To summarize...

Dear everyone,
All politicians are liars. They all play dirty games. They're all disgusting on one level or another. They are not saints or angels and they never will be. None of them. Stop placing your hope in the wrong place. Your role as a citizen is to wisely chose the one who will do the least amount of damage. As soon as you believe this fact, you will live a better life by learning to work from the bottom up and you will stop trying to make politics better - that is a losing battle and always will be. Change the things around you that you can change and stop expecting a savior to come along and fix your problems. Stop that stream of thought and I promise you will be a happier person.
Love, BB.

What's Happening?

I am once again in Cairo.

I was here January - May of this year during the Jan 25 Revolution. It's been twelve months and what has happened? I wonder if much has actually changed at all. I was with a friend today and the following conversation took place. Keep in mind that this friend is a well educated woman who has been born and bred in Egypt and is now a full time professional, is young, pro-revolution, quite liberal on the political spectrum, and also runs a household.

We had been discussing the productivity of certain countries in the world, and that conversation naturally led to the "state Egypt is in now", which led to a general venting about how all politicians on this planet are liars and full of shit and that each citizen's role was to wisely chose the one who will do the least amount of damage possible. And the interesting part was when she said:

We don't deserve a good government.
Why?
Because we are not good people. We are lazy, we don't want to work or do anything, but we want money and lots of it. All we do is sit at street cafes and talk talk talk, mostly about things we have no idea about, and then keep on mismanaging our own lives. Garbage mentalities can not be changed through a good government. The Egyptian people have been used to only following orders. We have had military men rule us for the last eight decades. The only thing we know how to do is to follow orders. Nothing will ever change until we start doing something about it and change ourselves first and go out and work and be productive people.

Interesting point of view, no? Ya I thought so too. There is definitely truth in there. However, my question is: what about the people given more opportunities than others? Where are those people and what are they doing to change themselves and to better the lives around them? Aren't they also a part of that culture that sits around Nawady (sporting clubs - the rich equivalent of street cafes) and talk talk talk, also about things they mostly don't know much about? Im not trying to point a blaming finger. All Im asking is, if youve pinpointed the solution, what are you personally doing about it?

Everyone, inside and outside Egypt, who cares anything for Egypt, justice, freedom, and peace, needs to do something. Anything. If this revolution is to change anything at all, it should change the way people view their roles in this world and define the extents to which they are willing to go to see the fruits of their actions.

I'm a Little Upset.

Indeed. I've had to cancel 5 countries off my list of places to go this year. My year of exploring Africa and the Middle East came to a halting stop when the march for freedom began. Worth it? Definitely.

Still a little upset though, not gonna lie. I've had to cancel:
Kenya
Tanzania
Syria
Lebanon
Jordan

I would love to go to these places now, with all this turmoil. Experiencing the protests in Cairo was amazing. But to truly experience the cultures of these areas, I think it wouldn't be fair to visit during this time.

So what am I doing?? I'm hanging out in Egypt. Trying to understand this culture that has always confused and amazed me, and visiting some different areas of Egypt. I'll be heading out early May to somewhere far far away and hopefully not politically unstable, at which point this blog will become much more interesting once again :)

BB.

Western Egyptian Desert

A place called the Siwa Oasis. A few friends and I took a trip there (about an 8 hour drive west of Cairo) and had a splendid time.

Here are some pictures :)



Meet Yousuf, greatest tour guide ever. A law student/tour guide who is very passionate about his city. He also taught us how to tie a professional looking Bedouin head piece like his!

A friend chilling at one of the oases we visited. This one was sort of like a mud bath, people just scooped up the mud at the bottom and gave themselves all sorts of facial masks with it. Very cool.

Music session! There was also lots of dancing involved. And pot smoking. No joke.

Another oasis we visited. This one was literally in the middle of the desert and about 15km from the Libyan border. And very very salty - a massive water fight shrunk my jeans about 3 inches unfortunately.

Sandboarding? At sunset? In the middle of the western desert? Check.

A friend displaying the traditional female face covering.

Tea + another oasis + sunset = peacefulness.

There was also one night where we camped out in the desert and I stayed up all night and watched the stars come out (there was only about a million), the moon rise, then witnessed a very lazy sun climb over the western horizon. It was an absolutely breathtaking night and I didn't even try taking any pictures because nothing would ever do it justice. It will remain just a most beautiful image in my mind's eye.

Baladna.

Baladna [noun]: our country.

Last month, if you had asked any young adult in Egypt who's country this is, they would've said, "baladhom" - their country. Theirs. The people at the top. The people who have been running this country for the last 30 years or so. The corruption, the poverty, the unemployment, the inhumanity. Theirs. Baladhom.

Tuesday January 25th 2011. I remember thinking, "Why is everyone calling it a revolution? A few thousand people are hanging out downtown. Whats the big deal? They're gonna get rounded up by the riot police before we can all blink." By the end of the night, there were a couple of hundred thousand. The next day there was a quarter of a million. By Friday, there was a million. There was violence. People died. But there was a revolution, and nobody could deny it or say otherwise. Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 3 weeks, then you've heard about all this already.

Friday February 11 2011. The end of Hosny Mubarak's dictatorial 30 year rule over Egypt. But I bet you knew that too.

Here's what you don't know: the Egyptian youth have memorized more nationalistic songs in the past 3 weeks than they're ever likely to memorize. They have stood shoulder to shoulder with people they were willing to die with. They know who our ministers are. They understand politics. They even have a political opinion. They have learned to hope. All of them.

I have never felt quite as Egyptian as I'm feeling right now. I've memorized the songs, stood with them, understood our politics, hoped with them. Felt the change. Wanted and fought for freedom, humanity, liberty, and dignity. Basic human rights that the youth of this country are only starting to feel today for the first time. Human rights I would've fought for anywhere in the world.

Today, if you ask any young adult in Egypt who's country this is, they will say, "baladna" - our country. OURS. Mine and yours. Mine to stamp out the corruption, mine to clean up (literally and figuratively), mine to voice my opinion about, mine to work in, mine to thrive and grow in.

For someone as homeless as me, the events of the last 3 weeks have reassured me that I will always have a home in Egypt.