Saturday, February 7, 2009

How difficult would it be for an American female to live in Egypt


How difficult would it be for an American female to live in Egypt?
This question applies to cultural and legal issues. I'm thinking about moving to Egypt, but I don't know how the legal system would work. Would it be easy for me to be granted residency for Egypt? How would that work? And would the culture barrier be too great for someone who is dedicated to make things work?
Egypt - 9 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
It's not difficult as long as you can understand the culture and mentality of Egyptians which is completely different from US. You to have income and few Egyptian friends. You can have annual residency if you marry an Egyptian or in case you work and have a contract.
2 :
Really it's not a big deal . First of all u gotta learn about modern Egypt , u have to understand the contemporary economic,social,political events. Learn about their religions and beliefs and their culture.
3 :
no,it's not that hard,about residency....you get it either you married an Egyptian or have a job with a contract.....about the culture barrier,it's not that difficult,modern Egypt has become more welcoming environment to live in.....and it's mainly depends on what city will you stay....major cities like Cairo or Alexandria,is better,it has a huge numbers of non-Egyptians.... and like you said if you are dedicated to make things work..it's a piece of cake...
4 :
i dont think that u would face serious legal pronblems but i believe that u will face cultural problems,im an arab but not egyptian and i had this problem,they are nice people but the cultural difference might drive u crazy
5 :
the above 4 answers is OK .. you will NOT face any legal barrier .As a tourist you can stay here for a year none will ask you wt r u doing. my advice is first step you must spend some time watching Egyptian TV channels if you want i can tell you HOW TO FIND THEM 2ND step you can visit Egypt as a tourist and spend 1 or 3 weeks here to know if the cultural differences is big or not .also try the next link it may be helpful
6 :
Legal system no problem, its easy to come, work and stay. I have lived in Egypt for more than 10 years, I have some good days but mostly I feel lonely. I'm married to an Egyptian, it's a great place to visit and the people are nice enough. But living here is much harder, there are differences, no matter how much I tried to fit in, I will always be an outsider, I do have 1 or 2 close Egyptian friends and they understand me. I have faced considerable isolation at work, they gather together to do things and exclude us foreigners. My foreign friends say its jealousy because we make more money, that to me is subjective but I think it's more than that, there's alot more to it such as race, religion, culture issues than can be discussed, especially between women it's much more difficult to determine exactly where is the stigma coming from. It's easy to deal with but after 10 years I guess you can say I'm tired of dealing with it and I am homesick, I miss my culture, background and the daily life I used to have in the states where I can easily find my niche in life. It's has opened my gratitude for many things I had taken for granted living in the states and growing up there. Things like family reunions, Forth of July fireworks, snowball fights on a frozen lake, driving thru mountians at night and stopping in a convience store to get a cup of hot coffee. Rollerblading and cycling through the city, sitting and chatting with my mom, going to work, to work and not being worried about if I didn't say "Hi,how are you and the kids?" to my boss. Dressing with short sleeves and training pants to run around without being stared at for being "the foreigner" or googled by men, no I am not beautiful, but being westerner doesn't mean I am easy either. 4x4ing in the mountains, snowboarding and riding my Kawasaki Ninja at night and almost every weekend hiking in the mountains. My experiences I would never pass to my kids if I stayed living here the rest of my dull, boring life. I am in Egypt it has been 10 years of work, go home, rest from exhaustion, eat, clean and go back to work, weekends are get up, get on internet, clean house, finish work from school, maybe watch t.v. cook, wash and hang out clothes on the line (every few days). Prepare for work and sleep. Ok in 10 years, three times to the pyramids, once to the museum, three times to amusement park, 3 times to Alex to swim in the sea, once to Hurgada, 4 times to Azhar park which is really quite nice but not free like in the states and cost 20 to go and 30 to come back home by taxi. GRRRR I can count the times I went out. Come and enjoy, but try to leave before apathy sets in.
7 :
We'll.. if you don't speak Arabic.. then it would be kind of hard on you and some men might stare at you.. but you can probably ignore that.. and ..like i said if you can't speak Arabic. then.. it will be hard cause they might try to rip you off if they know your American..
8 :
Go to Dubai better
9 :
There is no problem at all, you will find people of different nationalities that live in Egypt for a long time the question is , how will you make living , or what are you going to do to afford life ? is this question doesn't bother you , then there is no question at all







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