Last Monday

Well, I am back in Cairo. I want to write about everything. I want to get it out, but I know that I can't, not really.
Last Monday I was to attend a wedding for two people who were little more than strangers to me. The couple from Iceland had been on a canyon tour two days earlier with three of my friends. While on this tour, they decided to tie the knot. They invited our whole group and anyone and everyone there to come witness the occasion and celebrate with them. 7:30 pm was the time and Jasmine restaurant was the place. Jasmine is a seaside restuarant/hotel right next door to the dive camp I was staying at just south of Dahab's town center. Esther and I showed up early to enjoy a nescafe, read our books, and stretch out in the bedouin style establishment. I was tired from all the snorkeling and just being in the sun all day. I attempted to read but found myself drifting in and out of sleep. Esther was recovering from food poisoning and it was her first trip out of the hotle room that day. She lay there sipping sprite and reading her book. The Jasmine staff were busily decorating for the event to take place. The groom had arrived in a bedouin out fit and looked excited (naturally). Suddenly a loud bang snapped me out of my semi-conscious state. My first thought was that they were having fireworks for their wedding and what a great idea. Another bang. I scanned the skyline for some display. Another bang. No fireworks. Along the footpath, a handful of Egyptians were running towards the source of the sounds. My next thought was that we had been bombed.
Esther and I stood up and stepped out from the covered area of the restaurant. We saw smoke rising from the center of town. Esther phoned the US Embassy (smart girl that she is). I told myself to not overreact. Maybe it wasn't what I thought. The embassy had no information for Esther. We sat back down, unsure of any other course of action. Shortly thereafter, two others from our group, Lesley and Dorothee, appearred. They were cheerful and unconcerned with the explosive sounds we all heard. This put my nerves at ease for the moment, but when I heard the sounds of ambulances, tension began to rise again in my chest and throat. The Embassy called Esther back, but for some reason her phone had no coverage. I think that was the moment I knew for sure.
We all sat there anxiously. The fifth, and last, of our group arrived (Freddie). Shortly thereafter, Lesley recieved a call from a friend in Cairo saying that he had seen on the news that Dahab had been bombed and wanted to know if we were safe. After that things were all a bit blurry. Phone calls. Text messages. Talking to strangers in the restaurant about any news they heard. The next obvious question in our minds was would the wedding go on as scheduled? The groom was there, but no bride had appeared. I thought that surely they would postpone. Who would want to get married in the midst of such sadness and chaos. But no announcement was made to call it off for the night.
Freddie went to explore a bit while we waited. He came back to say that the streets were being cleared of all cars. Lesley and Freddie wanted to go and see what had happened. Dorothee and I wanted to find an internet cafe to let people know we were ok. Esther just wanted her phone to work. After what seemed ages, but was probably about and hour and a half after the bombings, we walked towards the town center. By that time, all the dead and injured had been taken to hospitals. All we saw was the wreckage of where the first and second bombs had hit at the Ghazala Market and at the bridge. Glass everywhere, but it was dark and we couldn't see much else. I wasn't ready to see much else. I began to walk back while the others walked a bit further. I waited for the others and we walked back together. Lesley and Freddie went back to the Jasmine in case the wedding was still to take place. Esther wandered around trying and trying wtihout much success to send text messages and make phone calls. Dorothee and I found an internet cafe that was open on our end of Dahab. I blogged, emailed, and checked the news. They were saying that 30 were dead and 150 injured. At that time it all seemed somehow distant. Like I was just reading the news and I wasn't right there where it was happening. I was all shock, not knowing how to react. We went back to the wedding, which did take place. The whole night felt strange and almost out-of-body. I fell asleep that night emotionally exhausted.
The next morning, I walked over to the site again. I got to it and saw all the damage I had seen the previous night and athen some. There were bloody footprints and pools of blood on the ground. It was alot to take in. I walked back down to my hotel and waited for Esther to wake up. We walked down there together through the whole scene. It was horrible. We saw the shops that were completely destroyed. Shops I have been in and bought things in. I knew that from the looks of it possibly no one who had been in this shop at the time would have survived. I thought of the people that worked in the two restaurants (Aladdin and Alcapone) that bore the brunt of the third bomb. People I had seen and spoken to probably three times everyday since I arrived. Did they survive? I don't know. Divers were emerging from the Red Sea with bags full of what I presumed to be body parts. The media were everywhere interviewing witnesses, taking photos of the damage. A group of men who work in Dahab had gathered and were being videoed. The leader of the group was shouting his comdemnation on the act and those who did it. He declared his love for people of all religions and countries. That was when I couldn't stop the tears.
All day long Esther and I walked around town, taking it all in. We ran into others we knew from Cairo and some friends we have made here in Dahab. Some of them witnessed the whole thing. Everyone just seemed in shock. Many of the businesses in Dahab posted signs outside saying they love Dahab and want peace and things of this nature. A peace march had been organized by some of the locals. The group of men, women and children walked around all day waving peace signs, anti-terrorism signs, Egyptian flags. In Arabic they chanted their cries for peace and that Allah is god and that Mohammed is Allah's prophet. My heart went out to them. Everytime they walked past me I cried. I prayed, but I have to say I felt so helpless that even prayer seemed an exercise in futility.
During the day, the men who work in the area had come together to repair damage. By the end of it, the bridge was almost totally repaired, the blood was all washed away, and some of the windows were repaired. When we left the following day, reopening of the two restaurants was in progress. The teamwork was incredible and inspirational.
I am back in Cairo now. It seems that with everyday that passes, the events seem more real and less like a bad dream. I can't say how I feel about it all other than that it was dreadful. Somehow, I am glad I was there. I am glad that all of the people I new well there were unharmed. But I am so sad for the community there. It hurts the Egyptians most. They were the ones who were more physically hurt. It is their businesses that are destroyed.