"Lips that would kiss form prayers to broken stone"
October 09, 2004
Well, I guess by now everyone has heard about the explosions that took place in Taba, Egypt this weekend. I was on my way back from a night out with friends when Mini and Mo got a message from our friend Mido (who is in Dubai) asking them if they were alright, and that�s how we found out. A friend of ours was celebrating her birthday in Taba, and Mini and Mo were supposed to be there, but decided not to go. Thank god. The birthday girl turned out to be okay, but spent a good part of the night in the police station being interrogated. I still don�t have the full details on that.
But we were all shaken, of course. All except for PG who was sitting in the back seat of Mini's car with me when Mo and Mini got the news in the front seat. Though they were dropping me off at home, the other three were planning to continue their night out and go to a bar, but after hearing the news Mo and Mini weren�t really feeling up to it, obviously. PG, I guess, was...bothered that this would put a damper on his night. Gar. Let�s just say, Mini and I are none too happy with him these days, for other reasons, but especially not after he called up Mini on Friday morning ostensibly to see how she was feeling, and said, �Well, I figured you guys were used to this sort of thing by now.�
PG admits he has no soul, and likes to dramatically declare that he feels like he has �lost [his] humanity,� but that was just too much. We are not used to this sort of thing because 1) Shit like this does not happen that often in our country. The last attack on Egyptian soil was 7 years ago in 1997, and the last bombing was in 1993. For a detailed list of attacks on Egyptian soil since 1992 go here. And more importantly, 2) You never get used to this shit. At least I hope not. Sure, we may become a little desensitized, and it is easy, for example to push the P-I conflict and Iraq to the back of our minds, but it is still always there. All the time. You never get used to the unrest.
Anyway, we are a little shocked and a little saddened. And a little scared. We are all obviously reconsidering plans we had for the new year to go to Sharm al-Sheikh, visit St. Katherine�s, and spend a night atop Mt. Moses. Not that the damper in our plans is the problem, it�s just the idea that we are now going to feel like we have to be a little more cautious.
Anyway, we�ll have to see how investigations progress, because at this point they really have no clue who is responsible for the attacks.
***
Only one friend emailed to check and make sure that none of my family and/or friends was hurt in the attacks. (Not that I expected anyone to do that). It was very sweet, though. Everyone I know is fine thanks.
Incidentally, this is the same friend I was ranting against in the last entry. I really wasn�t fishing for support when I wrote that last entry, I just figured, it�s my diary damn it, and I�ll vent if I want to. So I did, and I was surprised to find support pouring in via email, notes, and IMs. One friend even said she battled all day to install MSN messenger on her computer after reading that entry partly so that she could chat with me. You guys are awesome, really.
My friend, after reading that entry had two things to say: 1) He didn�t recall telling me that no one wanted to hear it, just that I should get over it. Heh. And 2) He apologized. He hadn�t really realized that what he said had really bothered me that much.
Well, rest assured, I would never let anything anyone said be the sole reason I did or did not write about/ do something. I was just trying to express the fact that I felt really deflated after we chatted�and I just needed to get over that, and recapture the enthusiasm with which I�d written the first entry.
I will continue the discussion of identity at some point. It really does take a lot for me to organize my thoughts though. It�ll come in installments, and it will come soon.
Till then, check out this cool/amusing political photo essay.
Enjoy, and as the Cairo trendy like to say, �Peaces.�