An American couple who traveled to Egypt for the cultural antiquities and the healing rays of the Middle Eastern sunshine got more than they bargained for when they were caught up in a people’s uprising.
Ellen Shaughnessy, a real estate broker, and her husband Ed Shaughnessy, a lawyer, from Easton, Pa., love traveling and planning trips. After Ed learned they could reach Egypt on frequent flyer points, he got online to explore all the sights Egypt has to offer.
Arriving on Jan. 21, the couple spent a full week enjoying archeological sites. They joined a cruise on the Nile, where they visited an ancient Nubian village. While in Cairo, Ellen described in an e-mail to a friend how the splendor of the pyramids appeared like an apparition amid the trash, pollution, traffic, smog, and city slums one passes through to reach them.
The couple’s first indication that something political was amiss came on Monday, Jan. 24, when their guide told them he was getting Twitter messages calling for protests in Tahrir Square the following day.
Facebook postings about the gathering were referencing Tunisia. The protest was planned to occur on a national holiday honoring the police.
According to Ed, who spoke with The Epoch Times on the telephone after returning to the United States on Tuesday, “the people of Egypt saw what was happening [in Tunisia] and they thought if they can do it, we can do it.” He added that there seems to be a universal hatred of the police.
“Every Egyptian has a story about how the police shake them down for money, they beat people, put them in jail without charges, and they get tortured in these police jails,” he said.
Demonstrations Begin
The Shaughnessys heard that there were clashes last week that had left at least two dead, between the police and people who demanded the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak.
On Friday, the couple arrived back in Cairo with a plan for more sightseeing. From the airport, where they met a guide, they saw police vehicles filled with riot police heading into the city, and they discovered the doors of the Egyptian museum were shuttered.
Next, at Cairo’s famed Citadel, they were the only tourists in sight. A security guard eventually told them they had to leave.
Slightly disappointed, the couple checked into another hotel. That afternoon, they witnessed military tanks rolling along the major thoroughfare in front of the hotel. People were standing outside watching, clearly excited and filled with anticipation, said Ellen.
