Today after watching the rugby match at the BCA – a crowded, sweaty, but enthusiastic endeavor featuring many of the guests from last night’s party – I returned to my apartment and had a conversation with Susannah regarding our safety in Egypt.

Last night at the barbecue, Ryan told me that his power had gone out also yesterday. When I told Susannah this, she said that she’s pretty sure it went out everywhere. We’re not paranoid, but we’re in Egypt, which is still very unstable post-revolution and we wouldn’t be surprised if they shut off our power or, God forbid, the internet and cell phone service like they did during the revolution.

So, in an effort to plan ahead and enact some kind of safety plan, we decided to prepare for an emergency. Simon told me about how when he first arrived, they shut off the water. As a result of this, he now fills up empty water bottles with tap water and keeps them behind his bathroom door in case he loses water again. Susannah and I took all of our water bottles out of their bag – they don’t recycle here, but we still separate the recyclables from the garbage, and it gives me a minor conniption every time I imagine all of that plastic heading to the same place as the trash – and filled them with water. This was nice because 1, we have about 25 1.5 liter bottles all set to go and 2, I don’t have to imagine them not being recycled!

We figured it would also be good to stock up on water, so when we get paid (we refer to this as WWGP, since we really can’t do anything until it happens and we say this phrase a thousand times a day) we’re going to buy in bulk 10 boxes of the 1.5 liter bottles. Canned goods come next, obviously, and then a general ’emergency’ plan. We’ve decided that our apartment should serve as a headquarters since it’s huge and there’s tons of floor space in the living room and an extra mattress for people who need to crash. We have 3 bathrooms, and 25 bottles of bathing water, so I think we win the lot with this one. In case of an emergency, our colleagues can come to our place and huddle around the single Glade candle we bought from the Alpha Mart yesterday and be grateful for foresight.

The purpose of this entry is mainly just to placate those of you at home who worry, and if something did happen where we couldn’t get in touch, maybe you’ll feel just the slightest bit better knowing that we’ve got a box of matches and, soon, pepper spray and a bat.

Much love!

the girls rugby team and our coach