Coville, Levy Return Safely from Egypt

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By Rocco Staino February 10, 2011

A tank was parked outside the authors' hotel. Photo by Bruce Coville

Bruce Coville and Elizabeth Levy went to Egypt to speak at the Schutz American School in Alexandria and found themselves caught in the middle of the democracy uprising that started on January 25—just four days after their arrival.

SLJ spoke to the two authors, now safely back in the United States, about their personal views of the demonstrations, why they think the U.S. media is getting some of the story wrong, and their very touching moments spent with average Egyptians who just want change.

You must be relieved to be back. Were you aware that such a large group of friends and fans were closely following you on Facebook and Twitter and eagerly awaiting your arrival home?

Coville: I had been blogging pretty heavily on Friday [January 28] night, partly because I was so fascinated by what was happening, partly because we were under curfew, so there was not a lot else to do!

By the time we got up on Saturday [January 29], the government had pulled the plug on the Internet, so from that morning on I had no idea how what I had sent out was being received or how widely it was being circulated. It was quite startling after we had left the country to get back on the Internet and find that SLJ Online had done an article about our situation, as had the newspaper in Syracuse—where [my wife] Kathy and I live—and one of the science fiction websites. And my Facebook page was peppered with expressions of concern. I was quite moved to realize how many people were worrying about us.

Levy: I did feel the love and good karma of all. I have always felt that the children's book community is truly a community. The feeling of love and concern coming from so many touched me.

Bruce didn't seem too concerned about the protests in his early Facebook posts. Were you ever frightened?

Levy: On Friday, January 28, which was the Holy Day, the demonstrators called for hundreds of thousands to protest after Friday prayers in both Cairo and Alexandria. We had hired a guide, Ahmed Ramadan, to pick us up at school and begin our tour of the Pyramids at Giza, right next to Cairo, really a suburb. Many at school had assured us that they thought we would be fine if we avoided central Cairo. I wasn't so sure....but I was worried that the airport might become cut-off by the protests. We did make the journey, without running into a bit of trouble. The pyramids and the Sphinx were practically empty of tourists on a gloriously sunny day. Bruce got to hear those magical words, "You were right." And it wasn't the sphinx saying it. It was me.

Coville: I was never too concerned about the protests themselves. Unlike the demonstrations you sometimes see in the Middle East, this had nothing to do with America, and there was no anti-western feel to it. The anger was directly entirely at the Mubarak government.

Throngs of people descended on the airport. Photo by Bruce Coville

So when did you realize you had to get out?

Coville: Well, we had some different opinions on that matter. I was less concerned than Liz was about leaving. On the other hand, with the airlines canceling and rearranging flights, the "how" of getting out became more and more of a concern for us and working on the constantly shifting situation consumed most of our time and energy.

Levy: Watching the protests, I was truly moved by the people demonstrating peacefully. The people on the streets were maintaining their own calm. We saw young men out on the street directing traffic, taking over the civic job that the police had abandoned. It was very moving. But from the beginning, my experience with dictators and memories of Iran in 2009 made me anxious that it would perhaps not end peacefully for the demonstrators. They could be crushed, and it could end in chaos. I was much more frightened than Bruce that the demonstrations could turn anti-American, or perhaps anti-Israeli, and since my name makes me stand out as a Jew it added a level of more anxiety.

Did you encounter any frightening experiences?

Levy: On Sunday [January 30], right over our hotel, six fighter jets flew extremely low aiming to "shock and awe" the protesters in Tahrir Square across the Nile from us. The noise was truly shocking. The protesters held firm; I did not. My experience with history made me believe that, yes dictators can bomb their people; that civil war can break out. I knew the Egyptian people trusted their army much more than their police, but the fact that somebody gave that order to send out the fighter jets made me believe that at least some elements within the military were siding with Mubarak. That's when I felt that I had to get out, and that was also the most tense moment between Bruce and me, and one that we had to work through.

Coville: I did not feel in physical danger for most of the time that we were there. I think the most frightening experience was finally reaching the airport and seeing the wall-to-wall throng of people trying to get out. It was nearly impossible to walk. You had to think in terms of moving by inches. Even worse, the system for passing the check in barrier was incomprehensible.

National Democratic Party Building in Cairo after it caught fire Photo by Bruce Coville

What was the most disturbing sight you saw?

Coville: I think the most disturbing sight, for me, was when we ventured out of the center city into one of the Cairo neighborhoods, and I saw people lined up 40 deep to buy bread. This was the untold story of the rebellion—the price ordinary people were paying in their fight for freedom.

Levy: Actually, it was more the stories that I heard than the sights. The people, even when we were being driven through streets and into long bread lines, were always welcoming. And while of course, it was frightening to see neighborhood patrols with iron bars. I didn't feel in danger from them. But when I heard from people we knew that young men were making Molotov cocktails for defensive purposes in their neighborhoods. I became very frightened for both of us and especially for them. Night after night, these young and older people were trying to keep their neighborhoods safe by patrolling but a quick rumor could lead to the firing of a Molotov cocktail, and whole neighborhoods could be in danger of being burned to the ground.

There were reports that the U.S. embassy wasn't very helpful to Americans there. Did you find that to be true?

Coville: After calling the embassy in Cairo repeatedly for nearly an hour to try to get some information, I finally got someone on the line. I told him we were in Cairo and looking for information about getting out, and he promptly put me onto a recording advising me to check their website. This happened twice more. Given that everyone knew that the Internet was not working, it was fairly maddening. Liz and I sat together working the phones for a long time, me on the hotel phone, she on her iPhone, but never got any useful information from the embassy at all.

Here's a worse story: In the hotel I met a couple who had flown in on Friday [January 28], which was the fourth day of the demonstrations. They had thought about cancelling, but decided to come ahead after all when the wife called the embassy in Cairo and the staffer she spoke to assured her that it was fine and they should continue their vacation as planned!

Bruce expressed frustrations with the U.S. media. Why?

Coville: The U.S. media, as usual, was late to the party, focused on the spectacle, and provided half-baked information. It was fascinating and maddening to see the difference in coverage from CNN, BBC, and particularly Al Jezeera, which was far and away the most useful source.

Here's a specific example of half-baked: CNN kept running a crawl saying that the State Department was evacuating Americans. Um, not quite. They were evacuating the families and dependents of State Department employees. Not regular citizens like us.

That piece of "news" made a lot of people more frightened, not only in Cairo, but at home, where it was taken as a sign that things had gotten really dangerous. At the same time, it seemed to offer some hope for getting out that was actually non-existent.

How did you come away feeling about the situation?

Levy: I am touched by the great history of learning and philosophy in Egypt. The new library in Alexandria is one of the most inspiriting places I have ever been. From my little sense of the streets of Cairo, and from the stories of our guide and my experiences in Alexandria, the revolution has felt very secular, led by young people and middle-aged people who have a deep respect for their traditions and hope. My fear is that, under a bad pharaoh, their hopes for democracy can be crushed. Now we can only watch and pray for the best for the people who are so courageous there and so in need of change.

Coville: I was deeply moved by what the Egyptians are doing. I found their courage and their commitment to gaining freedom from the tyrant who has ruled them—with our support for some 30 years—very inspiring. I think everyone was astonished by the way the people moved from a kind of malaise to a passionate realization that they were now in a position to shape their destiny.

I was inspired by the way the demonstrators formed a human shield around the great National Museum, and then later around the Biblotheca in Alexandria, the way Coptic Christians and the Muslims joined forces to protect each other, the way the women came out to join the protests, the way the crowd in Tahrir Square was made up of a genuine mix of people, old and young, rich and poor.

Was there anyone who helped you as you left the country?

Coville: Our guide, Ahmed Ramadan, watched over us like a true guardian angel. Our greatest problem when it was time to leave was the curfew, as we could not get from our hotel to the airport in time to catch the morning flight we were scheduled for. Our other option was to go to the airport—which was a chaotic mob scene—and spend the night there. "No," said Ahmed. "You will come to my house and stay with my family. It is much closer, and I will drive you from there in the morning."

This was a true privilege. For days, I had felt frustrated at being in Egypt, not seeing Egypt. Now, under these tense circumstances, we were allowed to see a part of Egypt that few tourists ever see.

Levy: Ahmed's wife and daughters had been up all night the night before and been sound asleep when they heard the message we were coming. By the time we arrived, the house was spotless, and food was being prepared. We stood in the van on the street while Ahmed gathered bread for us in long bread lines and brought home bread

We had by far the best meal we had ever had in Egypt. After dinner, his daughters taught us Arabic, particularly to Kathy and me. We laughed, ate well, and Kathy, Bruce, and I fell asleep in their children's room, all together as if in a college dorm room. It was my best sleep in several nights.

At the airport another angel appeared. I asked a young Egyptian woman how we were supposed to get our boarding pass. She took me by the hand and led me through the back alleys of the airports where only workers go. She showed me where the Lufthansa line was. Bruce and Kathy stayed with the luggage, because at that point if you tried to move with your luggage you could get trampled or trapped. Then she kept hold of my hand and brought me back to Bruce and Kathy.

Did you ever get to do what you actually went to Egypt to do: speak at the school?

Coville: We were scheduled for four days of speaking, Monday through Thursday [January 24 to 27]. But after the first day, we got a call from the administration that school would be canceled the next day due to the planned demonstrations.

Tuesday [January 25] was the first day of the demonstrations, which turned out to be far larger than anyone—either the organizers or the government—had expected. That night we again got a call that school would be closed the next day.

We had one thing going for us in terms of doing all our presentations, in that the schedule had been slightly more open than we often have. So when school was declared on for Thursday we met with the heads of both the lower and the upper schools and worked out a new schedule. Liz and I each did seven presentations that day, and so managed to get to see all the kids we were scheduled to work with—even though my tongue was nearly numb from flapping by the time the day was over!

Have either of you used Egyptian themes in any of your books?

Coville: In Alexandria, we visited a marvelous set of catacombs. I have a fetish for tunnels and caves anyway—I've lost track of how many times I've sent my characters underground for part of an adventure—and since these excavations were made to house the dead I found them doubly fascinating. While down there, I conceived of a character, "He Who Sits With the Dead," who will either make his way into the book I'm currently writing or perhaps have a short story of his own.

That's short term. I think what will happen with the larger experience is that it will present itself later on in ways I can't yet anticipate. You take these things in, they live inside you, and then when the right time comes they surprise you by reappearing—erupting, sometimes—in new form.

At the airport I heard a woman standing in line behind me say, "I'm going to get myself a T-shirt that says, 'I went to Egypt and all I saw was a revolution.'"

I think I want to have some made for our little group, too.

Levy: Ironically, because I love Egyptian history and I was going there, I had just proposed to Nancy Mercado, my editor at Roaring Brook, Egypt as the setting for the next Mystery at Sea with Mordicai Gerstein. Right now, I think I have to let it sit.

However, there is one story I would like to publish. It was written with the fifth- and sixth-graders at the Schutz School in Alexandria.

They had turned their classroom into a cruise ship and were traveling around the world. Here is their last line....

"On the way home we will plan on falling to our unhappy deaths in the Bermuda Triangle. But then we will be reincarnated to live thrilling lives in New York City. Then we will take this to our publisher and live happily ever after."

"In sha Allah"

God willing, as they say in Arabic.

This article originally appeared in the newsletter Extra Helping. Go here to subscribe.

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