I have to admit that I'm a little jealous that the protests have left Tahrir and have shifted over to the Presidential Palace in Heliopolis. Tahrir is just a quick taxi ride over the bridge from where I work and live, but Heliopolis is a good hour with traffic. So since they've moved, I haven't been able to attend any of the protests and I feel like I'm missing out on all the action!
On the one hand, I really want to go over there and check it out, but on the other, I'm afraid to. And at the same time, I'm enjoying being able to walk through downtown again, although it has a really exciting energy when protests are happening in Tahrir.
Last week things got ugly when Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood bussed in "supporters" aka, thugs, that they allegedly paid to confront the protestors outside the palace. A lot of the articles and coverage misrepresented what happened and who started it, blaming the protestors for attacking the supporters. But considering the fact that the protestors had been there for days without so much as storming the palace or clashing with the police, and then suddenly the thugs arrived with pipes, sticks, and people started fighting, what is there to be misunderstood?
Several ultimatums were issued on both sides, but protestors never left the palace. Finally yesterday, after a few lousy, weak speeches, Morsi claimed to be easing up, but I still don't trust him or what the future outcome will be. On my way to work yesterday morning, I saw and heard jets roaring over central Cairo. What was that about? Was that a scare tactic? Was that exercise? And today Morsi recalled his proposal for a tax hike. It's all very silly political tactics if you ask me. He's probably just trying to find ways to cool everyone down so that ultimately, he can still get what he's after.
It's been a very confusing week of a lot of activity not making much sense to me. It is kind of exhausting to keep up because everyone has an opinion, and there's so much happening that it's hard to keep track of it all. There's plenty of misinformation, tons of stupidity, and everyone is bias. And to be quite honest, I'm exhausted of it all. This has far surpassed exciting, and has swung right over to the extremely annoying and stupid side. Too many secret agendas, but a better Egypt isn't the one being pursued...
But still, as I've mentioned several times before, the rest of Cairo is operating normally. In fact, you could almost not even know that anything was going on if you just avoided those areas and went about your business. The exception to that is that on Tuesdays, when the huge protests are "scheduled," the streets are empty because many people opt to stay home from work and school.
On a side note, the weather in Cairo remains perfect. It is sunny and the sky is blue, and everyday is a nice, cool 65 F. There is absolutely no Christmas spirit here whatsoever, so I've been relying on photos from friends back home to feel the cold weather and the holiday spirit that I love so much about New York at this time of year. It doesn't stop me from playing my Christmas mix and singing to it at the top of my lungs, however. The first real taste of the holiday spirit was felt when I called my credit card customer service, and the woman ended the call by saying, "Well if that's all I can help you with, I'd like to wish you Happy Holidays."
So there, Happy Holidays.
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