flags

Just back from a neighborhood stroll, and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen this many Egyptian flags: on horse carriages and on fast food delivery motorcycles. The last time I saw something like this was probably after Egypt won the last two African Cups. There was lots of jovial flag-waving in the streets on both of those occasions, and also the Egyptian crowds like to spray bugspray in the air and light it, creating makeshift blazing torches.

I’m of course pulling for Egypt to succeed, but if they do, I’m really hoping that they do not end up in the same World Cup group as the USA.

Of course, this is all pretty tame compared with the NIKA RIOTS over chariot racing that nearly brought down the Byzantine Empire under Justinian, and led to the massacre of tens of thousands of chariot fans by Byzantine forces across the street from the palace.