So did the uprising take you by surprise? In terms of it happening at all, or it's speed, power and/or scope?

Absolutely. A close friend of mine, actually the father of my former employer, is a sociology professor at the American University in Cairo. He's published and well versed in the sociology of Egyptian history. He sums it up well when he says Egyptians are traditionally a peaceful and passive people. Throughout history, they have been an easy people to rule, which is why for millennia, dating back to the Pharaohs, Roman rule, French & British occupations, Egyptian kings, and authoritarian military presidents, Egyptians have never really rebelled or revolted against the ruling regime, except maybe for the odd backlash to something essential like the bread riots in the era of Sadat.

That hundreds of thousands, let alone the millions on particular days, took to the streets was a complete surprise. Even after many seemed content with the changes put forth by Mubarak, and others wanted to return to normalcy, millions strong still protested and wanted the regime out.

What did you do during it? Did you feel that it could swing either way, or was their a inevitability about it?

Pro-change protests that have occurred in the past have mostly always been the same known people, the same activists, and the same online bloggers. At most, the protests reach a few thousand but are quickly dispersed by the police when they show up to arrest people.

My wife and I joined the protests on Friday the 28th. We initially just came down to a small intersection by our home in Maadi, which is small suburb south of downtown Cairo and home to a surprising number of foreign expats. When we went down, we saw a big crowd of people chanting for peace and freedom. Riot police where lined up preventing them from going any further. The crowd overpowered the police, who at the time were still passive, and the protestors continued on towards the highway along the Nile heading North to Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. As they kept marching, the crowd kept getting bigger as people joined along the way. At one point, as we were marching up a bridge and then down again, I could see thousands of people stretching for miles. My wife and I did not finish marching all the way down to Tahrir, but thousands did. As we were marching from our direction, other people elsewhere all around Cairo were also marching, all trying to meet centrally in Tahrir. There were violent clashes with the police downtown that night, but ultimately the police pulled out and this was when the army made their first appearance.

That night, the protestors had won. The National Democratic Party (NDP) HQ building was on fire. The police vanished and their remaining vehicles were set on fire. It became clear that this was not just another "typical" protest. A certain feeling was in the air that change would come if Egyptians fought for it.

In your opinion, can you give me an idea of how you see the social/political background there? Are there any organised movements that are going to turn into parties. Is there a traditional Left and Right etc.? Or should one expect completely different motivated parties.

The many years of authoritarian rule, especially the last 30 years under Mubarak, have caused pervasive damage to whatever there was of a civil society. But there's a sincere feeling that they want to learn everything about democracy. There are opposition groups on all sides of the political spectrum. The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is a wildcard that has been heavily played by the Mubarak regime to scare Western government into supporting him, kind of like "better the devil you know then the devil you don't." This isn't to say that a radical Islamic state isn't a concern, but the overwhelming majority of Egyptians, even those who are more devout in their faith, neither want the Muslim Brotherhood nor an Islamic government. On saying that, it is my opinion that the Muslim Brotherhood be allowed to register as a political party, as they have previously been banned. A true democracy would have to allow them to run, though I don't think they'll have much of a following. Additionally, much of the appeal towards the MB has been because they were offering social services like funding schools, hospitals, helping out after natural disasters, and giving welfare. This should have been the role of the government. Another appeal has been a psychological one. There's a certain appeal towards a banned party. By allowing them to be officially recognized, they'll be under the same scrutiny as any other political party.

What next? Do you worry that the army will be a less than honest power broker going forward?

People here trust the army, especially because of conscription. Almost every Egyptian male serves, save for some exemption cases. So the army is the people, so to speak. But we need a proper civil interim government, which is why there are protestors still in downtown even now. However, no leaders or representatives have emerged to speak on behalf of the protestors. I think the demands of the protestors at this point are all legitimate, but I also believe people should go back to their jobs and start rebuilding Egypt even on their own micro level with whatever they can do, even if it means just going to work to prevent further economic damage.

We need a heavy focus on education. Public education systems here are based on rote memorization, not critical thinking. As such, students on all educational levels (elementary to university) easily become demotivated and are setup to fail, unless they bribe their way to success. Even then, it produces unqualified professionals and, worse yet, unqualified citizens. Private schools are a bit better, but the best schools with foreign certified teachers have been at extortionate prices (by Egyptian standards in terms of average income) that only the rich can afford to put their children though.

To what extent did you guys see the global impact this was having? I imagine this was a very particular Egyptian experience, but was there some consciousness of how it would resonate regionally or globally? Were the people in the street/square aware of how much the globe's attention was captured by their actions?

Egyptians have been very aware that the rest of the world was watching. What was striking to me was the number of foreigners who live/work here who participated in the protests hand in hand with Egyptians. My British neighbor refused to go home when his embassy called for an evacuation. Instead he came down to join us on the neighborhood watch groups at night when the police disappeared.

Egyptians were also calling on foreign governments to support them. They were fighting for freedom and democracy and were upset at the stances the Western world was taking. The West's fear of chaos and radical Islam blown out of proportion, some Egyptians felts they were betrayed by the Western governments because of their weak statements towards Mubarak and his regime. On saying that, Egyptians with access to the Internet and satellite TV were happy to see American and European citizens (as opposed to their governments) protesting and joining in solidarity.

There are a lot of narratives here in the editorial press across the spectrum here in the West - some putting this as primarily a Islamic uprising, others saying it was really demographics, others that it was a response to globilization, etc. What are they missing?

This was a purely EGYPTIAN revolution. People were out there asking for freedom and change in nearly every part of Egypt, not just Cairo. I saw Egyptian Christians protecting Muslims while they were praying. I saw Egyptian Muslims protecting Christians during a Mass in downtown Cairo. Aside from those moments of worship, the only form of identity people affialted themselves with was being Egyptian. There were people out there who have great lives, decent paying jobs, etc. There were families. There were children and old people. There were people from all over Egypt. There were people who had no money and nothing to lose. There were people who had everything to lose. They all joined forces because they wanted a dictator who robbed, killed, and violated his people and country gone.

From my perspective I have been blown away by first, how relatively peaceable everything went down (in comparison to other similar events) and the very real sense of solidarity in the population. From seeing the protesters linger around to clean up the area afterwards, to the feelings of community there - well it all seems so foreign to an American perspective. What's your sense - where does that sense of community come from - is it an Egyptian thing? An Arab thing? Generational? Something else entirely?

This goes back go what the sociology professor said. Egyptians are generally a peaceful people, which is why this revolution has been so passive. Every time I was out there, as we repeated the chants, the one we always came back to was "peace." On one of the first marches I participated in, people passed a military hospital on the way downtown. Some wanted to forcefully destroy the gate and push their way in to protest there, but thousands loudly chanted "peace" towards them, effectively dissuading them from vandalizing and going in. They all returned back towards the direction of Tahrir.

The only violence I recall from the protests has been from the so called "pro-Mubarak" demonstrators in Tahrir. This was the day when the camels and horses came out, running over and whipping pro-democracy protestors in a competely unprecedented and outrageously insane scene. Most of the "pro-Mubarak" demonstrators have been exposed as either paid-off government employees (state owned companies, etc) or being hired thugs and police officers. Many who were caught carried police IDs on their person. That night, some people were shot. In a video I saw, it clearly shows green laser pointers flashing on anti-Mubarak protestors before they were shot, clearly indicating the presence of sniper shooters.

Journalists and foreigners were rounded up by the pro-Mubarak camp and detained. Several journalists have published their accounts. Absolutely horrible experiences they went through. And even then, they got it easier than the Egyptians who were detained.

After that violent day, when anti-Mubarak protestors were able to reclaim Tahrir, they setup makeshift hospitals, food and water, even cell phone recharge stations.

From then on, all people coming into Tahrir were searched and had their IDs checked by other protestors, creating human fences to force people to come in from specified entry points. Those checking even apologized for doing so. Foreigners and journalists were welcomed. As I was coming into Tahrir on Friday, Feb 4, one of the people doing the searching said, "Welcome to the REAL Egypt!"

In short, there has always been a strong sense of community in Egypt, and I can tell you this from the nearly 6 years I've lived here. They're warm and very hospitable and even go out of their eay to help you and see you smile. This is of course a generalization, but take it for what it is. Come to Egypt and experience it for yourself.