Well, greetings from Cairo, land of the Pharoahs, the pyramids, Sphynx, my dad and brother. According to the DNA search for migration patterns that Gabe did recently, our ancestors migrated from the Middle East. Here I am, back in the land of my ancestors, writing a blog. I hope you'll find it as interesting a region as I do.
People have been bugging me FOREVER to start a blog, so I've finally done it. I have a lot to say about the past and future - but mostly this blog is going to be about the present, the challenges and opportunities and adventures I'm experiencing in Cairo, Egypt.
I came to Cairo at a very interesting time. I was assigned here last summer with the proviso that I would not leave my Washington DC colleagues in the lurch. I negotiated a departure date of January 2011. After pack-out, moving to temporary quarters, cleaning out my office, putting my house up for sale, saying good-bye to friends, relatives, and colleagues, etc. etc., the big day arrived: my flight was at 9:15 p.m. on January 28, 2011.
I had kept my car until the very last day, because I already had an estimated buy-back price from Carmax which I was more than satisfied with. My plan was to mail packages to myself that morning, then drive up to the Carmax in Laurel, turn the car in, and return by metro to my dear friend Suzanne's house in DC where I had been staying since my pack-out January 12.
The first part of the plan went well. I packed three boxes of "stuff" (mostly winter clothes I knew I wouldn't need in Cairo right away, but definitely needed in DC in January) and dropped them off at the post office. Then I returned to Suzanne's house to prepare to drive to Laurel and turn over my car. I really had a few hours to kill - it was only 11:00 a.m. and the car was not picking me up for the airport run until 5:30 pm. So.....I switched on the news to see if there was anything further about the demonstrations in Cairo.
I hadn't been terribly worried, because I knew if it was too dangerous to go, the State Dept would not let me go. They would have called me and told me to cancel, right? You would think so.
As I watched a camel-riding thug ride through Tahrir Square in Cairo, followed by more thugs on horse-back wielding whips against a mostly peaceful crowd, I started to wonder if maybe I should call THEM, instead of waiting for THEM to call me. The US Embassy in Cairo is only one street away from Tahrir Square. So, I called my friend Carole, who is the assignments officer for the Middle East bureau. Carole told me to wait because there was some big transcontinental telephone call happening and she would know more when the call ended. No sooner did I hang up with Carole, then someone at the Embassy in Cairo called to tell me the same thing. In the next hour, I received three more calls from the Embassy and from the State Department. The verdict was: stand down. cancel. don't go. we are evacuating most embassy personnel. don't come here. stay in DC. (you get the picture)
I was grateful I'd kept my car!
It seems this is to be a chronological blog, since I've started it with the events of January 2011. I'll have to write more later to catch everyone up on what has happened since then. But - right now, I have to get ready to go to the Independence Day celebration at our local club, the Maadi House. Hamburgers and hot dogs, lots of red, white, and blue, you know the drill! I love July 4th at overseas posts - it is really a wonderful feeling to celebrate America's independence when you are in a country that is trying so hard to emulate our democracy. And almost all of them are. At times, I forget to be grateful I was born an American. Happy Independence Day everyone!
1
People have been bugging me FOREVER to start a blog, so I've finally done it. I have a lot to say about the past and future - but mostly this blog is going to be about the present, the challenges and opportunities and adventures I'm experiencing in Cairo, Egypt.
I came to Cairo at a very interesting time. I was assigned here last summer with the proviso that I would not leave my Washington DC colleagues in the lurch. I negotiated a departure date of January 2011. After pack-out, moving to temporary quarters, cleaning out my office, putting my house up for sale, saying good-bye to friends, relatives, and colleagues, etc. etc., the big day arrived: my flight was at 9:15 p.m. on January 28, 2011.
I had kept my car until the very last day, because I already had an estimated buy-back price from Carmax which I was more than satisfied with. My plan was to mail packages to myself that morning, then drive up to the Carmax in Laurel, turn the car in, and return by metro to my dear friend Suzanne's house in DC where I had been staying since my pack-out January 12.
The first part of the plan went well. I packed three boxes of "stuff" (mostly winter clothes I knew I wouldn't need in Cairo right away, but definitely needed in DC in January) and dropped them off at the post office. Then I returned to Suzanne's house to prepare to drive to Laurel and turn over my car. I really had a few hours to kill - it was only 11:00 a.m. and the car was not picking me up for the airport run until 5:30 pm. So.....I switched on the news to see if there was anything further about the demonstrations in Cairo.
I hadn't been terribly worried, because I knew if it was too dangerous to go, the State Dept would not let me go. They would have called me and told me to cancel, right? You would think so.
As I watched a camel-riding thug ride through Tahrir Square in Cairo, followed by more thugs on horse-back wielding whips against a mostly peaceful crowd, I started to wonder if maybe I should call THEM, instead of waiting for THEM to call me. The US Embassy in Cairo is only one street away from Tahrir Square. So, I called my friend Carole, who is the assignments officer for the Middle East bureau. Carole told me to wait because there was some big transcontinental telephone call happening and she would know more when the call ended. No sooner did I hang up with Carole, then someone at the Embassy in Cairo called to tell me the same thing. In the next hour, I received three more calls from the Embassy and from the State Department. The verdict was: stand down. cancel. don't go. we are evacuating most embassy personnel. don't come here. stay in DC. (you get the picture)
I was grateful I'd kept my car!
It seems this is to be a chronological blog, since I've started it with the events of January 2011. I'll have to write more later to catch everyone up on what has happened since then. But - right now, I have to get ready to go to the Independence Day celebration at our local club, the Maadi House. Hamburgers and hot dogs, lots of red, white, and blue, you know the drill! I love July 4th at overseas posts - it is really a wonderful feeling to celebrate America's independence when you are in a country that is trying so hard to emulate our democracy. And almost all of them are. At times, I forget to be grateful I was born an American. Happy Independence Day everyone!
1
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