“No matter how bad things are, you can always make things worse.” ― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

It has been officially announced, a few days ago, that work will not start until the 15^th of September. The initial shared feeling was joy, as it allows you to prepare even more and feel completely in control. The next set of feelings was the reminder that all this is due to the political situation here in Egypt.

It is all nice and happy to have a new work place, new lovely colleagues and a new awesome place that keeps your mind busy, as you try to make it feel like home; nevertheless, we all still remain very conscious of the hard times we live in.

Also, families and friends(Hi!), originally openly scared and expressing their thoughts, have recently been more quiet about it, yet again, none of them is completely sure about our decision and we know it.

The week end plan was to visit a part of town called Zamalek, which has been recommended to us as a great place where to start. We are desperate to discover Cairo and had decided to visit it in the morning (before the end of the morning prayer) and come home before the 1 o’clock deadline, since tomorrow is Friday.

Well, yesterday, it was reported that some shooting took place around in Mohandessen, a few doorsteps away from some colleagues; I do not believe that there were any casualties. These distressing news were reported to us, followed by a strong recommendation not to go anywhere near town tomorrow, even before 1.00.

So today, and evidently tomorrow, won’t be good days for Egypt.

As an expat, who has brought her family along, I know that these news (today and tomorrow), when heard by our families and friends, will create more anxiety for them. Of course, we will reassure them, ensuring them that we are safe here and will not go out, as we were told. This is the automatic “please don’t worry, we’ll be okay” response.

Now, the truth is that I do believe what I say when I reassure people, but I am also scared about the situation nowadays. I think of my family here, I feel deeply sorry for this country, I hate not being able to discover the town, I sometimes find myself panicking and thinking all sorts and then I bounce back to the quote:  “No matter how bad things are, you can always make things worse.”

Because in reality, we can be as anxious as we want, it will not solve or even impact on the situation. Instead, I recall that we came here because we strongly believed and still do that things will work out here for Egypt and for us and we are here because it was meant to be. I am, by no means, a fatalist, but as I was once told: “Everything happens for a reason”. I focus on the positive connotation and hope that my appointment, here and at this time, is one of those things.

An interesting read: 
https://medium.com/i-m-h-o/5e5c6b702fd5