It's been a rough couple of days for me, mom.
My 17 year old daughter is in Egypt, studying Arabic.
I've been so proud of her and her desire to not only learn a new language (she also speaks and writes Japanese), but to do it in a foreign country. The concept of her really immersing herself in culture and language in a country where women are 2nd class citizens, it really just makes me in awe of her. Now, I just sort of want her home...
Protests have been taking place all over Cairo. Her host family doesn't think much of the protests. They don't feel unsafe, they just avoid the areas where protests occur. That is until yesterday, now they are down the street from the apartment.
1:15 PM N: i know
but my brother says it wasnt that bad today
but tomorrow will be really bad
there was a protest on my street today
i'm a little freaked
and there like what eva
And here I am, all the way across an ocean getting text messages from London about Egypt from concerned family members and now my kid says:
Sent at 4:23 PM on Thursday
N: lol
idk
they've blocked FB in egypt
She loaded pictures this morning of a birthday celebration but now, can't seem to communicate with me. And tomorrow, everyone expects it to ramp up. I got this email from AFS:
"AFS-USA and AFS-Egypt are working in consultation with AFS-International and Control Risks Group to monitor the situation in Egypt as it relates to our students’ safety. Control Risks Group is the independent, specialist risk consultancy firm that AFS works with to ensure the safety of our participants worldwide.
AFS-Egypt's first step was to reinforce the instructions to students not to travel to the demonstrations and to avoid any large gatherings. In the meantime, our Participant Support staff in the US has checked in with all natural families to reinforce the message and to reinforce that we will recommend the immediate return of any students who violate the advice they are being given. Our experience in Tunisia (and in previous situations over the years), is that students, being the age they are, possessing the many good qualities including curiosity, empathy and intellect that would normally make them excellent exchange students, they are sometimes inclined to "witness history" as it unfolds, counter to the instructions they are given. This will not be allowed.
If the demonstrations begin to spread beyond distinct areas of Cairo, AFS-Egypt might instruct the students not to travel to school or to language lessons. Should the situation escalate, our instructions to the students will be to stay in the safety of their home. However, at this point, we are still at the stage of telling them to avoid crowds and to stay at home in the evenings and to make sure their families know exactly where they are going if it deviates from school or language lessons.
Deciding to move students out of Cairo or out of Egypt would include several factors, such as whether there is a reasonable sense that the demonstrations would be likely spread to other parts of Egypt, and whether there is sufficient support infrastructure for the participants to continue their program in another part of the country, whether schools close and for how long they may likely close, whether access to health care or other vital services becomes difficult to ensure, how accessible safe routes of passage are, etc.
Security assessments right now do not indicate that Americans or other foreigners will be targeted in these protests, which would be one trigger to begin considering evacuation. The outbreak of clashes between armed groups would be another trigger. Of course, we would also look to the US embassy for their assessments as well. Right now, we believe the appropriate precautions are being taken in light of the present situation.
We will continue to keep you posted, and will most certainly make you aware of anything that impacts the participants’ daily routines."
So, I'm mom, and the advice I'm giving my child is to stay in the apartment. And feeling that the information I'm getting isn't helping me or my kid. You know, I'd like Egypt to be freer, but right now, me, the mom, would really like that to happen 6 months from now. I'm just saying.
So, who's got some words of wisdom for me?