Relocating to Revolution

I am noting with some degree of satisfaction that my boyhood hero, Thomas Jefferson, was hanging in Paris at the beginning of the French Revolution. Granted, he was then the American Minister to France and therefore very privileged and very secure. Also granted, that he accepted an invitation from George Washington to become a member of Washington's Cabinet, thus escaping some of the Revolution's more prickly moments.

Fast-forward two hundred and twenty some odd years. My wife and I are about embark for Egypt, and were are, at least by Egyptian standards, as privileged as my pal Jefferson, but we are far from secure. We are, as you might well imagine, a little scared. It is one thing to live in the central part of LA or Memphis (I have survived both), but it is another thing entirely to willingly relocate into a nation in the throes of another chapter of its recent revolution and having just experienced a military coup (c'mon, it IS a coup).

So why are we going?

1. We signed a two-year contract in February, after the situation in Egypt became interesting but well before things in Egypt became REALLY interesting.
2.  The school we are heading to (Cairo American College) is an IB World School that is 68 years old with an extremely diverse student population of 1200 and headed by an individual that actually knows a thing or two about international education. These variables trump our previous school.
3. We have really good jobs with a really good salary and benefits package. At least one of these variables trump our previous school; and we would like to be able to retire at some point.
4. We are not independently wealthy and cannot afford to just take a year off and hang out.
5. Being an eldest child and a middle child, my wife and I are hopelessly norm-following, and breaking a contract is not really a part of our genetic make-up.
6. Despite appearances on CNN or the BBC (note that I am at the present moment uncertain as to whether Fox News knows where Egypt is located), large swathes of Egypt are experiencing peace, the Cairo suburb of Maadi (where our 4-bedroom flat is located) being one of those locations.
7. Being the largest international school in Cairo, CAC is being constantly advised by both the American and British embassies. If we need to evacuate, there is a definite plan.
8. Egyptians regularly eat pita, cheese, hummus, olives, a variety of lovely roasted vegetables, as well recognizable cuts of chicken, lamb, and fish. There are also places where a sweet-loving Egyptian can purchase a slice of pie. Egyptians do not eat tree ear, duck butts or roach testicles. These variables likewise trump our previous location.
9. The sounds of gunshots are a not uncommon phenonomenon in Memphis. We are used to it. In fact, these sounds now lull us to sleep at night. We expect to sleep well in Cairo.
10. My wife is one of the most successful peace-keepers that I know, and her services are needed in Egypt.

So, there are at least 10 reasons that we will be boarding a flight bound for Cairo in just three days. Tongue-in-cheek comments aside, yes, we are apprehensive and yes, we do understand and appreciate your concern. We will be extremely cautious and will not take any undue risks ... promise ... scout's honor.

Here is another promise. I will be blogging about our experiences once per week for the next year in the hopes that my writings will help to alleviate your concerns and will also make me a ton of money one day. My blog posts will be linked to my Facebook page, so follow along if you like. Questions will always be welcome. Until next week ... wish us well and wish us luck. We are going to need it.

Freedom

Freedom.

Obfuscated by empty rhetoric

On the right and left;

Blurred by vacuous slogans:

"Freedom is not free;"

Overshadowed by plows gone silent;

Abandoned for olive drabs and desert khakis;

Drowned out by a staccato of sound bites;

Held hostage by want and avarice;

Crippled by demagogues and vacant ideologies.

Freedom.

But it also rings.

From sunny slopes in California,

To the archipelagos in the Carolinas;

From prodigous New Hampshire hills,

To that Stone Mountain in Georgia.

Freedom.

It also marches,

Head held high and proud, 

Bestowing blessings of free speech and expression;

Offering the opportunity to believe or not to believe;

Vigilantly guarding against the wolves of the night,

Want and ignorance.

Freedom.

It is unalienable and irrefutable,

Protecting life, liberty and opportunity;

Judging, yes,

But on the content of character,

And the merit of the mind,

Not on the color of skin,

Or the gender of a partner,

Or the bulk of a wallet,

Or the barrel of a gun.

Freedom.

It should be cherished and held dear.

It is ours,

If we can keep it.