back… first impressions…and something else.

36 hours since my arrival in Cairo. In a whole – nothing changed. If there wouldn’t be all the tanks around, their muzzle most often pointed exactly in the direction I am coming from, the hundreds of military persons and especially this indescribable tension and atmosphere. You can feel it, but I can only try to find the right words: It is “in between”, everything seems to be possible, the good things and the bad things, there is hope mixed with fear and the knowledge, that the ones who supported the regime are still on deck, hidden or obvious. The people now mention what really happened. Not only the resignation of the president but also the resignation of a hundred of thousand tourists, the loss of famous artworks, the loss of many jobs and the loss of, primarily, security. Democracy is only a symptom of a special kind of behaviour. And this behaviour is not as common or god given as it seems like and maybe doesn’t fit to every culture in the same way, especially the democracy we are used to. The big word “democracy” is only a hull, that has to be filled with content. And the inflational use of the d-word is surely not in its sense. What are the basic needs of humans? Maybe these basic needs are a base for a happy life, however this is organised. You cannot eat democracy. But of course you might find the best way to produce food with free minded people in a good mood who dare to say what they want and think without having to fear any kind of sanctions. But to achieve this it not done by labeling.

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back soon

on Friday I will travel back to Egypt and I am very excited, what will wait for me there. In every case a different country compared to the one I left a two weeks ago. I hope the very best for the future of the egyptian people and I am looking forward to see some of them soon again!

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never ever…

…thought of this: http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news/foreign-residents-become-tense-amid-rising-xenophobia-egypt

Everyone seems to be seducible, even the egyptian people. It is hard to use the own brain and it might be difficult to gather for more information than the state-run televison.

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there is…

…a space beyond Midan Tahrir… not mentioned in the western media. All eyes are directed on the centre of Cairo and none is interested in what happens beside of this. It seem that most of us are more interested in blood and violence than in friendship and help and courage. We could ask ourselves why. Also the story of the mighty monster Muslim Brotherhood. We seem to like more horror stories than reality. We should learn to gather for information on our own.

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How…

a leader can ruin a beautiful country. We can see how it is doable… join some poor people, give them some money and tell them to destroy the countries history as well as the soul of its people. Then tell the army and the police not to intervene while the protestors are going to kill each other. Because this is not enough tell your deputy to spread some lies and to tell strange stories. And for sure, never remove nor resign, just keep stubborn till the bloody end and the country is thrown into the fire of chaos. Now, lean back an laugh and laugh and laugh…

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away

The flight was long planned and now I am heading for Germany. With a short stay in Paris. It is not the worst time to leave Cairo for a moment, but I feel with my friends there and also would have wanted to stay with them. Things get quite complicated as soon as people are going to kill each other. Once this started it seems difficult to stop. At the moment the fever spreads all over the country, especially in upper Egypt, between Alexandria and Suez. We will see what tomorrow will happen.

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quiet… but worried

My Cab-Driver told me this morning that he is not able to bring me to the airport tomorrow because the life of all egyptians will end today… for sure he meant this as a joke, despite there was some sorrow in his glance. At the moment everything is quiet and there is business as usual, on the streets as many cars as always and a very nervous bus driver who is in charge to bring us to the GUC…

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just to remember…

…this could be the beginning of something new… a tiny change or a huge change… we will see…

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news/mahalla-protesters-smash-mubarak-photo-0

http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,741584,00.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/01/25/egypt.protests/index.html?hpt=T1

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and the winner is…

…the strongest.

It happened in China and it happens here, in Egypt. People on the street argue for a short moment and than they are going to fight each other, with everything they have, fist and feet. And the most astonishing thing for an european is: none cares. Especially not the police. Why? Because the police is the reason why people have to fight each other. If all arguments are used there is no other solution than to fight. And arguments won’t be available enough because you need education to use arguments. People can’t rely on justice nor on the police. And they have no education. There are no rules nor laws which could be used. There is no justice but for the rich or the strong. The weakest are suppressed either by the authorities or by the ones who have more. The rich ones rule this country and no police will dare to stop them since they are not going to kill someone. Poor people have no opportunity to complain. Their only solution is to hurt themselves as a protest. And the poor people have nothing to fight for but their live after live. Inch’Allah. And the rich have no interest to change something. So everything will stay as it is. You could quote Marx here. But maybe this would not be the best idea. Education will help, to open the horizon for new chances and opportunities. But how to reach the poor? How to wake their interest for more than the holy book? And for sure education is not the medicine for everything. But maybe a good start.

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and now the news…

Time is running… the first semester is gone and my students told me not to stay in germany… and I promised to come back. Next semester will be even more exciting than the first one. Many things are going to happen. On Tuesday there will be a big demonstration against the police and the Emergency Law. Last week 9 persons tried to burn themselves as a protest against their treatment by authorities. But the most dangerous thingy here in Egypt is still the traffic, especially if you are in a GUC-bus. No, not really, this was a joke dear GUC. It could be even worse. The grades are given and the sun is shining again. Although it is still cold at night, the temperatures rise during daytime. Everything will be fine.

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