Sheikh Rihan Street

And now we’re on the other side, with the AUC Tahrir Campus on the left. This is Sheikh Rihan Street, and we can’t quite figure out why there have been no battles here, since this is actually where the Interior Ministry is located, not Mohamed Mahmoud.

All I can think of is that last Saturday, the guys launching tear gas came up Mohamed Mahmoud, and the protestors probably charged back against them down the same street and set the battle lines for the ensuing days.

Normally, it belongs to the ABC’s of Egyptian life that you don’t ever photograph soldiers for any reason. It’s a good way to have your camera smashed and get dragged off to interrogation. But here, everyone was photographing them, so I decided I’d do it for the first time in my life as well.

What has been happening on Sheikh Rihan, supposedly, are lots of sudden arrests. Our three exchange students (just released) were arrested on this street, as were some journalists. On Mohamed Mahmoud you get teargassed or shot, on Sheikh Rihan you get arrested. Take your pick.