When the second Gulf War broke out, we were living in Cairo, Egypt – specifically in a small suburb called Maadi. Many of the consulates were based there, including the Israeli consulate. It was very scary walking past there – Mossad agents look just like they do in TV programs. Westerners and other expats flocked to Maadi for the housing, situation and the Cairo American School.
Despite all the fear of the first few days, I was highly amused by how many Canadian stickers suddenly appeared on local cars. Were they really all Canadian or were they wussy ‘mericans? I stand out like a sore thumb anyway so there was no point in pretending I was anything other than American but I wasn’t stupid enough to shout it from the rooftops.
Even funnier, in my eyes, was that would be terrorists didn’t really care if you were Canadian or American. We all sound the same, don’t we, eh? I did think it was remarkably negligent that the American school had bright yellow school buses that stood out like a target.
On a more serious note, I feel so sad for all the innocent holiday makers that died on the Russian charter plane leaving from Sharm el Sheik. It is a lovely resort on the Red Sea that in happier times was incredibly popular with Israelis, would you believe? Russians and Europeans took advantage of the inexpensive vacations in a beautiful place.
Security is always high in Cairo International Airport but terrorists often look for softer targets which this would have been. RIP.
Letters from Cairo, A Kindle Book by Kerry Duncan
Postcards from Kerry 