(Host) People around the world have watched with fascination the anti-government protests that have gripped Egypt for a week.
But as VPR’s Neal Charnoff reports, a Middlebury college professor who’s a native of Cairo has a personal interest.
(Charnoff) Febe Armanios is an assistant professor of Middle East history.
She just returned from a trip to Egypt three weeks ago.
Armanios says there was no indication at the time that there would be so much upheaval in her home country. Now, she’s worried for her family’s safety.
(Armanios) "I have relatives in suburbs of Cairo who at night have had to join neighborhood watches and take any kind of objects or blunt knives they have to protect their buildings".
(Host) Armanios says that there will soon be concerns beyond the threat of violence.
(Armanios) "There is now increasingly a sense that there will be a food shortage quite soon because the city is kind of under lockdown."
(Charnoff) Armanios says some of her younger relatives took part in the initial demonstrations, but are now more concerned with protecting their homes and properties.
For VPR News, I’m Neal Charnoff