Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Not much occurred

Aside from a small gathering that quickly dispersed under police pressure in the morning, the hoopla was largely for naught. The only things gathering in Midan Tahrir around noon on Sunday were scores of Egyptian policemen, hopeful foreign would-be journalists, and windy swirls of warm amber khamseen dust.

Interested parties can read more about the strike in the links that follow. The first details what has actually been quite an issue up north, in the Nile Delta, whereas the latter two focus on different strikes occurring now in Cairo:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6333251.stm
http://libcom.org/news/university-strike-egypt-24032008
http://news.trendaz.com/index.shtml?show=news&newsid=1161673〈=EN

It was a nice excuse for staying home, it seems, as almost none of the Egyptian students came to school. Traffic was also noticably lighter, as the fifteen to forty-five minute ride to school took me only seven.


Here is a picture of AUC's main administrative building from across Midan Tahrir. You can see a Metro sign and the typically heavy traffic and smoggy air. Rumor has it that just breathing in Cairo has the same ill effects as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.

2 comments:

Pod said...

Glad nothing happened. Since the air is so bad, maybe you can come visit us in Tuscany or Spain, rather than mom and I coming to Cairo

Jennifer said...

No, pod! It's not that bad and you really have to see it!