Then I pass the little boy selling tissues while doing his school homework, the man with the missing leg, the lady with the big swollen leg and the old man prostrate begging for money and of course the woman with the baby……. Personally, I don’t like them screaming at us as we pass by – I find it intimidating and disorientating. I can just imagine how the shop keepers paying high rents beside them are feeling……Pre-revolution the street traders would have been moved by the police. This area is very congested with people stopping to watch and littered with plastic bags and rubbish. Now it is different I sense the need to be alert and careful about my bag.Ībout half way up Talaat Haarb there are numerous street traders screaming (yes, screaming) at the passers by to give them their attention and look at the wonderful clothes the men on the tabletops are throwing in the air. Never before, even during the revolution did I feel unsafe or the need to clutch at my bag. The nearer you get to Tahrir the more threatening it gets. The usual shoppers are out in the evening at the furthest away from Tahrir Square but as you near the square there is a noticable decline in the number of people in the street. There was a tangible change of atmosphere in Talaat Haarb St, I don’t know if anyone else has noticed but as I had been absent for the two weeks it is very apparent to me. while in Ireland so I knew nothing about the trouble that had happened in Tahrir on Friday morning. I had not kept up with events in Egypt on Twitter, Facebook, Blogs etc. and the next day I took a stroll up Talaat Haarb to get my usual fantastic Schwarma Sandwich at Felfela takeaway. On my first evening back I went to the local street where I buy my food etc. (No, thank you I don’t need any smart comments asking me who gave me the authority to speak for Egypt!) No, I am not just speaking about my own – I am speaking about the feelings of Egypt. Two glorious weeks away from anger, resentment and frustration. “There comes a time in the affairs of men….” Well, I think we are fast coming, if we are not there already, in the affairs of Egypt when somebody must speak up for Egypt!I am back in Cairo after a much needed two weeks in Ireland.
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