Gabriel M.A.
My Red Dot Glows For You
...this weekend, 'cause we have these tickets from over a few months ago. T'was a present, early one at that.
We were going to go to Tunis, but we decided against it (last year) only because it'd be too cold this time of the year. So we sighed in relief a few weeks ago when we said "well, it's a good thing we got these tickets for Egypt".
A friend of mine who is staying in Tunis (she has family there) has said that the media has exaggerated the commotion and that it's localized in a small section of the cities where demonstrations are happening.
I've also read in various newspaper's column comments from Egyptian residents (residents, expats and tourists) that they get calls and messages from family and friends abroad and tell them that there's nothing to worry about, because what they see themselves is not as much as what others (and themselves) see in the media.
Of course, we have decided that visiting "the pyramids" and all sites around Cairo is now an option (and low priority) to be decided once we're there. Then again, it may be the last chance in a long time...you never know.
My question is this: what would you do (other than cancel)? What would the photographer in you do, and what would the collective, objective person in you do?
I am very sympathetic to their cause and their feelings (I also grew up in dire economical conditions and have lived through effective dictatorships), so I know I'll also be tempted to go to the streets and take photos of their struggle. My copine and the others will, of course, not hear of it and talk me out of it.
We refuse to partake in collective foreign (for Egypt) hysteria, yet want to be sensible. Canceling would mean giving in to it, and also contribute to an economic fall (tourism is an important force in their economy). Doing otherwise is (in most foreigner's eyes) risking trouble.
We were going to go to Tunis, but we decided against it (last year) only because it'd be too cold this time of the year. So we sighed in relief a few weeks ago when we said "well, it's a good thing we got these tickets for Egypt".
A friend of mine who is staying in Tunis (she has family there) has said that the media has exaggerated the commotion and that it's localized in a small section of the cities where demonstrations are happening.
I've also read in various newspaper's column comments from Egyptian residents (residents, expats and tourists) that they get calls and messages from family and friends abroad and tell them that there's nothing to worry about, because what they see themselves is not as much as what others (and themselves) see in the media.
Of course, we have decided that visiting "the pyramids" and all sites around Cairo is now an option (and low priority) to be decided once we're there. Then again, it may be the last chance in a long time...you never know.
My question is this: what would you do (other than cancel)? What would the photographer in you do, and what would the collective, objective person in you do?
I am very sympathetic to their cause and their feelings (I also grew up in dire economical conditions and have lived through effective dictatorships), so I know I'll also be tempted to go to the streets and take photos of their struggle. My copine and the others will, of course, not hear of it and talk me out of it.
We refuse to partake in collective foreign (for Egypt) hysteria, yet want to be sensible. Canceling would mean giving in to it, and also contribute to an economic fall (tourism is an important force in their economy). Doing otherwise is (in most foreigner's eyes) risking trouble.
