Happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian Friends and Family.
This is just a quick note to let you all know that we are safe and in great spirits despite the political uprising and protests that occurred last night in downtown Cairo. We did not even know that the protests had happened until we arrived at school this morning. The protest got out of hand and many people did die. We live very far from downtown Cairo, although much of the touristy type things we did on the weekend are right in that same area where the protests occurred.
Last week a Coptic Christian church/guest house was burned down, allegedly by the Muslims. Yesterday, the Coptic Christians were "peacefully" protesting this arson. Then the protest got out of hand and entered the rioting stage that you are all probably seeing on television. We have access to international news stations here, but have yet to see some of the footage from the riot. There were gas bombs and a lot of shooting and many people died and more were injured. Cars were on fire and there was a smokey haze over the Nile valley this morning from all things that were burning last night.
There area lot of theories as to why the protest escalated to the extreme that it did. Some people think that the old regime in Egypt has planted people in the crowds of the peaceful protests to throw rocks and gas bombs to escalate the conflict to deter people from thinking about all the positive change that is happening in Egypt. Some people think the conflict is strictly religious and others think it could be a combination of both. I do not cling to any theories except that I know that I want to stay away from these dangerous scenarios.
The school has put an action plan into place to ensure that we are safe at all times. At this point we do not feel that we are in a dangerous place or position. The school does have an evacuation plan in the event that things get really dangerous here.
We are unsure what will happen in the coming weeks as the election gets closer and since the country is so politically unstable we do not know what to expect. But please know that right now, we are very safe and secure and that we will keep our eyes open to ensure our safety.
Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We will keep you posted as to the progress of the unrest as the International news can get out of hand.
This is just a quick note to let you all know that we are safe and in great spirits despite the political uprising and protests that occurred last night in downtown Cairo. We did not even know that the protests had happened until we arrived at school this morning. The protest got out of hand and many people did die. We live very far from downtown Cairo, although much of the touristy type things we did on the weekend are right in that same area where the protests occurred.
Last week a Coptic Christian church/guest house was burned down, allegedly by the Muslims. Yesterday, the Coptic Christians were "peacefully" protesting this arson. Then the protest got out of hand and entered the rioting stage that you are all probably seeing on television. We have access to international news stations here, but have yet to see some of the footage from the riot. There were gas bombs and a lot of shooting and many people died and more were injured. Cars were on fire and there was a smokey haze over the Nile valley this morning from all things that were burning last night.
There area lot of theories as to why the protest escalated to the extreme that it did. Some people think that the old regime in Egypt has planted people in the crowds of the peaceful protests to throw rocks and gas bombs to escalate the conflict to deter people from thinking about all the positive change that is happening in Egypt. Some people think the conflict is strictly religious and others think it could be a combination of both. I do not cling to any theories except that I know that I want to stay away from these dangerous scenarios.
The school has put an action plan into place to ensure that we are safe at all times. At this point we do not feel that we are in a dangerous place or position. The school does have an evacuation plan in the event that things get really dangerous here.
We are unsure what will happen in the coming weeks as the election gets closer and since the country is so politically unstable we do not know what to expect. But please know that right now, we are very safe and secure and that we will keep our eyes open to ensure our safety.
Keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We will keep you posted as to the progress of the unrest as the International news can get out of hand.
No comments:
Post a Comment