"Niles from home (part 3)" by Simon Dow

into the crowds firing there shotguns directly at people . The violence carried on for much of the night, the city was alive people shouting and firing gun shots filled the air. The next morning was surreal the police had disappeared from the city, the police station was deserted , we went outside to see what was happening and there was a pleasant calm, almost like a festival vibe we could see across the bridge to the Mubarak's government offices, which were on fire. The military were directing the traffic, and as we got further along we could see tanks and a heavy presence of military, but as far as we could see there was no sign of the police, then out came the camera, and I was like a Japanese tourist on cocaine I started snapping away at the burnt out cars and tanks that littered the streets . The days that followed were somewhat confusing with so many mixed messages, we had no telephones or internet access after the revolution, so what info we had was all through the TV (state TV), and this was saying that everything was ok and there was no trouble -al jezaara was on the ground reporting directly and given travel updates , then we found out about the curfew 3pm to 6am which meant not going to work, as all the hotels in Cairo had ceased trading, everybody was panic buying at the super markets and the Carrefour we normal used was looted and had been burnt out. Now after 6 days of utter chaos it time to get myself and my family out of Cairo safely, the information we were receiving was telling us to leave. So I was sent out by the hotel on 30 days unpaid vacation, where I had to book my own flights and the company would reimburse me on my return to Cairo, on top of that the banks where all shut, the atm machines where turned off, so we had no access to money, we still had no phones, or internet. We finally managed to get a message to my family, where we were able then to get flights booked out of Cairo. The next day as we drove to the airport we could see the extent of the damage, and the heavy army presence. We were all really glad when we got to the airport, after we got checked in are flight was cancelled at the last minute which a fcukin ball ache, as now it was going to take us 3 days to get to Dublin first flight was to Jordan, where we spent the night, then we flew to Istanbul again we had to spend the night there and then finally we were in Dublin. In all fairness we did not mind as long as we were out of Cairo and we were all safe that was the important thing. Now I have returned to Cairo with my family, as my son is at the school here and in the middle of doing his Gsce's so he's a critical stage of his education, my contract is now on a 28 day rolling basis. .the hotel business in the Cairo has lost millions of dollars the restaurants are sitting empty and it will take at least another year for the country recover from this. The people are still protesting the army is still on the streets and there still a curfew in place. Me I am here to make money pure and simple, no money no job no point staying, so on that note its destination unknown. And a special thanks must go out to the British embassy Cairo who where as much help as an igloo in the desert.