CAIRO: Have you ever considered asking the cabbie you happily jumped into the vehicle with if he actually has a driver's license? Nineteen-year-old Mohamed, who was excited about starting university soon, works his father's taxi during his free time, even though he doesn't have a driver's license yet. My moment of panic as he told me this quickly went away when I heard him laugh out loud behind the wheel, like it's the most amusing thing – it made me realize that it just might be. Mohamed's father, who initially worked in the tourism industry, decided to buy the taxi after January 25, when tourism started suffering. With a smile on his face, Mohamed turned to me and told he was very optimistically, “whoever comes to power next will have to be careful – to not end up behind bars like our friend did,” he told me, adding that although he's never been to a protest, he supported the January 25 uprising from the first day. “I wanted to immigrate before the uprising,” he said, adding that his uncle has lived in Switzerland for years and was willing to help him find a job there. When Mubarak stepped down however, Mohamed became hopeful, and decided not to leave Egypt. Leaning against a wall on the metro, Teresa Ibrahim told me she believes discrimination against Coptic Christians has increased dramatically since Mubarak stepped down. “What have we ever done to deserve this?” she asked me, then told me a story she heard from yesterday's Coptic sit-in. “The food and blankets that were brought to the gathered protesters who decided to stay overnight, was thrown into the Nile by army officers,” she said in a devastated tone. The sit-in was reportedly dispersed violently by the army. Teresa also complained that it was impossible for her to find a job because she doesn't have a college degree. Fifty-year-old Wafaa Mostafa referred to the revolution as a “problem,” telling me that she has been quite depressed because of Mubarak's trial. “I know he's made mistakes, but how could they,” she said with such anger that made her teenage daughter who was sitting close by giggle. BM
