Veronica Vos, one of 12 University of Notre Dame students evacuated from Egypt Jan. 31 because of the ongoing political unrest, has relatives in Dowagiac.

In fact, her grandmother, Gladys Patano of California, is a sister of former Daily News publisher Mrs. Jack (Irene) Brosnan.

The South Bend Tribune published an essay Feb. 3 which Vos e-mailed from Istanbul, Turkey, before her planned flight to Great Britain, where she was to transfer into Notre Dame’s London study program for spring semester.

Vos had been in Cairo since Jan. 20 with international students for orientation at American University.

Vos, who lives in Los Angeles, is a junior political science major.

Vos wrote in the Tribune: “We heard rumors about Tuesday’s protests the day before, but when they were actually going on, the university did its best to keep us all far away from that part of the city. However, the following Friday, many of the students wandered Cairo in the hopes of catching a glimpse of what was going on. The group I was with caught sight of a crowd of protesters headed toward the riot police on the other side of the Nile.

“We wanted to follow them but were quick to return to our dorms as soon as we heard tear gas shots being fired. The Egyptians around us also advised us to turn around, and we were still able to feel the tear gas, even from far away.

“I never actually felt in danger myself, even though the whole experience was emotionally draining, as I am only just realizing now. The whole time my biggest concern was for the Egyptians I had met and their families. The knowledge that people were possibly dying just blocks away was not easy to deal with.

“Because of my limited Arabic, my conversations with Egyptians were few and far between.

One woman I spoke to said her brother was out in the midst of the protests and she feared for his safety. Another person expressed frustration with the government for cutting off the Internet, because it only served the purpose of driving the movement underground and increasing the frustration of the protesters.

“I attended a lecture given by one of the professors at the university the day after the Tuesday protests, and his tone was cautiously hopeful and very determined. He had marched in the protest himself the day before and made sure to emphasize that this was not a movement that the government would be able to disregard.

“After hearing this and getting a feel for the spirit on the ground, my own humble opinion is that these protests will not stop until President Hosni Mubarak leaves. I can only hope that the death toll does not get any higher during this process.

“The only signs of unrest I witnessed were sporadic gunshots going off around the city all during curfew hours, as well as shops closed all over Cairo. (Those that remained open had boarded their windows against looters.)

“There was one instance when students thought looters had entered the building. And even though it turned out to be a false alarm, it was amazing to watch just how fast panic took hold because everyone was so on edge.

“These events in Egypt completely surprised me, as did those in Tunisia. This is likely an indication of how much more I still have to learn about the region.”

Her aunt, Patricia Patano, moved to Dowagiac Dec. 22 after 40 years in California.
Born in Chicago, she grew up in Oak Park, Ill., so has Midwest roots. She likes to think of Michigan as the “Vermont of the Midwest.”

“Everyone in our family loves Dowagiac,” she told the Daily News Monday night. “It’s one of my favorite places on earth” after spending summertimes on E. Division Street at the house where Gladys’ and Irene’s brother, postal carrier Ted Olejniczak lived and the family still owns.

Veronica visited here just before leaving for Egypt.

Patricia said her ancestors settled here from Poland and worked at Round Oak.

Veronica is “my baby sister’s oldest daughter,” and she and Marissa both visited in the fall when Patricia was house-hunting and went through Sprague’s corn maze together.

Veronica, who returned to class Feb. 7 in London, had expected to spend an entire semester in Egypt, until May.

Patano said her niece hoped to meet Mideast scholar and Dowagiac graduate Denis Sullivan, but he left Cairo the day she arrived.

Patano also worked for J.D. Power and knew Julie, whose father, Dr. Kenneth Pierce, was a Dowagiac physician.