This post was sent to us from Jon and Mary Ann Sanford with their daughter’s permission. We are very excited to have Amy as a member and get to know her more through her story and future experiences.
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Dear eCoronado.com,
Our daughter, Amy Sanford, has sent us the following account of her Egyptian experiences during the recent conflict in that country. Amy, a 2001 CHS graduate, teaches kindergarden in an English speaking Egyptian K-12 school, in Cairo. Since her letter to family and friends, is very insightful, she has given us permission to submit it to your website for publication, so that she can share her experiences with her hometown.
At present, Amy is back in Cairo and her first day of returning to school will Feb. 27th. She has mentioned that everything has calmed down and the people are beginning to return to their normal lives and activities. She is very excited about getting back to teaching. Needless to say we’re very proud of her.
Best regards,
Jon & Mary Ann Sanford
Coronado
Sent: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 9:12
Subject: Egypt Revolution
Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to write to everyone and say thank you for all the messages, emails and phone calls. I am fine and currently in London. I was fortunate enough to leave Egypt last week but I have plans to return on the 17th of Feb. My school is tentatively opening back up on the 20th, that is if the Ministry of Education gives us the Ok… which, after last night’s developments, I highly doubt. I’ve told a few of you I was going to write a mass email telling you what it was like living in the middle of the Egyptian revolution… So here is goes!
As you know the protesting started on Tuesday, Jan. 25, Police Day, a national holiday in Egypt. We were told at work on Monday that we shouldn’t go outside on Police day because there may be some protesting. Instead the head of my school’s HR department booked a couple of us a day trip to a resort at the Red Sea resort in Ain Souhkna. We hired a driver and spent the day at the beautiful Red Sea. While it was too cold to get into the water and after many failed attempts to ‘part the sea’ we headed back to Cairo. Along the way we saw nothing, no protesters of any kind. It wasn’t until we got home, turned on our computers and TV’s did we see the large scale protest against the government starting in Tahrir square. On Wednesday, the next day, it was a normal day. We were picked up at our bus stop, next to a police guard station, and had a normal school day. After the kids left though, we got the word that the schools were going to be closed Thursday due to national security concerns. We all thought it was awesome to get another day off, little did we know… Our impromptu day off was spent getting lunch on the main road in Maadi and then heading to the Ace Club (ex-pat social club) for food, refreshments and bragging to our British school friends on how we had the day off while they were forced to work. By that evening it was starting to become clear that the protests weren’t going to be ending anytime soon. Friday in Egypt, and other Muslim countries, is a holiday and the main prayer is just after lunch, where the men go to the Mosque and pray. We had heard rumors that after the afternoon prayers things were going to really kick off. We were right. We all woke up Friday morning with the internet and all Cell phones being switched off. It was like living in the 80’s again. Stephen and I migrated down to the Ace Club thinking most of our friends would head that way as well. We spent the majority of the day there chatting with friends, then we were informed, 30 minutes prior, that there would be an imposed curfew on the streets. We headed immediately back home and waited through the night for the phones and internet to come back on, with no avail.
On Saturday things were the tenses yet. There were reports that the clashing with police and protesters had begun that night. It was a eerie feeling that day because all the police had disappeared from the streets. Essentially there was no law and order in the streets once they left. The curfew had been moved to 3:00 pm, so again, Stephen and I left the Ace Club and headed back to his flat. Saturday was by far the scariest night of my life. As we were watching out the windows, we could see the “boabs” (building matinence men) picking up sticks, ripping poles out of the ground and in some cases, fastening butcher knives to the tops of them. The boabs took it among themselves to become the neighborhood protecting agents, since the police abandoned them. There were lots and lots of rumors of looting of shops going on. The boabs created road blocks and questioned anyone unfamiliar entering their neighborhoods. They were the only reason we felt somewhat safe and able to sleep that night.
Steven lives across a big busy road from a prison in Maadi. We watched, from Friday evening through Sunday, buildings burning in the distance. We also could hear gun shots ALL NIGHT long, some sounding a lot closer than we would have liked. We went to Stephen’s rooftop terrace at one point and after 5 minutes we were forced to leave because the wind was carrying the tear gasto us. Our eyes were burning from its effects. We saw soldiers being driven into our area, and I was receiving phone calls from my parents telling me about the news and pictures they were seeing in the US (stephen doesn’t have TV in his apartment… and thank god for that) There were constant alarms going off at the prison next door, all night along,and with gun fire. We were happy to see that there still seemed to be guards stationed at the prison. Later we were told that this prison was one of the only ones where prisoners were unable to escape. Our schoolbus driver told us he lives near the prison and the prisoners families were trying, with no avail, to get their loved ones out of jail.
On Sunday we woke up to the tanks sitting on the roads and in the neighborhoods, but the boab army was still in full force. After a few hours of horrible sleep we again went to the expatriot club, but were told it was closing due to the curfew, so we went to the market which was in chaos. People were going into a survival mode. The shelves were still being restocked, but I was starting to worry about what will happen down the road when the shipments of food would possibly stop. We then went to a friend’s house where a lot of teachers from the British school had gathered. They were celebrating the fact that the next day they were being evacuated out of Cairo, courtisity of their school, while I had yet to hear ANYTHING from mine. Rightfully so, I started to freak out and then Stephen go the call his company that they were evacuating him as well. Here come the tears… luckily Stephen’s company offered to fly me out as well. We had 3 more nights of unrest, then out of the country for us! Such a relief.
The rest of the week was a lot of the same. Going out during the day to check on friends, gathering food from the markets and hunting down the tanks for photo opts. Walking around during the day was fine. In Maadi there were reports of looting, but the small area where we wondered we saw nothing out of the ordinary, except for the caches of malotov cocktails, spent bullets on the ground, and army tanks EVERYWHERE!
Monday night a group of us decided we had had enough with dealing with the nerves and tension, so we decided to have a “revolution party”. Needless to say the refreshments, music, and Playstation games eased the nerves and we were able to enjoy the company of friends while not worrying about the world outside. The next mornings hangovers were a different story…
On Wednesday morning we headed to the airport, leaving at 9am for a 5:30pm flight to London. It was the first time we had left Maadi. Tanks were still everywhere, our driver was telling us all about the things he had heard and even drove us past the Presidential palace in Heiliopolis. It was, of course, heavily guarded with tanks and APV’s… still no protesters though. The road leading into the airport was total chaos, I read later that 160,000 foreigners left within a few days. We had no problem once we reached the airport and successfully left the country.
Like I said, I am returning this Thursday, 17th Feb. I am anxious to return and get back to work. Stephen won’t be returning right away, but once his company gives him the go ahead he will be coming back as well.
I just want to take this time to express that while I might have been scared and worried at times, I was NEVER in danger. This revolution started because of the desire from the Egyptian people to become a FREE and democratic country. They want nothing more than to live in a country where they have free rights to not only express themselves, but feel secure in their lives. The people have dealt with decades of a corrupt government and they are now taking to the streets and finally saying NO, we want change! I am so proud of this country and the courage its people is displaying. This revolt could have very easily turned MUCH MUCH MORE deadly. Whatever the news in the states is saying about the situation in Egypt, this is and has always been a peaceful protest. Much of the hostility has come from Pro-Mubarak people and in the early stages, the government. The main thing, within this revolution, is that the people want the outside world to know is that the revolt has nothing to do with religion. The Coptic Christians and Muslims are working together to bring a united front against a corrupt regime. They are protecting one another from the random attacks by pro-Mubarak and the government fueled groups launch on the protesters. I believe the photos speak volumes for this. Even after the Church bombing in Alexandria, at the end of December, the Muslims within Egypt have been working to protect their Christian brothers. On Jan. 7th, Coptic Christmas, I know many churches were being protected by the Muslims, so that nothing would happen to them during their holy day
I am happy to return and will be excited to see my kindergarteners again. I’m sure they are anxious to get back to school and see their friends and hopefully me! I will let you know what it is like when I return, but in all honesty, I am not scared for myself, just a little concerned with what will happen to this wonderful country and all the amazing Egyptian people.
Take care, Amy
