Posted on 02/04/2011 5:34:01 PM PST by Baladas
Amanda Patterson got the call at her apartment in Cairo from an evacuation insurance agent at 4 a.m. Tuesday – sparking what she called a "saga" that would get the Tulane University student out of Egypt and back to her native Massachusetts on Thursday.
"He said, 'Pack as if you are never going to see your stuff again. You are on a flight to Paris this afternoon,'" Patterson told AOL yesterday from her home in Lynnfield, Mass. "It was a hard decision. I really didn't want to leave. But the embassy wanted Americans out, the school wanted us out, and I didn't want to worry my mother unnecessarily."
She did pack her belongings and then took a bus to the airport in Cairo for her 3 p.m. flight on Air Mediterranee to Paris on Wednesday.
Patterson said the most arduous part of her journey was the bus ride through the rioting crowds. "It was the only time I was really nervous. I didn't feel like I was in danger until that part of it."
When she arrived, she was not on the manifest and thought she would be stranded on stand-by for days, but took off hours later for Paris. There, she spent a night at the airport hotel and then had to purchase another ticket to Boston's Logan Airport for just over $1,000.
Her student SOS insurance covered the evacuation flight to Paris, but not the flight back to the States. She landed Thursday night and her mother, Sandra Patterson, was at the gate to greet her. Back in Massachusetts, she found her car buried under four feet of snow.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.travel.aol.com ...
Congratulations. You have made it back to sanctuary.
Most Americans would benefit from a semester abroad. It would give perspective on why we shouldn’t work to move our standards downward our of “Fairness”
I wonder what happened to Obama’s scheduled 3 p.m. news conference today???
Didn’t happen....
She sounds like a terrorist in training.
I agree. Why is it that some many Freepers care whether Americans in Egypt die? They should not be there, so they should die.
Ya just can’t travel overseas anymore. It is really bad out there. Worse than you can imagine.
Stupid girl.
Neighbors were stranded in Spain. They could look down and see rioters setting cars on fire. They had to stay days beyond their original plans before they could leave the country.
No country is safe for Americans now. Truth be told America is not safe for patriots anymore.
Lord help us get through the next two years.
Send in the Hells Angels. This is the Liberals Altamont.
A very good friend got out of Egypt on her regularly scheduled Egypt Air flight this Tuesday.
The American Embassy did NOTHING for the tourists. Every other country set up tables in the hotel to help their citizens. Every country but America. If she didn’t have a confirmed flight on Egypt Air she would still be trapped in Cairo.
Her hotel was attacked. No power, no food or water. The hotel employees stood out front with knives and sticks to protect the hotel.
The gift shop was looted and the savages were rushing thru the hotel banging on room doors.
These were the ‘good’ Egyptians.
The ride to the airport was harrowing. The airport was jammed due to the curfew. The police entered the airport and menaced everyone stranded there. Again, this was before the ‘serious’ rioting began.
Hardly anyone had cash as the ATMs and all internet was shut down. No computers of course, as the government shut it all down.
Must have been off his meds...or Telly wasn’t working!
When events such as those happening in Egypt come about, these Americans are suddenly mugged by reality. Unfortunately, their first reaction is total, absolute denial. These Americans have an unassailable faith they are “special” and no one bears them ill will or malice. They are wrong, of course. The problem is, for these people in denial, they will wait too long and make halfhearted attempts to get out. By that time it is too late.
Note to Americans living in Egypt: if you think the Egyptian police or army will protect you, forget that. They will probably be part of the problem. If you think the U.S. Marines are coming to rescue your dumb butts, forget that too. Barry Obama isn't sending them, even if he wanted to do so.
Hah-Hah! LOL and that rolling on the floor stuff...
You should work for the Tourism board. Their new motto:
"Leave America and die (you ingrates)!"
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