Editor's note: The Poughkeepsie Journal recently spoke to 20-year-old Marist College student Jeff Hausner and 45-year-old Catherine Berghahn, a former LaGrange resident, about their experiences in Egypt amid the turmoil of government protests.
As thousands came to Tahrir Square in Cairo to call for the resignation of Egypt's 30-year authoritarian leader, Hosni Mubarak, 20-year-old Marist College student Jeff Hausner was among them, witnessing history up close.
He had arrived in Egypt a few days before the protests ignited on Jan. 25 for his first semester of study at the American University in Cairo through Marist's study-abroad program. As tensions mounted during the first week of protests, thousands of Americans working, living and studying in Egypt found themselves caught in a political tinderbox.
"There was no curfew or anything at this point," he said. "The advisers at the university said not to go."
Despite the warning, Hausner and four university students, all Americans, took a bus about 25 miles into the city on the afternoon of Jan. 27.
"The tension was thick," Hausner said. "A lot of people were there. The streets were cluttered, but no one was allowed in the square. Everyone was just waiting for something to happen. There were riot police wearing black with shields and helmets on the corners. They surrounded the square."
The five young men dressed to blend in, wearing khaki pants and long-sleeved shirts. Hausner had grown a full beard before arriving in the country at the behest of family members concerned with his safety.
"Everyone just started looking at us," Hausner said. "Being a big group and talking in English really gave us away. One person walked by us and said, 'Welcome to Egypt,' sarcastically."
It was not long after he arrived in Tahrir Square that a friend called Hausner on his cell phone to tell him the remaining buses on the way into the city square had been canceled. There were only two more buses going back that day.
Hausner and friends boarded a bus leaving Tahrir Square at 5:15 p.m. By the time they got back to the university, the government had announced a 10 p.m. curfew. Hours later, fire and tear gas filled the square.
Then, Internet and text services were shut down and cell-phone service was cut off.
"Things started getting much worse. The Internet stayed down for about a week. It was hard to keep in touch with my family. Everyone's parents were trying to contact the university. People were having trouble getting money from the ATM," he said.
Hausner said the university provided free bottled water, breakfast, lunch and dinner to students.
"We started watching English Al-Jazeera," he said.
Incomplete Picture
In the suburb of Maadi, a few miles south of Cairo, 45-year-old Catherine Berghahn also was watching the news.
Berghahn, a native of LaGrange working as a teacher at a school in Cairo, searched online for news from National Public Radio, Al-Jazeera and the BBC when the Internet came back the following week.
"State television is very controlled, so you're not getting the whole picture," she said by telephone. "They ran a whole bunch of commercials and songs showing loyalty to the government ... which they do a lot of anyway."
Though state television may have played down the protests, Berghahn said, some American media channels played them up.
"CNN is making it sound like everyone is under siege," she said. "When I talk to my family, it's hard to make them understand the real situation. Any news network is covering where the activity is."
Berghahn admitted there had been some tense nights in her neighborhood.
"We've had a couple of frightening nights, especially when the tanks rolled in," she said. "That first night, a lot of the police stations were under siege and the police kind of took off.
"At that point, there were people who weren't part of the protests who tried to take advantage," she said. "Some escaped from the local prisons. That's when you saw things being set on fire."
Late last week, order had, by and large, returned to her neighborhood.
"Today was extremely peaceful," she said Feb. 4.
Berghahn, who has lived in Cairo for five years, said the reasons leading to the uprising were varied. She rifled through her refrigerator, looking for examples.
"Here, I have a package of feta cheese," Berghahn said. "It costs about $7. That's cheap. The price of bread, milk and eggs, have all doubled. The price of food went up tremendously in the last year."
Economic disparity and unemployment have been the focus of much of the anger directed toward the Mubarak government throughout the protests.
"They's a great difference between rich and poor here," she said.
Berghahn, who said she was not an expert on Middle Eastern politics, explained the point of view of the Egyptians she knew as friends and co-workers.
"I think people want term limits. They want to see a government change and they want a voice," she said. "I don't think they feel they have one right now. But, they don't want anarchy. They don't want it to turn into a power vacuum."
She said she doubted that Islamic fundamentalists would be allowed to take control of the country.
"A lot of Egyptians are devout Muslims, but that doesn't make them fundamentalists," she said.
In fact, Berghahn said, Egypt has a large secular population.
"One of my Egyptian friends went with her family to the protests in Tahrir Square," she said. "When they got there, there were a couple of protesters who started chanting 'Allahu Akbar (Allah is great).' She said the crowd changed the chant to 'Mubarak must go,' in Arabic. The crowd was monitoring itself, keeping the focus."
Leaving Egypt
On Jan. 30, the U.S. State Department announced it would begin to evacuate American citizens from the country. Flights were made available to Americans citizens and their families.
"It was directed toward American tourists who didn't have other evacuation options," Berghahn said. "I had a few evacuation options through my employer."
Berghahn said, thus far, she was not concerned about her safety.
Members of Hausner's family, however, felt less secure about him.
When it was announced that classes would be postponed for a second week at the university, they made the decision to have him return home.
"We were lucky enough to have insurance with Global Rescue," said his mother, Barbara Hausner.
Global Rescue is a private Boston-based company, specializing in providing emergency medical and security services around the world. Before Hausner's arrival in Egypt, his parents purchased six months of insurance coverage with the company.
A few hours after being contacted by Jeff Hausner's parents, two Global Rescue team members met him outside the gates of the university.
"They were local Egyptians in plain clothes," he said.
The three drove through several checkpoints to the El Nouzha Airport in Alexandria.
"I was passed on to American men wearing Global Rescue polo shirts," he said. "They had everything planned. I went ahead of about 20 people in line at the airport. We had higher clearance."
Hausner boarded a Boeing 737 plane with Americans and Egyptians onboard.
The plane is described as a short-to-medium-range airplane by Boeing. There were weight restrictions for the flight.
"I had to leave a bag behind," he said. "We had to refuel twice, once in Prague and once in Iceland."
Hausner's parents drove through snow and ice to meet him at Dulles Airport in Washington at 3:30 a.m.
"We didn't care," said Barbara Hausner. "We were just happy to have him home."