him an order for 1000 small flags from the days of the king.

Went back into the subway, this time to go back to Dokki and again felt an itch inside, looking at the faces of people they looked different, a spectrum of people that seemed to go their own way, going on with their lives. A different scene from the subway in the first weeks of Feb, where the people seemed to be going in waves all with a similar purpose and the types of people were different.

It really felt odd, not sure if this strange feeling would hit me every time that I go to Tahrir, not sure what it would feel to go to the corner of Ramsis and Abdelkhalek Tahrwat st. again, only time will tell...

حس الفكاهة فى لبثورة المصرية

This is a well done documentary about the true spirit of Egyptian Humour, even in a revolution

Time to build

I have been debating with a few friends about what to do now, and I believe that we need to be proactive and work ahead of the system. If we wait things would go back to what they were a few weeks ago. In many circles, people need to work to come with strategies and ideas that would help this country rebuild. This needs enlightened people to find one another and start to produce leadership that can take this country forward.

So let us start building pro-actively, and forget about the politics for the time-being it will happen on it's own.

Comment on Communique #5

I watched the announcement of the 5th communiqué of the Military council,



a friend asked me about my opinion about it and here it is:

I believe that things are evolving well, and that we need to be patient with the remaining two demands,

1. Release the political detainees
2. Getting a strong/ trustworthy intern government.

Remember that with all the crap that was on the surface for so long finding good trustworthy people is hard. Try to come up with a name for MCIT for example, and finding it is not that easy. Also with the chaos the detainees could be with the police, secret police, army or thugs, and finding the good from the bad would take some time.

The third request is to follow and prosecute corruption which will be left to the people who now want to associate with the revolution and were pro-Mubarak to the limit. They will try to pull out things about corruption and that can be used to follow and identify all what was happening. Just need to keep track of them, although some would get away with it and manage to go with the flow.

Another two demands that I believe are called for is that Police is and remains a civil job, so obligatory service (Tagneed) in the police should stop. Also the "Amnn Eldawlaah and Am Elmarkazy" should end, and the regular police should handle this and get control of it.

I think we need to give time, and be proactive. Pro-activity here to make sure that we establish things within our own space so that it becomes a fact in 6 month, and that it would be hard to change. This includes some limited politics (like getting the syndicates up and running, and political parties) and the community and social work to start flowing to make a significant change. The later is more important because I agree with a friend that everyone in Egypt will be apolitical junky in the next few month, and those who want the best to this country will not look behind but will look forward and be "DOERS"

Just one final note, and it is not meant to be a negative at this stage. I think the Magless elgesh is listening to the USA, and the USA now wants to be with the people for a while. SO lets make sure that we make the best of it and then call the shots ourselves.

Also, make sure that people step up to their duties, so that in six month we don't get another system that is horrible because people didn't claim the posts.

Walk like an Egyptian, talk like an Egyptian

This is a different moment in my life, for many years I was always happy to relate to the land of Egypt, and had love for this country, for my memories, for the people I know in it. However, it was really hard to substantiate rationally why I held firmly to this love. I recall the moment I stepped out of the tube at the airport as I landed in Egypt returning to test the waters for a while after spending 7 years abroad, as I stepped into the terminal I asked myself what is "home", why would I call Egypt Home?, is it the physical place, the memories, the people. Would talking family and loved ones somewhere else be enough to call it home. I never really arrived at a conclusive answer, probably because rationalising the return to Egypt was very hard.

All these feelings are now part of the past.

Over the past 18 days, I have had mixed feelings about Egypt, surprise, hate, anger, passion, pity, fear, respect, pride, disgust and frustration, happiness, and hope.

Surprise (Jan25th) : It was beyond my imagination that the protests of Jan 25th would be of the magnitude they were, and that they will be organised and within control as much as they were.

Hate (Jan26th): Being arrested by the "National Security Force" (although they are neither national or security, but only force of the regime) and how it was with no reason and in a manner that was degrading to a human, and how cowardly it was, caused me to hate this country to levels I never imagined I could. Although the whole ordeal lasted for a couple of hours, it was enough to make me feel levels of hate to this country beyond what I could have ever imagined possible.

Anger (Jan 28th): The events of Jan 26th made me feel a great degree of rage and anger as protests started after Friday prayer, this moment remained all through the day and was enough to overcome a great amount of fear that came to me while I was on Kasr Elnil bridge early in the day (footage of these moments in in the http://nayerw.blogspot.com/2011/01/day-os-anger.html).

Passion(Jan 31th): The surprise that has overwhelmed me since Jan 25th turned to passion. Passion that this is becoming a reality and that the success is becoming a strong possibility

Pity (Feb 1st): I felt pity to people who couldn't see beyond the speech Mubarak made to the nation appointing a vice president and a new prime minister. How could people fall for the speech and not be able to see that this was not genuine. Especially that most of them were educated and should be able to see the truth in all what was happening.

Fear (Feb 2nd): This day will remain carved in my memory. I have to admit that I have felt fear that I have never experienced before. I was in the square as events started to escalate and was called for to stand at Kasr Elnil enterance to hold pro-Mubarak mobs back. I received several phone calls from family that hugely impaired my ability to stand my ground and left in the afternoon as things were getting more violent. I had spent most of the rest of the day in solitude with no access to any information. I have to admit that I was unable to take control of myself because I was almost sure that people in the square were doomed to death. That they would not survive this attack, and that this would come to an end.

Respect (Feb 3rd): I opened the TV in the morning expecting to find those brave souls in the square defeated and finished. I was astonished that they actually not only survived the night but fought back and won the day. I felt a huge respect to the men and women that survived the night there and felt so small and weak that I wasn't there with them and that I was overcome by the pressure that was put on me.

Pride (Feb 8th): I was proud to be part of such a movement that has captured the respect of Egyptians and people around the globe. The movement that has remained restrained and civilised despite all the turn of events that have happened in the span of two weeks. Respect that has changed how people in Egypt perceived those standing firm in Tahrir square.

Disgust and frustration (Feb 10th): The anticipation leading up to the address of Mubarak to the nation probably would grant the regime in Egypt an Oscar. As we waited in Tahrir to listen to a positive speech it turned to be extremely disappointing. As the speech went on, this disappointment changed to disbelief, rage,disgust and frustration. Who were wrote this speech was detached from the reality that was clear as daylight. The most elaborate response to the speech was people pulling off their shoes and putting them up to Mubarak.

Happiness (Feb 11th): The speech made by Omar Sulieman that the president was stepping down was associated with a great degree of happiness from all in the coffee shop I was sitting in with friends after leaving the square in the late afternoon. I made my way back to the square to share the joy and festivities with the people. The environment was just as proper a it was since the 28th, but it was miced with so much happiness and joy with all those in the square.

Hope (Feb 12th) : The assurance that the things were progressing well made me feel hope that tomorrow would definitely be better. That the spirit that was present spontaneously in Tahrir square could prevail in Egypt for many years to come.

I am strongly in favour of looking forward, and progressing with Egypt to a better future, only looking back for lessons from the past and building for a better future. Egypt is now in the hands of Egyptians, and if they fail this time then it is only their own loss.

Thank you Mubarak

Yes, I think I owe Mubarak a great degree of thanks, not for his 30 years of unjust rule, but for his stupidity, arrogance and stubbornness that has made him resist 18 years of pressure from the nation. This stubborness has caused the whole system to collapse, and not just the tyrant. The system has imploded on itself becuase of its rooting in ways of the past, and not being able to realise the magnitude of the movement that has started and caught most by surprise.