As you all know Obama came to Egypt for an important political speech. I'm also really happy that he came because the streets were finally clean and empty! My roommate and I took advantage of the empty streets and walked around for 2 hours. It was an amazing site. You rarely see empty streets like the picture above during the middle of the day. There were a lot more soldiers on the streets also. One our way home, the soldiers blocked off an entire bridge and prohibited both cars and pedestrians from walking on the bridge for a long time...meaning that we had to find a detour home. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
As for Obama's speech, I really like it. If you didn't watch it, you can read the text at http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gkyWk2MK7xeDw2b1jPhFS6KsvPegD98JS4IO0
In general, the Egyptians were pleased with what Obama said and hoped that his words will come true. However the biggest complaint that I overheard was that they don't want any more words, but more action. I agree with them, but what are they doing? Writing comments about obliterating Israel on facebook will not help reduce the tension between Israel and Palestine, and it will not help them shed their violent stereotype.
We shall see. It was a fun event, but its over with and everything is back to normal. I'm just grateful that Obama didn't say anything offensive, otherwise it would have been difficult to walk in the streets!
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