Revolt! Feb. 5

A rainy day in Cairo! Almost as miraculous as Egyptians standing in line! All bets are off, it seems, though somehow I don’t think this is what Hillary meant by a “perfect storm.”

Besides my dog walks, I stayed indoors all day, out of the mud and rain, but tomorrow I get/have to go to work. We have limited hours, just 9-3 so we can get home before any craziness and still have some time to run errands but I also have Arabic class before work so I have to get out early early in the morning.

The protesters are trying to keep the momentum maintainable by having the hardcore people hold the square most days and calling for big representation from the general population certain days: Sundays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. So tomorrow might be a big rally but it shouldn’t get started in earnest until after I’m headed back from work. I hope.

Curfew has been pushed back to 7, which is still not enough time for me to go to the movies or go out to dinner and the beer place still is not open so everyone’s stock is getting low but I miss socializing so I hope my friends and I are able to meet up this week. The talk on the list serve for expats is getting increasingly hysterical. There were a lot of reports of foreigners getting detained for questioning in different neighborhoods and people were even talking about how to flavor contaminated water and home remedies for diarrhea from drinking contaminated water if the entire infrastructure collapses. Considering the banks are supposed to open tomorrow and a lot of restaurants were open this evening, it seems some of my fellow westerners who have stayed behind are going off the deep end. I could definitely use some social time with friends and booze to decompress.

Apparently the people in Tahrir have felt the same need to vent some pent up anxiety. According to my friend who has been there the last few days, the atmosphere is still friendly and festive. Women are not being harassed by fellow protesters, despite sleeping overnight in the streets with strange men. They are being protected, fed, allowed to use the bathrooms in homes around the square, and generally supported and cared for by their fellow protesters and neighbors. My friend said they brought in speakers last night and a few people managed to smuggle in guitars and they had an impromptu concert in the square. With the army maintaining security and protecting the protesters from would-be attackers, I hope the protests stay peaceful. Military leaders visited the square today and the protesters clasped hands in a human chain to protect the path they walked through the crowds from any potential troublemakers.

There have been some interesting reports by legal analysts and constitutional scholars that say that Mubarak cannot just step down. If he goes on medical leave or something temporary, then the VP takes over but has limited powers, which do not include the power to reconstitute the parliament or call for new elections, or change any of the extremely oppressive election laws Mubarak himself put in place in 2007 which basically make it impossible to vote in a new government. If he steps down entirely, basically the same power vacuum exists, with worse people in charge than the VP. So if the protesters’ demands are met word for word, whoever takes charge of the transitional government will not actually have the constitutional authority to amend the constitution, hold new free and fair elections, or change the voting laws. I think these particulars are what is holding up the process and navigating these challenges may be what people are referring to when they say (as the New York Times did today) that Egyptian political leaders are looking for ways to nudge Mubarak out.

In the meantime, another positive step came today when the top leadership of the NDP resigned, including Gamal Mubarak. On the down side, recent reports indicate that as many as 300 people have died since the protests began.

I don't know how I am going to be able to do anything but read the news at work tomorrow!