So after I finished that frantic blog post and hung up Skype, the screaming outside got louder, and now included clearly audible chants of (the ever-comforting) Allahu Akbar, or "God is great." Young men were running back and forth, yelling and holding banners.
Now, Ma'adi is a Cairo suburb that is divided into two parts: one is a posh area for very wealthy Egyptians and Western expats, and another one is a slum for the very poor. Not the best combination.
But I wasn't really worried about the mob. When I'm alone and not carrying obvious tourist gear, people in the Middle East can't readily tell that I'm a foreigner. I think I stand out more in Egypt than in Turkey and Syria, but people still give me shocked expressions when I speak English and tell me that I look Arab.
Besides, the mob probably had bigger things on its mind than me. I was, however, very worried about the military police, who were stationed not far away in small packs armed to the teeth. Even if this was a Muslim Brotherhood-led protest that had nothing to do with me, military bullets aren't so discriminating.
So just as I was about to sprint out of the internet cafe, run away from the rioters and to God knows where, somebody walked by with a TV held above his head. About forty men followed behind, chanting, screaming, yelling, etc.
It was Egypt's soccer match. They were walking the TV over to a cafe, where they set it down on a stand and everyone watched. Here's a picture, with the TV on the left side:
Utterly relieved, I joined them for a while and had some great conversations. A happy ending after all.
0 comments:
Post a Comment