Egypt after the revolution

I am back to my community in Cairo. Nothing seems to be changed but actually everything is different. I have missed the revolution but I am still in time to live its immediate effects.

Cairo under the curfew is not the same any more. Forget sitting at Taka’yba until the dawn. Last order in Hurreya is at 11pm, and at 11,30 we have to pull ourself together and run, to be at home before midnight.

The house of love, where I have spent the most meaningful days of my life, has been rented by someone else, but my old orange bedcover is still hanging on the balcony. It has its meaning also. It helps me to realize that the old days are over, and I have started a new phase of my life. Now I am sharing a flat with a Lebanese girl very close to Downtown.

There are two tanks parked under my building and dozens of soldiers sitting in front of the gate of the building. They are supposed to give me a sense of security, but for me they represent more the ghost of the past demonstrations. I look at them yawning from my window, and I can even hear the music played by their mobiles. I would like to throw roses at them, or teddy bears, just to keep them busy. Actually the soldiers are the new stars of the revolution. They are well-dressed and good-looking. Groups of teenagers stand around them to take photos and their mobile numbers. 

 The revolution has also made a new business: tshirts for 15 pounds “Rais up your head, you are Egyptian”, stickers “25 January” and even glasses and mugs with the colours of the Egyptian flag. The name of the metro station Mubarak has been canceled with a red pencil in every car of the underground and replaced with Revolution “25^th January”. In every taxi, corner, shop, or coffee shop people talk about politics. Yes, the lazy, selfless Egyptians, whose slogan was Ma’lesh, Bokra, in sha allah ( No Problem, Tomorrow, God willing) now are concerned to change their country and to continue their struggle for democracy.

Today was the big day. The Referendum for the Constitution amendments. Our friends went to vote for the first time in their life. And I was there with them, queuing for 3 hours, under the sun, looking at their patience and excitement. Men, women, old and young people, discussing about yes or no, sharing food and water, taking photos of their red fingers. And actually their red finger was the first conquest of this revolution. We still don’t know what will come out of it, if they will accept the amendments of if they will manage to have a new constitution. But the core of this day was that for the first time people felt that their voice had a meaning.

Egypt is a long story. Hikeya. And everyone is a storyteller.Hakkawy. I could stand listening for hours, with my eyes and my mouth wide open and my dreamy attitude, my usual face expression for which everybody like to make fun of me.