Don't worry, we're okay. The protests that have been going on yesterday and today have all been downtown, in the area where Dylan and I went to get our visas renewed. You can read more about what's happening on BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12289475. We really haven't seen the effects at all here in Maadi.
That being said, it is interesting to view these events from a little closer than usual. Announcements at the metro station let everyone know the downtown stops are closed (kind of like closing off Waterloo in London). I couldn't actually understand the announcement when I got on the metro today so I was happy to find out it didn't affect me. =)
What's different about this protest versus previous protests is the role that social media played in firing people up and organizing where protesters went. The main culprits were people on Twitter and Facebook, which were both blocked for several hours today. Gmail was also blocked as people started using the "Buzz" feature to continue organizing protests. As far as I can tell everything is back up now. Honestly it was kind of thrilling to be somewhere where my internet usage was censored, although it would definitely get old if it was long term rather than just a few hours.
All this led to an interesting conversation with my friend who grew up in Ecuador. At her school, they didn't have snow days, but they did have volcano days (when the ash was too thick), riot days (when the tear gas was too thick), and coup days (when there was a coup - apparently this happened twice). What a life...
That being said, it is interesting to view these events from a little closer than usual. Announcements at the metro station let everyone know the downtown stops are closed (kind of like closing off Waterloo in London). I couldn't actually understand the announcement when I got on the metro today so I was happy to find out it didn't affect me. =)
What's different about this protest versus previous protests is the role that social media played in firing people up and organizing where protesters went. The main culprits were people on Twitter and Facebook, which were both blocked for several hours today. Gmail was also blocked as people started using the "Buzz" feature to continue organizing protests. As far as I can tell everything is back up now. Honestly it was kind of thrilling to be somewhere where my internet usage was censored, although it would definitely get old if it was long term rather than just a few hours.
All this led to an interesting conversation with my friend who grew up in Ecuador. At her school, they didn't have snow days, but they did have volcano days (when the ash was too thick), riot days (when the tear gas was too thick), and coup days (when there was a coup - apparently this happened twice). What a life...