WE'RE SAFE

Several of our blog followers are wondering about the events in Egypt at the moment. As you know, an anti-Islamic movie was made by someone calling himself Sam Bacile (Im Becile?) and there have been several protests in Egypt and other Muslim countries. So far, all of the protests are taking place around Tahir Square in the heart of Cairo and we are a good distance from there. We have been warned to take extra precaution wherever we are but here in Maadi things are calm. I compare it to perhaps being in Oakville during the G8 protests two years ago in downtown Toronto. It's a relatively small group of rabble rousers doing what they do best while 99% of the country carries on with their lives. We went to our usual place for coffee this morning and the owner seemed to be going out of his way by saying, "You are welcome here." Of course most of the anger is directed towards Americans but we could certainly be mistaken for residents of that country. We appreciate your concern but at this point everything here is calm and peaceful.

The map below shows the Google driving directions from our street to Tahir Square. What ever it says, double it unless you're driving there at 6am when there isn't any traffic or triple it if you're driving there anytime after 6pm.