So I was planning on traveling Iran a bit, going to Isfehan and Shiraz Inshallah. I booked my hotel the night I finished my last blog after being depressed about how boring it was, but on my way home from Erfan’s office I don’t know what happened, I ended up getting really sick, almost threw-up on the bus and instead threw-up in Maydoone Vanak (popular roundabout in Tehran). Erfan took good care of me by taking me to the doctor and getting me medicine, but a good nights rest helped the most and I was better the next day. The next week I really didn’t do much in Iran except hang out with Poorya a lot. They threw me a little B-day party. Abbas Mamdani knowing that my facebook account was filtered took it upon himself to hack my account and kindly answer those who wished me a happy b-day on facebook, thank you Abbas lol.
Finally on one of my last nights I get to see my cousin Sara, in which her and her friends took me to Fasham for some hookah and chai. Reza’s cousin Zahra that I met 2 years ago randomly calls me up, she was actually trying to reach another Kayvon but dialed my number that she had 2 years ago and I picked up. She hung up on me because it wasn’t the right Kayvon and she thought she dialed the wrong number, then after realizing it was me she called me back. Very random and funny to think about, so we ended up hanging out the last day I was here and I got to see her mom and go drink some Ab Anar (freshly made pomegranate juice, I was craving the whole time in Iran) with them.
That night I said my last goodbyes to Poorya’s family, and made my reservations for a hotel in Egypt, and left around 4AM the next day to Egypt J
24 hours in EGYPT!!!!
Upon arrival into Egypt I sensed a different atmosphere than when I came 2 years prior with VivaPalestina. The Taxi driver and everyone was openly talking politics, oh I loved it. So Salma and her cousin picked me up from the airport and I check into a small hostel/hotel in downtown Cairo called Cairo Paradise Hotel. For $15/night I get free wifi and an AC room with high ceilings. Not the cleanest of places and I have to go outside the room for the bathroom and shower (which is shared), but good for the money. What was funny is that I only wanted a single bedroom, but I guess they didn’t have any available so I have 3 beds in my room all for myself.
After unpacking I decided to go out and change some money and buy a cell phone since Salma hooked it up with a prepaid sim card. I suggest to not try to change Iranian Tomans into Egyptian Pounds, change it to dollars in Iran then change dollars to pounds in Egypt for better rates. So after changing the Iranian Tomans into Egyptian pounds and buying a cheap Motorola, I was really close to Tahrir Square and decided to make a stop and check out the scene. Upon entrance I was searched by a group of young adults, and after they saw my California ID they were pretty happy and let me enter the square.
Tahrir Square Scene
So far I have been to Tahrir 4 times, even during 6AM when I went yesterday there were a couple thousand people… so you can imagine the amount of people when I went late afternoon when it cools down, there must be around 10,000 people there of all walks of the spectrum: rich and poor, young and old, male and female. There are vendors all over the place and it has a festive type of feeling, but when you see the speakers you feel their passion for what they are fighting for and why they are sacrificing their time to be there. To give you a little glimpse of what you will see when you enter the square. After getting screened by the young security you see crowds of people in all different areas of the square (which is really a circle).
So you make your way towards a big stage with a really loud sound system, a crowd of around 1,000 people with waving Egyptian flags, and a passionate speaker talking about the failure of the Government and the success of the masses, the people clap for him when he makes a powerful statement and the speech is ended with a chanting in which everyone joins in.
As you leave that scene going around the circle there is another stage with around 200 people surrounding that one… but more approaching because the lady speaking into the microphone is yelling to the top of her lungs. Beside her a man holds up a poster which has a picture of her son who died during the brutal crackdown by the Mubarak regime. It’s heartbreaking to see a mother who has lost her son cry while bravely speaking out against the system that murdered him. She takes the picture of her son and kisses his picture. She then takes out a cell phone that belonged to her son, she asks if anyone has a similar phone so she can turn it on (since it is out of battery). Someone has the same phone and she takes the battery and turns on her sons phone, goes to the pictures on the phone and shows the crowd his picture that he had on his phone before his death. She continues her speech saying that she will not rest until those responsible for her sons death are brought to justice, why has not anybody been brought to justice yet?? Why are the police forces that murdered civilians allowed to post bail?? This is why 5 months after the revolution, the revolutionaries are taking to the streets again, because they do not see any social justice taking place.
Moving on from that scene you continue around the circle and find a group of around 50 people surrounding a young adult who is sitting on the shoulders of one of his friends and chanting, the crowd repeating along and clapping to the beat of the chant. He rhymes what seems to be very clever statements against Mubarak, against his regime and those who support his regime, sometimes it’s funny because people laugh but the chanting goes on and sometime they walk around the circle as a big group chanting and clapping. As you continue there is another speech similar to the first with the same amount of people and a big stage, sound system and the works. In the middle you see pitched tents, and just people all over the place, usually hopping from one scene to the next or resting on the side with their friends.
So after going to Tahrir Square for the first time, I walked back to my hotel and cleaned up a little. I saw a message from Shelly (One of my good friends and co-founder of SJP at SDSU) on facebook with her number since I messaged her telling her I was coming. So I called her up to see what she was up to and she was luckily in Downtown Cairo at a hookah place :) I met up with her and her future co-workers (She's starting a job with a refugee non-profit organization). Afterwards I had a $1 Shawarma, really good. Then I met up with Salma, her father, and 2 of her cousins where we went to a nice restaurant and I ate the Egyptian national food - Koshari (it's like pasta w/lentals, fried onions, rice, and some other stuff I don't know what it was, but it was good). Salma's father put a little too much hot spice sauce on for me and it reminded me of India.
After we ate we headed to Khan El-Khalili which is the Heart of Cairo because this is the ancient district in which you can still witness the vast array of architectural influences over time, from the Turks to the East Asians. We had some good mint chai, hookah, and freshly squeezed lemons and just hung out while vendors, beggers, musicians, and artists were all around us. Then vendors have a very funny sense of humor.... one of the approached Salma's dad trying to sell him something and he brushed her off, so what she did was put her hand on his shoulder and prayed that Allah will help him grow some hair... lol.
After about 2 hours of enjoying the lounge we walked around and saw all the different styles of architecture and Salma's dad was giving us the history lesson of each of the different Mosques and buildings. Then it was around 3AM by that time so we decided to pray Fajr. After Fajr prayer we came back to Tahrir square, we were really tired but seeing all the commotion at Tahrir woke us up again. We stayed there till about 7 AM, and finally left to get some sleep. Here is a little clip of the morning scene...
