This revolution will be televised

Post cards in order. All ready to go. No stamps.

Pyramids on the horizon on the edge of the city, towering in the distant desert landscape that stretches just beyond Cairo to the Red Sea.

We went of course, to try our luck, and luck we had: There were no lines. Up to the ticket window

"60LE to enter"

OK. "100 for the big pyramid"

Man moves to the next window. "200"

We don't have one hundred each for two

"OK, 30 for small pyramid."

Man moves to the next window, "hello miss?"

We all start crying in laughter at the scene others wondering why

No lines.

I can't write. The atmosphere is so thick in the last 2 days, like hanging on a breath, something on the very moment of pushing, teetering, and finally, letting go to the pressure of gravity and falling

Mubarak is out off office. I wouldn’t say gone yet. The atmosphere is intense.

It is tangible

I was covered in goose bumps when we listened to the broadcast from Suleiman. We started running in circles around the apartment, cheering and not really knowing where to land.

How did I end up here, right now? There is no explanation. I could go into details how the decision came about for my departure from the states, but it really is irrelevant.

Here I am.

In the pyramids alone, one day, when the government was desperate for normalcy.

In the middle of a revolution

Sitting in the apartment with history unfolding outside the windows.

My friends are here, Journalists all of them.

BBC Brazil

Washington Post

AP

AP friend, "what do you think will happen next?"

I think the next steps are as follows:

1. Release political prisoners

2. Absolute freedom of the press

3. Elections within 60 days as designated by the constitution

4. Those in the regime responsible for crimes brought to justice including Omar Suleiman, commonly known as "the Torturer"

5….

There is so much wonder in the media what it means to have a military in charge of the country. What many are not addressing is that here, as in many other countries, Military service is mandatory (girls excluded) unless you are the only son of a family. This provides for a military that is very much representative of the people, and much closer to their dreams and desires, than say, the secret police force responsible for many crimes against humanity, unlawful arrests, killings, torture, and unlawful imprisonment of activist, intellectuals, and those that spoke ill of the president.

…

It is now morning. It is quiet in the street below the apartment. Last night there was some celebrating in our little neighborhood, but nothing like what is being shown on TV down in Tahrir Square.

I went to the corner to collect my friend from Beirut, who arrived back in Cairo with BBC Brazil. There are young people on the street outside the pub. We decide to go in for a beer. The crowd is going crazy. It is packed, thick with cigarette smoke, liberal youth, erupting in chants and cheers, sitting on shoulders, dancing on the bar and chairs, waving Egyptian flags. The curfew that has been respected by this establishment in the last days is now defied: it is 11:15 pm, curfew started technically at 8:00 pm.

We leave after a beer and return to the apartment down the street. Computers. News copy being written. Washington Post in email to my friend Londono, "can you give us an update in 30 minutes on the position of the military? What role they will play?" Asking for explanation about an unexplainable situation.

In all my years studying international relations, no one could have predicted this. How do they expect to predict what happens next? So many talking heads. Let us just focus on providing support and solidarity to the people of Egypt, bringing those responsible for crimes against humanity to proper justice, and encouraging a shift from poverty for most, to actual opportunity.

I have seen so many poor, hungry, covered in dirt. Where are they in this revolution? How long will it take to change society in general after a revolution?

I only hope that these people are not left unseen. I have a feeling that the greatest leader of Egypt to come is a small child now, sitting on the side of a road, covered in city grime, hungry, tired, and wanting comfort, that is somehow given a chance, an out, who takes the reality of that childhood and moves a nation to real change, not just political ouster and the over-throw of a repressive regime, but a beacon of compassion to the world.

I think I need to go back to bed, and make sure that this is not a dream. The news is noisy but the street is quiet. The newscasters and commentators keep repeating themselves.

The empathy I feel is so intense at moments when the news casters actually start talking about the events that have occurred, the power of this movement, those 300 who lost their lives, those injured, maimed, who sacrificed so much for this change to occur, I find myself flooded with tears. I cannot hold back. The word for martyr in Arabic Shahadah, comes from the root, to witness. Let these people be a witness to absolute change.

Time to let the future unfold.