BELLA VISTA — A local couple experienced more than they expected when they took a trip to Egypt last month.
Jay and Ginny Ellison of Bella Vista thought the timing was perfect when their granddaughter, Kira Orsag, invited them on the trip. A visit to the great pyramids and the Sphinx was, after all, on Jay's bucket list.
The couple arrived in Egypt on Jan. 23 and spent the next couple of days at the Cairo Museum and shopping.
Anti-government protests began in Egypt on Jan. 25. Protesters were calling for the end of Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule over the country. The protests continued and Mubarak remained in control until Feb. 11 when he resigned from his position, according to The Associated Press.
Jay Ellison said he remembers the city lights of Cairo and the beautiful dusks from their first couple of days in the country. Those pleasant scenes quickly transformed once an anti-government protest erupted.
The couple remembers seeing paddy wagons and police armed with riot shields as they were ushered away from dinner on Jan. 25.
Ginny Ellison said she never worried, despite having no cell phone or Internet service. Both means of communication were turned off by the Egyptian government after the protest began in an attempt to quash it, according to the Associated Press.
She said she knew she'd be fine when at dinner, an older Egyptian gentleman approached her.
"As we were being taken out, a man from a large Egyptian family placed his hand over his heart and said 'Do not fear. We'll take care of you,'" Ginny Ellison said. "I don't know why, but that really stuck with me."
The Ellisons watched the protests on television from the safety of their hotel room the next day.
"What we saw was the peaceful protest," Jay Ellison said. "The people were well organized. They were peaceful and they didn't threaten anyone other than Mubarak and, I guess, the police."
The Ellisons felt safe enough to go sightseeing on Jan. 28 to the pyramids and to Memphis, the original capital of Egypt. They decided to have dinner out before returning to the pyramids to see a nighttime light show.
They did not make it back to the pyramids or even to their hotel that night because of all of the people lining the streets, protesting and looting, Jay Ellison said.
Still, they slept like babies that night, comfortable and unworried albeit in a different hotel with nothing but the clothing on their backs, he said.
The next day, still in the second hotel, the Ellisons watched as a man looted an appliance store. They were soon told they had a flight out of Egypt.
The Ellisons saw burned-out police vehicles and buildings as they made their way back to their original hotel to get their belongings.
"It didn't matter if it was a large vehicle, a small car or a motorcycle. It was burned," Jay Ellison said.
That afternoon, the Ellisons watched smoke rise from the mall where they'd shopped days before, he said.
They left the country Jan. 30 on a flight bound for Greece.
The Ellisons, back in their Bella Vista home, rejoiced along with Egyptians when Mubarak resigned.
Jay Ellison said he hopes the protests will help the Egyptian people.
"I hope this helps them gain their freedom and it allows them to be free men and women who aren't oppressed by a regime who is greedy," he said.
The couple said they would return to Egypt if given the opportunity.
Jay Ellison said while there are things he still wants to do and see in Egypt, he marked a few more things off his bucket list.
"We took a bad situation and made it good," Jay said. "We got to the Parthenon and the Acropolis in Greece."
Fast Facts
Overseas Travel
Leslie Phillips, a spokesperson with the U.S. Department of State, said Americans traveling overseas should do three things before leaving the United States.
Check the website www.travel.state.gov. There, visitors can learn everything from road conditions to the currency and local economy of a selected country. The website will also tell travelers if there are any travel alerts or warnings for the country.
Travelers should register with the country's embassy if a stay is going to be very long. Embassies can send e-mail and phone messages for any alerts needed while in country.
Remain vigilant and aware of your surroundings, Phillips said.
Source: Staff Report