Got a text from Egyptian Armed Forces early this morning saying:
Asking honorable citizens to put all their efforts together to have a safe country.
It's wierd how many things you get can get used to in just a couple of weeks; hiding from the bad guys, body searches, questioned, texts from the army, you name it. Last night I dreamt that I was detained by under cover police. They blind folded me and I got my hands back-tied . Then they started to question me, laughing at me and trying to make me admit to something, like being a spy. And the wierd thing is that in another lifetime, in my safe haven in Sweden, a dream like that would be surreal, like something taken from a movie. But for the post-revolution me, there was nothing surreal about that dream. It could have happened, still can I imagine.
I'm in Hurghada, after having spent the two first weeks of the protests in central Cairo. Now, every time a car back fires or someone's shouting in the street I automatically flinch and think it's gunfire or an angry mob coming this way. Reports of high numbers of journalists that have been assaulted during the protests are surely scary and very very sad. Not that I'm a journalist, but I knew all along that if the (former) authorities would find out that I'm blogging about the events and talk to international media about it, I could be in big trouble. Not having a respected organization holding your back was somewhat risky (although having one was proved to not do much good either) and I found myself being less and less "courageous" towards the end; careful of who I was talking to and hiding the camera when possible.
On February 25th, the people in Hurghada will gather for a memorial of the hundereds of people that died during the protests. I still don't have news of what exactilly is planned, but I'm looking forward to publish the thoughts and feelings of the Egyptians that only got to witness the revolution from afar. The numbness that I first noticed (with horror, I must say) among the people in Hurghada concerning what was happening in the capital and all around Egypt is now mostly gone. After Mubarak's last speach to the nation, where he once and of all proved to be an old dillusional fart that had no clue what so ever what was happening in the country he was supposed to lead, the people in Hurghada stood up and clapped their hands. They said that what Mubarak said was good and that the people will settle for this. When they saw on TV that the people in Tahrir was leaving the square, they were sure that they were simply happy now and were going home. The day after, a few hours after the VP announced the president's resignation, the over all atmosphere changed into celebration. What they hadn't dared (or cared) to say before, could now be heard throughout the night in a happy celebratory street party with loud music, dancing, tears and fire shows.
