Egyptians get back to business

February 13, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Los Angeles Times

CAIRO

The metalworkers beneath the overpass hammered tin and cut steel, smiling and making a big noise. Ladies hurried to market where sheep waited for slaughter. Boys, sensing something new in the air, ran through alleys, trailing flags.

“I woke up with the idea that we can do something. Democracy. Freedom. Do something we haven’t done for 30 years. We got the country back, and it’s time to reshape it,” said welder Ragab Abdou, tools at his feet, a rim of grit beneath his eyes. “For too long, we got the least of what was available. This revolution is for our children. Who could have imagined what has happened?”

Millions of Egyptians awoke Saturday, different from the day before. It was as if a dream had bloomed in the waking world. President Hosni Mubarak was gone.

But the rhythms of this ancient ragged city endured: minibuses rattled to life, dogs slept, soldiers stood guard and the Cairo sky was clear enough to spot the pyramids rising in the desert distance.

Beautiful.

This nation had been on the brink for 18 days of protests. To the wonder of many, the will of the people didn’t buckle and Mubarak’s hold was broken. Tahrir Square, the epicenter in the country’s battle for change, remained vibrant Saturday with songs and speeches. Thousands came to be near the now hallowed patch of earth to celebrate, to dance, honor and remember.

But much of Cairo returned to its ways, as if it had been out of its skin for too long and needed the comfort of the ordinary: traffic, praying, strolling the Nile, whispering through the smoke of shisha pipes.

“I’m free. I can feel it more today,” said Abdel Alim Fawzi, a junkman with a mustache. “You know how I can tell? Every time I loaded my truck to come to this market, the police would stop me and force me to pay bribes. Not today. No police. No bribes.”