Students ‘Weren’t Scared’ While Spending Their Time in Egypt During Recent Protests

Zachary Brissette and Carlye Scheer said despite being in Cairo during the beginning of protests there wasn’t ever a moment they didn’t feel safe.

“Egypt is a very welcoming place … there isn’t a huge anti-American sentiment,” Brissette said.

Brissette, 22, a senior at Saginaw Valley State University and his girlfriend Scheer, 20, a sophomore at Western Michigan University had started attending the American University of Cairo several weeks before protests began calling for the resignation of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s resignation on Jan. 25. Mubarak resigned on Feb. 11.

They said they thought the protests weren’t a big deal at first but quickly realized something big was happening when the ‘day of rage,’ which brought large anti-government protests, occurred on Jan. 28.

“We weren’t scared, we love Egypt,” Scheer said. “But it’s frustrating because you’re so happy to be here and you can’t do anything.”

Brissette said the couple “hunkered down in the apartment for a few days” when protests began.

Soon after the State Department announced Feb. 1 that all non-emergency government personnel should leave Egypt immediately the couple got on a plane but their destination was unknown. The government was handing out where people would go right before they had entered planes.

Brissette, a Bay City resident, and Scheer, a Gaylord resident, ended up in arriving safely in Istanbul, Turkey. After finding out they couldn’t finish their semester at the university, they traveled through Europe and are currently staying in Dahab, Egypt, so far away from Cairo that it doesn’t even feel like a revolution happened, Brissette said.

His mother, Lori Brissette, said after finding out they were safe in Turkey she was extremely relieved.

“I was like ‘Thank God,’ ... we we’re worried because you can’t go over here,” she said. “You can’t do anything, you just have to cross your fingers and pray.”

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