Tulane University student Amanda Patterson, 21 years old, flew to Cairo five months ago to study political science and Arabic, and ended up learning a firsthand lesson in political turmoil. The state department is now urging her and 2 other Tulane students to leave the country.
“The U.S. Embassy is providing us with a flight, I’m not sure on the status what’s that going to cost, I think I have to reimburse them for it” Patterson said during a phone call with FOX 8 from Cairo. “They’re taking us to Europe, which at this point I’ve determined means Greece, Turkey or Cyprus.”
Along with working with the U.S. government, Tulane University has also contracted with a private travel company, International S.O.S., to evacuate all three students from Egypt. Two of the students were supposed to start class yesterday at the American University in Cairo, while Patterson says she’s been studying there for the last 5 months.
“One way or another they should be out in the next 48 hours,” said Art Kirkland, Associate Director with Tulane University’s Office of Emergency Response. “Saturday things started to heat up and by Friday the State Department was saying Americans need to leave, so we started yesterday early trying to evacuate our students out of Egypt.
According to a spokesperson for Tulane University, a fourth student studying in Egypt was evacuated a Monday from Alexandria. Tulane has officially cancelled its study abroad program in Cairo for the rest of the semester and is now working on enrolling its students elsewhere, possibly the University of Washington. Since that school is on a quarter system classes are set to begin soon, unlike Tulane which began its semester 3 weeks ago.
Still, Patterson, a native of Massachusetts, hopes it isn’t long before she returns.
“It’s been amazing to see what people can do when they are really motivated,” Patterson said.
On Friday, she joined Egyptians on the streets of Cairo to march in peaceful protest towards the central square.
“And immediately the water cannons come, the tear gas comes out, the rubber bullets took awhile to come out,” Patterson said. “In response, the people throw rocks….but people were not going out into the street armed—that was all the police.”
Patterson says plans for the protest developed online through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. But she says she’s going on four days now with the government shutting off internet to her apartment. One friend wrote on her Facebook wall, “I know you can’t see this, but please be safe.”
Patterson says texting on her phone also isn’t working, but she can make calls. Although, phone cards, she adds, are hard to come by.
“People have been panicking and buying phone credit and taking money out of all the ATMs,” Patterson said. “There’s an hour long line at the grocery store.”
The images are almost inconceivable for Egyptian nationals, including those now living in New Orleans.
“I hope everything turns out peacefully because it’s just heartbreaking,” said Mary Matta, who moved out of Egypt 30 years ago. “Whatever the people want I hope it’s going to be for the best of the country, not only for just a group of people, we need for the whole country.”
