Egypt update

Some of my Egyptian friends are now back Egypt and the story is good and bad:  The revolution seems to have taken hold and most associated with the old regime of Mubarak are out of any power.  The problem is the streets are not safe in many parts of the city.  The police were pro-Mubarak so they have been discredited and their ranks have dwindled.  The military - who facilitated the revolution are trying to take over the police duty but it's not enough.  

On the bright side, if you can avoid getting robbed the tourist sites are dirt cheap - a dollar to take a camel ride at the Pyramids.  

******

Learned something new:  My friend Mohammed Hussein (a former student) is spending the summer in Egypt and his sister is getting married next week.  Because a relative died in her fiance's family there can be no music at the wedding or reception.  If anyone in the extended family dies there can be no music played in the presence of the family for 40 days afterward.  

How interesting!  If we did that in the US nervous couples would be calling all cousins on a regular basis before the wedding, "Remember, drive safe.  Look both ways before you cross the street... Make sure grandma takes her medicine..."