Dragons

Ever city must have its own football team, but more importantly, its own football fan club. Ismailia has the yellow dragons. There are murals around the city honoring the team. Street curbs and trees* are painted the team's colors-- yellow and blue.

*tree trunks throughout Egypt are painted as a form of insecticide. In Cairo many tree trucks were painted red, black, and white after the Revolution.
I noticed this form of insecticide during my travels in India.

Ismailia, E-day

This photograph was taken in Midan El Mamar, the center of the demonstrations during the 25 January Revolution in Ismailia. There are still military tanks stationed in the Midan.

Ismailia is half way between Port Said (to the north, on the Medterrain Sea) and Suez (to the south) and is the base of Egypt's second army. Ismailia is the hometown of Hasan Al-Bana, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. Compared to Cairo, Ismailia is a small city (10-20 million vs. less than 1 million).
Nicholas Kristof recently reported from the city.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/opinion/sunday/kristof-Democracy-in-the-Muslim-Brotherhoods-Birthplace.html

I traveled to Ismailia yesterday to witness the second-round of Egyptian parliamentary elections taking place in the city. I was surprised by the general lack of election-fever in the city. From what I observed, there was no campaigning outside of polling stations-- which is illegal by Egyptian law, but nevertheless took place during the first round of elections in Cairo. Like Cairo, however, there were campaigns posters dotting all of the walls in the city too.

I was surprised by the reach of the April 6th movement's "White Circle, Black Circle" campaign in the city. I had only seen black circles in Cairo, not white circles. In contrast, both black and white circles were spray-painted in abundance around the city center. The circles were not necessarily painted on campaign posters.
http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/egypt-elections-2011/muslim-brotherhood-stronghold-sees-possible-vote-split-dp1.html