Guest Post: Heba's Reflections on the Revolution

The Snake Charmer's Wife's favorite photo
from the revolution, courtesy of the Atlantic Magazine.
A protestor kissing an anti-protester police. 

I asked (begged) Heba to send me her reflections on the revolution and I'm so honored that she did. We would both be mighty grateful if you posted your comments of support. Thanks so much for coming over to the Charmer Blog.

...

"Do you think it's time to leave the country dear?" I asked Magdi anxiously.

"Honey, If I was out of the country, I would come back to be in Egypt during this difficult time" answered Magdi thoughtfully. I couldn't say a word. Magdi, to those who do not know him well, is very Egyptian.

"Take the kids with you tonight so they do their share in protecting the neighborhood and the country." I didn't realize how very Egyptian I am too until we were going through all this.

It is so hard to describe how my feelings were. There is alot in our lives we take for granted, one of them feeling secured. The horror we went through assured to us that our security is not in the government, the police, our properties or wealth because all this can change within a day and night. It is in GOD the only one who can protect us.

We all learnt valuable lessons. This revolution brought out the best in the Egyptian people. We never realized how much we love our country, or how civilized we all can be. The Muslim-Christian relationship was rediscovered again we learnt that there is a better way. We are stronger than what we think and can do better than what the old regime was trying to convince us with.

Before Jan. 25th I used to chat with those youth on Facebook. I realized how aware they were, but no one imagine the scenario of this revolution, not even the youth themselves. Mobarak was always late and his words were always provocative to everyone. On Tuesday Feb. 2nd everyone thought that his promise that neither him nor his son will run for elections again andthat he will reform the regime should be enough and finally we have a little hope, But Wednesday morning was the last straw when the young men and ladies were beaten to death for no obvious reason. Everyone was confused. This took the whole matter to a different detour, and the rest of the event you probably know.

I went to "Tahrir" square on Wednesday the 9th and saw a huge spectrum of people. It was so wonderful to see such diverse people gathered together for one cause, Bread – Dignity and Freedom. Some were cleaning, some were singing, some were looking after protestors needs, some were treating the injured ones, some were throwing jokes, but many were shouting protesting sentences. I joined the last group under the big flag circling the square.

On Friday Feb.11th Mobarak stepped down (most probably the military forced him to do so) celebration filled the whole country streets, songs, dancing, and fireworks. We have never seen Egypt celebrating in such way not even when the national football team wins one of the world cup matches.

This revolution was very healthy because it clears up many things, but this needs another blog my dear friends

We see Egypt now with new eyes. Even the air smells different.

Love to all,

Heba