BOMB ROCKS FAMOUS TOURIST MARKET IN EGYPT

I will update everyone on my past week later tonight (EDIT: uploading pictures is taking too long, it will be done tomorrow, I promise!), but I felt like I should write about this while it is still fresh in my mind..

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/02/22/world/AP-ML-Egypt-Blast.html?_r=1&hp

A bomb went off today in Cairo at Khan al-Khalili, that market I do not like (not saying the market deserved it, I was just using that as a reference for the loyal readers that may or may not exist). I am not sure exactly when it happened, but the reports I have read were filed around 8:30-9pm Egypt-time (1:30-2pm ET), so I would guess around 8pm my time.

I have been planning on studying in Cairo for a few years so the thought of a bomb going off in the city has crossed my mind before (although I still say it is very safe here!)- I just did not expect to find out about it from the Huffington Post.

Classes on Sunday (the business/school week in Egypt is Sunday to Thursday) go until 8pm for me, so I was at campus all day. After class, I got on my bus and headed back to the dorm. Getting back around 9, I went straight up to my room and turned my computer on. My homepage is the New York Times website, but I generally go to the Huffington Post before the Times site can load- I guess the Times is not liberal enough.

On the Huffington Post, under their main-story gigantic-picture (I think it had something to do with bank nationalization), was the link for the story titled "BOMB ROCKS FAMOUS TOURIST MARKET IN EGYPT". My first reaction was simply, "Huh?" I then read the article- a bomb went off in Khan al-Khalili killing 1 French tourist (although I have also read that 4 were killed) and injuring 15-18 others, mostly tourists, but a few Egyptians.

While in Cairo, I heard about the bombing the same way I would have heard about it if I were in Ohio. That is something I find morbidly amusing. I would have thought that the city would shut down. Someone would come bursting into my class and shout that a bomb went off downtown. Maybe the buses would stay at campus while the city calms down? The tv's in the dorm would be turned to the breaking news. Instead, my class went on uninterrupted, my bus actually left early, and the tv's were on soccer. So it goes.

From what I have seen in my dorm (because my dorm is a great indicator of Egyptian society), the reaction is the opposite of what I imagined. About twenty minutes after I first read about the bombing, a (Egyptian) student knocked on my open door. I looked over and he said, "Hello. I just wanted to make sure that you were not in Khan al-Khalili today." Then two other guys peered into my room and started laughing. They did it to another room down the hall where I heard them having to explain what happened.

I did not really react to it, which I find just as weird the Egyptians joking about it. My "huh?" has turned into a "hmm". Again, not at all how I imagined I would react. I can picture where it happened perfectly, but maybe I would need to see it in person for it to really set in. I am sure I will reflect on my lack of reaction much more tonight..

EDIT: I seemed to have failed at getting around to my point. While the bombing was surprising, I do not feel unsafe, nor do the people who have grown up here and lived in Egypt for their entire lives. The most dangerous thing here is probably trying to cross the street (not that you should worry about that, either).