What It Was Like in Tahrir Square When Mubarak Resigned

The mood on Tahrir Square is absolutely jubilant. As many people are saying "Welcome to the New Egypt."
After news that the army was going to be taking over, and that the parliament was stepping down, Egyptians just turned out on the streets en mass. We had people hugging and singing, they've been playing patriotic¹ songs here on the square, with people bowing in prayer.
The familiar chants of "the people and the army are one" have come true for many people, and with the army in charge, people are really celebrating. It might seem odd for such celebrations after an army takeover, but in fact, that's the way the regime they were trying to oust² came to power.
There are also other voices to be heard, many in the crowd were also chanting "only God made the regime step down."
But there are also a mixture and a tolerance³ here, with some saying "the Crescent and the Cross together," signs of the Coptic Christians⁴ here in Egypt, a minority that has often felt alienated⁵.
After the regular Muslim prayer was finished many people continued to bow in prayer, thankful for this day after 18 days.
After 18 days of protests that had been for the most part peaceful, but erupted at various points into violence that by some estimates claimed 300 lives or more, there was indeed, mention of the people who died during the protests with vows⁶ from some of the speakers saying they would carry on the struggle of the martyrs⁷.

1 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

2 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

3 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

4 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

5 alienated   

adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
• The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 vows   

誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿

参考例句：

• Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
• The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。

7 martyrs   

n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情）

参考例句：

• the early Christian martyrs 早期基督教殉道者
• They paid their respects to the revolutionary martyrs. 他们向革命烈士致哀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》