A letter from Cairo on February 11, 2011

Today I walked the streets of Egypt proud--proud of my people and my country. It took us 18 days of protests to force Mubarak and his corrupt regime to resign. Their accounts will be frozen and the billions of dollars that should've gone into building a better and cleaner country will finally be restored for the good of our nation.
Mubarak left and we're all proud of getting rid of a corrupt dictator but it's the incidents I've witnessed with my own eyes throughout this revolution that has me swollen with pride. When Muslims prayed on a bridge, the police sprayed them with water and even though some slipped and fell, they stood back up and resumed. Egyptians of all religions were moved by this and when the water was pointed back at them, they created another front line of prayers. People kept coming in to reduce the impact of the water.
The following Friday Christians circled us Muslims during our prayers and protected us like human shields. On Sunday when the "Sunday of Martyrs" mass took place in Tahrir, Muslims did the same and protected them. Moments after, Christians and Muslims held hands and chanted in unity. Priests and sheikhs embraced each other and the thousands of observers were in tears of joy.

The days that followed were less intense but when Wael Ghoneim, the administrator of the Facebook group that called for a protest, was released by the police, he went on TV and asked not be regarded as a hero because he spent all the days in a dark room while the Egyptians took it to the street. When the host showed him a picture of all the martyrs, he broke into tears and sobs. Ghoneim got up and left afterwards, "I want to leave." Is what he said. He couldn't take it anymore.

The following day millions went to Tahrir to listen to his speech. He said more of the same but the importance is in the fact that he managed to re-energize the protesters. Hope was restored and strengthened. Tahrir Square was more like festival than anything else. With the absence of thugs, police and danger, Tahrir Square went from the most dangerous place to be at in Egypt to the most peaceful. People shared food, medical supplies and services. Tents were set up and protesters fought boredom with humor. Songs, jokes and signs circled the area and brought laughs and smiles to Egyptians all over the city. On Thursday, former (the sound of that makes me feel so good) President Mubarak announced that he would address the nation within an hour.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/foreignc/2011/02/a-letter-from-cairo-on-february-11-20...