Egypt from Gwenn's camera

My friend Gwenn lived in Egypt before coming here to teach.  Last week she went back to Cairo.  Here are a  few of her pictures.

Last Tuesday pro-Mubarak forces rode in on camels and horses to attempt to beat the anti-government using knives, rocks and guns.  After that protesters created a large blockade around the square.  To get in visitors were searched for weapons.  Here is Gwenn standing in the women's line.  She described the mood as festive.

 Or, I guess, as festive as you can be next to a tank.

 By this time the protests were in week 3.  Tents had become makeshift homes.

This is a tribute to those who had died in the protest.

For 30 years a person holding any one of these signs would have been quickly arrested and never heard from again.  After the first week it was clear to me that this could only end with the departure of Mubarak.  Too many people like these guys had their picture taken doing things that would have had them killed if Mubarak's special police were allowed to come back into power.  

If you know you will likely be dead if the protest ends you will be willing to stick to the protest for however long it takes.

 This is the burned out building of the Mubarak's party - the one that received 95% of the vote in the last (rigged) election.

 While hundreds of thousands took part in the protests, life still went on.  Shops were open.

 Coke was sold.

 And horses brought potatoes in from the countryside.