Seasons of Change

It's been busy since Spring Break, and we've been missing Spring Break!

This year, we've enjoyed a "spring" season.  The weather has been cooler for longer into this calendar year, which has been wonderful.  There have been several hot days (upper 80's and low 90's), but for the most part, we've been enjoying weather in the 70's for a couple of months.  The trees and flowers have been increasing in blooms of just about every shade of color, and there has often been a steady, cool breeze--of course, we've also had days where the breeze is just strong wind, creating dust and sandstorms that not only ruin air quality but your sinuses along with it!

While the seasons are changing, there continues to be change in the air in other areas of Egypt, as well.
Though, in the headlines, nothing seems to be changing:

• The courts continue to make rulings that seem to be applauded and simultaneously ignored.
• The government continues without a Parliament, and elections don't appear that they will happen until "fall" (probably, October).
• The Egyptian Pound continues to lose value against the US dollar and other currencies, while there are continuing talks with various nations and the IMF for potential loans.
• Former leader Hosni Mubarak continues to be on trial, verdicts vary, but he still remains in custody.
• Various continuing clashes of a religious nature take place across the country between Christians and Muslims, and then seem to be forgotten; with the exception of the recent clashes at the Coptic headquarters earlier this month--that got a lot of press and outrage for a little longer, but even that seems to have blown over.

But there are continuing winds of change in the hearts and minds of Egyptians--there seem to be less outlets to facilitate or even express this change, but there is a growing boldness and improving articulation of these changes of thought.  As we've recently posted/tweeted, the ongoing saga of the Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef's charges for insulting Islam and the President have raised questions and statements regarding the desire for freedom of expression, and freedom from persecution for differing opinions.  This saga continues as court dates loom in the future--stay tuned.

Perhaps the best indication of the seasons of change in regards to personal freedoms is through a new article that I read tonight; I immediately tweeted out the link, and it's led me to reference it here on the blog.  The article, "None of Your Business" references the Egyptian policies of documenting your religion on ID cards and other government documents, and the growing (changing) perspective in regards to matters of religion and marital status.  If you are interested in what's happening in the Middle East and specifically Egypt, I encourage you to read this opinion piece and how one young lady and others like her are having a change of mind--and they don't think it's any of your or their government's business.

Hopefully I will have a chance to update various other Egyptian news events--either I've been too busy, or the events seem to happen and resolve so quickly that I'm not having an opportunity to fill you in, or both!

Pray for Egypt...