President steps down

We were woken up by a phone call; it was Marwuan's mother she called to say that Hosni Mubarak had just resigned from the presidential position. Marwuan quickly ran to the remote and turned on the TV. I looked at my phone it was 4pm in the afternoon we had spent another day in bed. So much for me working on my tan while here in Egypt I was thinking. On the television we could see the revolutionist going crazy in Cairo. Hundreds of thousands of protesters crammed into Tahrir Square erupted with joy.People were waving Egyptian flags, dancing, singing and some even crying with happiness. These people had been camped in the square for 18 days now. And it had all paid off in the end. Still daylight fireworks were being let off in the sky. Even though I was not Egyptian and did not go through the 29 years of Mubarak's authoritarian lock on power, corruption, economic woes and widespread disparities between rich and poor, I felt joy come over me also. I couldn't believe I was in this country when such a milestone was taking place.

After watching the celebration for an hour we needed food. We asked the hotel for a menu but they told us that a lot of the things on the menu were not available at the time because they had no guest when something ran out they did not bother replacing the items. They did offer to go out and buy us whatever we wanted but we decided that we would go in town and see if any celebrations were going there. We called a jeep and made our way into town. In Dahab there are no taxi's as such but if you want to go from place to place you either contact a jeep driver or you flag down a Bedouin driving a utility truck and jump in the back tray.

In town there was no mass celebration with people dancing in the streets but the restaurant and shop owners were out on the path talking to each other and saying "Marbook" to fellow Egyptians that walked by which means congratulations. Marwuan stopped at a few restaurants that he went to regularly to talk to the staff. Even though I couldn't understand what they were saying I could tell that the news of Mubarak resigned was the greatest news they had heard in a long time. They were speaking so loud and waving their hands in the air while they spoke.

Continuing our walk through town we walked past a Muslim Brotherhood headquarters were people were starting to gather. These people were the happiest I had seen yet. Briefly Marwuan explained to me that Mubarak had treated this group very badly and because so they had to do most their work underground. They had a car with some children sitting on top waving an Egyptian flag that began moving down the street honking its horn. Behind the car was a group of people with a larger flag chanting in Arabic. We stood back and watched for a bit then Marwuan joined into the chants. I could tell that he wanted to join in to the celebrations. I told him to go and join. At first he was hesitant. "I need to go use the internet cafe anyway" I said. There was no holding him back now he had my approval. He ran off to join the parade yelling out the chants. "I'll meet you at the internet cafe when you're done" I yelled he nodded and continue to make his way down the road. As the parade made its way through the streets shop keepers would leave their shops and join in the parade it was forming to be quite a big group by the time I left them and walked into the internet cafe.

A hour passed and still no Marwuan I tried calling him but no answer, I decided I would take a walk through town centre to see if I could see them gathering somewhere. But I could not see them anywhere. I stopped at one of the restaurants and ordered a thickshake. I was starving by now I still had not eaten since waking up but a thickshake should do me over until Marwuan returns. Another hour passes by I am sitting looking out to the sea when Marwuan finally calls me. "Where are you I'm at the internet cafe" I laughed did he seriously think I would still be there. I told him my destination and he made his way down to meet me. When he arrived he was hot and exhausted, he drank a whole bottle of water before I got a word out of his mouth. "So where were you?" I asked. He explained to me that the parade just kept getting larger they had ended up walking to the edge of town and then once there they all started dancing and singing Egyptian songs. "They are still all there" he said "but I knew you would be alone so I caught a jeep back here". "Oh how nice of you" I said sarcastically. I was not angry but a little over waiting to eat. He could tell I was a little frustrated so he apologised. We ordered some food and once I was eating I was back in a good mood. By the time we finished eating the sun had gone down behind the mountains. That night we went up to a bar and had a few cocktails before heading back to the hotel for a early night. I wanted to get some sun tomorrow so I didn't want to be out all night and sleep the next day away.