I ventured onto
facebook this morning and was slapped in the face by one of the most surreal moments I have had
in Egypt thus far. It was like
being at the intersection of two parallel universe where beings exist alongside
each other, they intersect with each other, but they are incompatible and the
inhabitants of the two different universes are not aware of the intersection.
As I scrolled down the ‘news feed’ literally one after the
other over and over were photos of Christmas and photos of yesterday’s clashes between
military police and protesters outside the cabinet building in my beloved Cairo. I think that words are not the best way
to describe this so here is a brief version of what I saw:
My purpose in sharing this with all of you is not some "put my American friends in their place" social commentary on the triviality of Christmas trees and ugly sweater holiday parties, but rather a statement on how the reality of living here in Egypt has shifted my entire worldview. And how every once in awhile my two worlds come crashing together in ways that are both difficult for me to reconcile and make me wildly uncomfortable.
I honestly do hope all of my American friends and family enjoy their Christmas season. It is a beautiful time of year, full of lights and smiles, where everyone can talk openly about peace and hope without being labeled a socialist or out of touch left wing idealist. Unfortunately late December in Egypt and much of the world is not so cheery and "peace on earth-y," it's a bit more dodge molotov cocktails thrown at you by the military from the roof of a bulding-y.
Love from Cairo,
Martha
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