Living long term in Egypt
- Thread starter elrasho
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Soldato
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After 2 weeks you should stop getting awful stomach craps and ****ing like a baby.
Lovely place, but not worth the death of your internals tbh.
I didn't have any stomach problems at all, wasn't ill once
Soldato
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Soldato
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Can't really offer much advice other than if you're going to learn arabic, make sure it's fusha arabic (pronounced fuss-ha).
Soldato
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This is one of the most surreal threads I've ever read in my whole time at GD.
Personally my only experience of Egypt was flying from SEA to the UK via 'Egypt Air' including a stopover at Cairo. It was the most unpleasant flight of my life, and at the airport in Cairo there was a delay where the staff only bothered to talk to the Arabic customers. The rest of us didn't have a clue what was going on. :/
I can easily imagine how it could be a horrible place to go for a holiday (let alone to live there).
Personally my only experience of Egypt was flying from SEA to the UK via 'Egypt Air' including a stopover at Cairo. It was the most unpleasant flight of my life, and at the airport in Cairo there was a delay where the staff only bothered to talk to the Arabic customers. The rest of us didn't have a clue what was going on. :/
I can easily imagine how it could be a horrible place to go for a holiday (let alone to live there).
Man of Honour
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I love Luxor, I love the people and if I had the money I'd go now.
Cairo is a poohole though.
Cairo is a poohole though.
Just to put my 2 cents in,
Moving to another country to work is hard enough, having done just that myself. However I had a job offer waiting for me there, and the company organised the work visa somewhat in advance. There are lots of err, and wtf when you move out to somewhere you never been before, no friends, no family, no relatives.
No amount of research can prepare you for the actual move, especially if you do not know the lingo. I would not suggest you to do this, especially given that it is Egypt as well. BUT if you want to learn Arabic, why not look at doing one or two terms in a university there as a foreign student learning the local language? University generally offers somewhat safer grounds to retreat to, but you will also get the benefit of being able to explore local areas.
Oh my parents been to Egypt some years ago now, and the amount of begging was terrible they said...
Moving to another country to work is hard enough, having done just that myself. However I had a job offer waiting for me there, and the company organised the work visa somewhat in advance. There are lots of err, and wtf when you move out to somewhere you never been before, no friends, no family, no relatives.
No amount of research can prepare you for the actual move, especially if you do not know the lingo. I would not suggest you to do this, especially given that it is Egypt as well. BUT if you want to learn Arabic, why not look at doing one or two terms in a university there as a foreign student learning the local language? University generally offers somewhat safer grounds to retreat to, but you will also get the benefit of being able to explore local areas.
Oh my parents been to Egypt some years ago now, and the amount of begging was terrible they said...
I'll chuck my 2p in. I have worked quite a lot abroad (with my current employer). I have been to Egypt Cario and Luxor. I have also been to Islamabad and Iraq.
First off you will not get a work visa as quick as you think you will. Sure the egyptian embassy might say sure it only takes a couple of weeks. That is far from the case. It took me nearly 3months to get a work visa because they kept mucking about. If you plan on leaving in tourist season it will most likely take longer.
With regards to living out there. Its not as bad as some people have mentioned I think that you are still going to be in for one massive culture shock though when you arrive. People will openly spit (flem) in the streets. The guards will point a gun in your face if you do something they don't like.
Walking around at 2am is a terrible idea also. While it might be nice to think that it is fairly safe in Egypt it really is not. Clans/gangs will (and do) roam the streets and night I have seen fights kick off while wondering around trying to find somewhere to eat. It is quite safe during the day though from my experience.
Once you get over the fact that if you are walking near shops or walking through a Souq. The min the locals see your white boom they will be on you asking you to come into there shop showing you things trying to charge you stupid amounts of money for some tat. Its all good. You just got to be "brutal" with some of them. Just simply say no stand your ground and don't let them walk over you. Remember you have something they want, not the other way round. Also remember to haggle for everything and anything. I wanted to buy a paprus poster with anbus on for my mother. I asked the guy how much, 120 egyptian dollars..... PFFT I looked at it and said I will give you 20. Next thing you know he is bagging it up for me and taking my 20 dollars. So yea Haggle !
Aso for wages and cost of living out there. I cannot really comment there as well I was working for a UK Business as such I earned UK wage. Accomodation was also paid for by my employer so I didnt have to worry about that.
It's a nice place, I'm not sure I would want to live there for any longer than my stay (which was 4 months). I really think you should do what others have recommended though. Take a holiday out there, even for just a week. Just to scout the place out. That way you can see first hand what its like, how easy is it to find work and accomodation. Generally make sure you like it there before you commit. You seem to have the money to be able to move out there for a year or so would it really hurt to use some of that cash for a small holiday out there ?
First off you will not get a work visa as quick as you think you will. Sure the egyptian embassy might say sure it only takes a couple of weeks. That is far from the case. It took me nearly 3months to get a work visa because they kept mucking about. If you plan on leaving in tourist season it will most likely take longer.
With regards to living out there. Its not as bad as some people have mentioned I think that you are still going to be in for one massive culture shock though when you arrive. People will openly spit (flem) in the streets. The guards will point a gun in your face if you do something they don't like.
Walking around at 2am is a terrible idea also. While it might be nice to think that it is fairly safe in Egypt it really is not. Clans/gangs will (and do) roam the streets and night I have seen fights kick off while wondering around trying to find somewhere to eat. It is quite safe during the day though from my experience.
Once you get over the fact that if you are walking near shops or walking through a Souq. The min the locals see your white boom they will be on you asking you to come into there shop showing you things trying to charge you stupid amounts of money for some tat. Its all good. You just got to be "brutal" with some of them. Just simply say no stand your ground and don't let them walk over you. Remember you have something they want, not the other way round. Also remember to haggle for everything and anything. I wanted to buy a paprus poster with anbus on for my mother. I asked the guy how much, 120 egyptian dollars..... PFFT I looked at it and said I will give you 20. Next thing you know he is bagging it up for me and taking my 20 dollars. So yea Haggle !
Aso for wages and cost of living out there. I cannot really comment there as well I was working for a UK Business as such I earned UK wage. Accomodation was also paid for by my employer so I didnt have to worry about that.
It's a nice place, I'm not sure I would want to live there for any longer than my stay (which was 4 months). I really think you should do what others have recommended though. Take a holiday out there, even for just a week. Just to scout the place out. That way you can see first hand what its like, how easy is it to find work and accomodation. Generally make sure you like it there before you commit. You seem to have the money to be able to move out there for a year or so would it really hurt to use some of that cash for a small holiday out there ?