Contemplating in Cairo: Part 3
by Lena Aloumari | Appalachian State University
Lena Aloumari
With my days in Cairo dwindling down, so much still hasn’t been done: for myself, my family, my friends, my country.
Well, it’s Ramadan. This means fasting during daylight hours, which means no eating, drinking, swearing, et cetera, until sunset. I can already tell this is going to be a tough year, since we can’t eat starting from about 3:30am until around 7pm. It’s tough, but it’s all for a cause: solidarity with those who are less fortunate.
Speaking of solidarity (insert sarcastic eye roll here), as I write this, the local news is playing recaps of the trial of former president Hosni Mubarak, his two sons Gamal and Alaa, as well as Habib Al-Adly, the former interior minister, and other officials and aides. This comes a mere days after the army forcibly vacated Tahrir Square, the make-shift home of many protesters since the beginning of the revolution.
Of course, there are people in the country both pro- and anti- regime, but what I can’t understand is why people cannot accept different points of views. Just because someone thinks differently than you, doesn’t mean that they are wrong or you are right. If Egyptians really want to be an actual democratic country, they need to respect one another, no matter what. While I’m not a political analyst (I’m not anything political, actually), I am entitled to voice my opinions. You don’t have to agree, all you have to do is accept my point of view as just that: my point of view.
Some think this trial is the pinnacle of the Jan. 25th revolution, but all I can think of is the future. While, yes, this trial is something that needed to be done, it does not mean that democracy is going to come to Egypt tomorrow. Like all good things, democracy comes to those who wait and work for it.
But being back in Egypt, while it was only for a short while, was a happy time. I’ve been constantly surrounded by love, pride, excitement, and a lack of food, and I hate to think that this time next week I’ll be back in little North Carolina preparing myself for yet another semester of higher education.
So even though my summer is coming to its end, I’m trying to soak up as much of it as I can. I want to lock every memory of Egypt in a corner of my heart, so that I will always carry it with me, no matter where in the world I am.
After living in a variety of countries and continents, Lena Aloumari is currently living in the majestic mountains of North Carolina and studying journalism at Appalachian State University.
