If you haven't been following my daughter's saga, you can read a little here, or in some of my comments on the Egypt Diaries.
My daughter is 17 and is an exchange student in Cairo. She's on the NSLI-Y program, administered by AFS. She has been there for 5 months and had another 5 to go. Leaving now, feels like unfinished business to her. And despite the tanks and armed neighbors ready to defend their property with sticks and bottles, she actually feels safe.
***UPDATE***
Thanks for the well wishes. I will update the diary as I learn more. But I do want to thank you all for your well wishes and thoughts. Having this community these past few days has made my life less tearful and frustrating. Thank you all. I feel truly blessed.
***UPDATE 2***
Yesterday, I posted about my daughter's evacuation. Today, she's awaiting a flight out. We don't know where the flight is going (directly to the states or an interim location first), all I know so far is that she still doesn't want to go. That her host parents went shopping today so that my daughter can bring something to her daughter. With a curfew in place, her family packed up my child, went shopping for their child and drove to the neighborhood near the airport. They are now in a hotel and awaiting a flight. I'm hopeful that her flight will be tomorrow, but we don't know much more than this right now.
What I most want to do when my daughter arrives is to get to Buffalo and make sure she meets her host sister who is attending school there. I just want them to meet and for my daughter to give the host sister what mommy has sent and show her pictures and talk about the family. I think it might be very comforting to both of them.
Just a few minutes ago, I received a call from AFS (American Field Service) informing me that the US Embassy has called for an evacuation of American Citizens. She is due back on Tuesday, I don't know where or how, but she's coming home.
I just wish she were coming home under better circumstances.
She has had an amazing experience. She is really going to miss her host family
and shopping at City Stars. This is a picture of her and her host sister, Sara.
And she's going to miss the amazing places she's been able to see like the shells in the middle of the Sahara.
In the middle of this place with no water anywhere to be seen, there are shells, showing that once upon a time, it was an ocean or lake. For her, it was mesmerizing.
And she's going to miss her cat, Noora. She'd planned to bring Noora back to the states, but now, that's not possible. We don't know what will happen to Noora. I told her to bring Noora to the hotel and airport. I still think she should.
She was able to visit the pyramids, this shot is her first view of the pyramids from the window of the bus. She didn't much like the pyramids, she thought they were dark, cramped and not all that pleasant. She was looking forward to this week's trip to Luxor and Aswan. She just realized she's probably not going to get her $250 back for the cost of that trip.
She was even able to experiment with faith, donning a higab (it's a g in Egypt) and praying 5 times a day.
She's made so many amazing friends, people she hopes to know for a lifetime.
Even now, as tanks roll down her street and neighborhood men armed themselves with bats and bottles to fight possible looting, she still doesn't want to leave. She loves Egypt and feels at home in a country completely different from the US. Having this incredible, life affirming and life altering experience end in this way, is so very sad. I hope the current situation is only temporary and that Egyptian society begins to function again and that it becomes safe enough for her to return and complete her year long exchange experience.
Her host family has a daughter in Buffalo, so, I think the first order upon her return is to take a few days of vacation and to head to Buffalo. My daughter has really blossomed in Egypt, coming into her own. I want her to be able to explore that the fullest extent possible. I just wish she could continue to do that in Egypt.
I don't know what the future holds, but AFS assures me, my daughter will be back in the US on Tuesday. I wish Mobarak had stepped down on Friday, I think that if he had, my daughter might have been able to continue her experience and Egypt, would find a new way of looking at government, society and democracy. May the Lotus Revolution be successful and bring about lasting positive change for Egypt. Blessed be.