The night before the revolution

The night before January 25 2011 was one the scariest night of my life. My Egyptian flatmates and I have decided that we were going to join the planned protests that Tuesday. Most of our friends have refused the call to join the protests simply because most people were skeptical whether changes were possible in Egypt, a country that have been ruled by one military leader to another for almost 60 years.

It was my first time attending a protest in Egypt and it was their first time as well.

We had the fear of physical harm, of being beaten by the black uniformed Central Security Forces, of being thrown to prisons for a long time or specifically for me, being thrown out of the country or if we are really unlucky, the threat of torture and death.

In the end we saw how the Tunisians threw their own dictator and if that small tiny country could do it, there was no reason why the always proud Egyptian cannot follow the steps as well. I feared more of how my future self judged me if I failed to act and support a goal as noble as this, of liberating 85 million people of the shackles of a regime that have overstayed its welcome.

We went the next day with our knees shaking and our heart beating fast. Tens of thousands also had deep fear in their hearts but they all showed up anyway and the rest was history.

We are two years now from that momentous day and a lot has happened. Egypt is in the midst of roller coaster economic and political turmoil where everything is open to change and everybody is in the fight to influence the change.

It is damn hard to live and operate in the country full of uncertainties but there is no "stable" nor easy way to force change in a system that has been in power in a country for so long.

But fear not for Egypt's future because it is full of men and women, even with fear in their hearts, who stepped up and bend the future to their will.