Here are some items that would have been good to have during the Egyptian Revolution.
1. Cigarettes. I do not smoke, but everyone else in Egypt does, so these could become bartering, friendship tools.
2. Water. Lots of bottled water for drinking. Two weeks worth of drinking water to be on the safe side. A big plastic container for water for bathing. A pot for boiling water.
3. Candles and matches, in case the electricity went out.
4. Lots and lots of Vodafone scratch cards. I learned this the hard way. The only way to communicate when the Internet went out, and the long distance landlines went down was mobile. Scratch cards for adding air time were in rare supply. I am going to stock up on these.
5. Rice. I think I can live for a long time off of rice and water.
6. Cash in the house. The banks always seem to be closed. One friend suggested 1000 dollars split between Egyptian pounds and US dollars. The dollars can come in handy if the local currency craters, or if one needs to bribe someone to get out of the country.
1. Cigarettes. I do not smoke, but everyone else in Egypt does, so these could become bartering, friendship tools.
2. Water. Lots of bottled water for drinking. Two weeks worth of drinking water to be on the safe side. A big plastic container for water for bathing. A pot for boiling water.
3. Candles and matches, in case the electricity went out.
4. Lots and lots of Vodafone scratch cards. I learned this the hard way. The only way to communicate when the Internet went out, and the long distance landlines went down was mobile. Scratch cards for adding air time were in rare supply. I am going to stock up on these.
5. Rice. I think I can live for a long time off of rice and water.
6. Cash in the house. The banks always seem to be closed. One friend suggested 1000 dollars split between Egyptian pounds and US dollars. The dollars can come in handy if the local currency craters, or if one needs to bribe someone to get out of the country.
You should have seen what we have done. The whole family moved to my parents' house in Heliopolis because it was supposed to be more secure than the neighborhood where we live in. We were Six adults, one child and two dogs but we had food and cash that could make us live in hibernation for six months. But with the experience, two days after the revolution had started, everything was available in the market and with less prices. Egyptians sellers felt that they will participate in the revolution by decreasing the prices of the goods.
ReplyDeleteI moved out of my apartment and in with family in Heliopolis and thank God I did because my family bought enough food to feed all of Heliopolis.
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