Accept the presence of hunger. Do not accept the absence of dignity.

CNN - Two dead after thousands protest in rare Egypt outpouring

NPR - In Egypt, Anti-Government Day of Revolt underway

NPR - Egyptian protesters demand an end to Mubarak's rule

al-Masry al-Youm - Protesters declare open-ended sit-in in Tahrir Square; experts fear escalation

al-Masry al-Youm - Rubber bullets fail to break up massive demonstration in Alexandria

BBC - Egypt protests: Three killed in "Day of Rage" protests

The government has blocked twitter and some of facebook, the online networks which were primarily used to plan the demonstrations.  They have scrambled and shut down mobile phone service all across Cairo.  They have fired rubber bullets on protesters and plan to start using live ammunition as of 11:00 pm Cairo time.  They have scrambled al-Jazeera news and made the national networks show only video footage of cute animals.  There are tanks and riot police in the streets of Cairo.

Please, read as many of these as you can and educate yourself and the people around you about what's going on in Egypt, and in Tunisia.  This could be a huge moment - Egyptians are trying to rise to their feet, to stand up for their own denied political freedoms, their own right to a just government, the right to food and to dignity.

My friends in Egypt, who are all ok as far as I know though knowing them they're in the thick of things, tell me that the CNN coverage is a little histrionic, but not inaccurate.  CNN takes an interesting perspective, seeming almost to assume that the protests are bad and damaging to US interests - which I suppose they are.  But that is because, in my opinion, the US is on the wrong side, and I honestly foresee it staying on the wrong side.  Backing the Mubarak regime - corrupt and abusive beyond description - is not a defense of democracy in the Middle East.  It's a defense of a status quo that is destroying the lives of 80 million Egyptians and countless others in that region.  These people, inspired by the brave Tunisians, are finally passionate enough and desperate enough that they will face the government and fight.  If the United States really gave a damn about democracy in the Middle East, they would see their way through to supporting Egyptians' right to real democratic government.  Odds are, they won't - if the Mubarak government falls in Egypt, it will mean a complete reevaluation and restrategizing of US Middle Eastern policy, perhaps especially as regards Israel and Palestine.  And that's too big a risk for the US government to put in the hands of the Egyptian people - even when those people have taken to the streets in their tens of thousands to scream for change and for justice.

Read what you can.  Do what you can.  I haven't been in Egypt long, and I have very mixed feelings about the country and my experience in it, but I'll tell you this.  For the first time, I am desperate to go back to Egypt, to be part of all this.  For the first time, I am proud of Egypt.  Insha'allah, whatever comes of all this is also something that I, and more importantly Egyptians, can be proud of.

Fáilte roimh Baile Átha Cliath!

....or, Welcome to Dublin!!!




Joyce in a little bit, but for now...my main man, Yeats.

HE MOURNS FOR THE CHANGE THAT HAS COME UPON HIM AND HIS BELOVED, AND LONGS FOR THE END OF THE WORLD

Do you not hear me calling, white deer with no horns?
I have been changed to a hound with one red ear;
I have been in the Path of Stones and the Wood of Thorns,
For somebody hid hatred and hope and desire and fear
Under my feet that they follow you night and day.
A man with a hazel wand came without sound;
He changed me suddenly; I was looking another way;
And now my calling is but the calling of a hound;
And Time and Birth and Change are hurrying by.
I would that the Boar without bristles had come from the West
And had rooted the sun and moon and stars out of the sky
And lay in the darkness, grunting, and turning to his rest.

--- Thanks for that one, Mads.

THE CAT AND THE MOON

THE cat went here and there
And the moon spun round like a top,
And the nearest kin of the moon,
The creeping cat, looked up.
Black Minnaloushe stared at the moon,
For, wander and wail as he would,
The pure cold light in the sky
Troubled his animal blood.
Minnaloushe runs in the grass
Lifting his delicate feet.
Do you dance, Minnaloushe, do you dance?
When two close kindred meet.
What better than call a dance?
Maybe the moon may learn,
Tired of that courtly fashion,
A new dance turn.
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
From moonlit place to place,
The sacred moon overhead
Has taken a new phase.
Does Minnaloushe know that his pupils
Will pass from change to change,
And that from round to crescent,
From crescent to round they range?
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
Alone, important and wise,
And lifts to the changing moon
His changing eyes.
---
I've tramped around cobblestone streets, been to Trinity College, had pints and pints of cider, not understood people speaking to me in my own language, been in bookshops and coffeeshops, seen gold and silver and jewels, chalices and brooches, seen the mutilated bodies of ancient humans preserved in ancient bog, crossed bridges, stood by rivers, laughed at spires, smiled at graffiti, heard new music, read new books, tasted familiar foods, and best of all, been with the ones I love. 

ζωή

I swam in the Aegean in January, watching the sun set and the moon rise, all alone on an endless volcanic rock beach.  Just me and the wine-dark sea.

I've been learning Greek in bits and pieces.  Next year, I'm either taking Intro Ancient Greek or Intro Italian.  Just for fun.

It's strange to miss people all over the world.  People all over the US, in Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Philly, Maryland, Nevada, Connecticut, France, and Ireland, and all over the world having their own amazing adventures.

I am a part of all that I have met.  Missing these people is like missing parts of myself.

Ireland in 48 hours!

The internet here depends on the weather. In Athens.

Skyros is wonderful. 

I'm freezing cold all the time, eating lots of rice cakes, getting covered in mud, I haven't put on mascara or checked my email for a week, (for that matter, I've been wearing mostly the same clothes every day this week), I ache everywhere...but last night I built a fire that burned all night long, read a whole book in one night, woke up the next morning and fed/watered/mucked for 34 ponies and two horses.  The people here are great, the scenery is to die for, and I'm having such a great adventure.  As hard and exhausting as it is, I think I'm actually loving every minute of it.

But I'm still counting down to Ireland, and my family.  

SKYROS

In just a few hours, I'l be leaving this beautiful apartment with its crazy cats and gracious hostess on Erechthiou St. and headed by bus and by boat to the very remote island of Skyros (hint: pronounced skeeeerrrrrros) to work on a Skyrian pony reserve and organic farm for two weeks.  It's through the volunteer network WWOOF and works like this  - they house me and feed me free of charge, I do whatever farm work needs doing as long as I'm there.  And I get to play with ponies!

Internet may be patchy, but I'll be in touch when I can.  Wish me luck with my first adventure of the new year!