posted
Ok, so I've heard a lot bad things about Tanta on this board. My husband and I will probably be moving there by January (although we still have reservations about the whole thing) to teach English.
Is it really that bad? Are there things to do for fun there, or will I be hopping the train to Cairo or Alexandria any chance that I get?
The person who we'll be replacing said that there are no tourists in Tanta--my guess is that means that we'll stand out like crazy. Is that going to be a really bad thing?
Any other information that you can give me would be much appreciated...I'm a pretty mellow woman who has spent time in other countries and cultures, albeit not a primarily islamic one. I'm willing to roll with the punches, I just don't want to find myself so overwhelmed that I end up holed up in our apartment.
Is there anyone on this board who lives in Tanta and wants to hang out when we get there?
Posts: 22 | From: Phoenix | Registered: Sep 2006
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That is a puzzling photoset. All the westerners in the beginning of the series look very bored. Halfway they ask you if you care to go on, as if they know it might have become boring!LOL And I can hardly believe the snow on the trees is in Tanta, as I am puzzled why some of the pictures remind me of the entrance to Alex coming from the desertroad! Obviously someones familyphotoalbum. I don't know where that pharao is displayed either. Tanta is just some suburb between Cairo and Alex and I consider it not the most exciting place on earth but you do have attractive malls and horsecarriages, the usual weddings on the streets. Besides being there I noticed my family travel a lot to work on their lands or to visit family in Alex or anywhere. In the surroundings are also some pittoresque small villages with the pigeonhomes, the cluttering together of clay farms surrounded with green pastures and irrigationchannels, ongoing traffic of all sorts on the main road and interesting mosques and churches. It does have a university. But I sure prefer Alex over Tanta, but when your family happens to live their it should not be to bad to stay there. I consider hygiene a problem in Alex too.
Posts: 1419 | From: Amsterdam, Netherlands | Registered: Aug 2003
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You will stick out in Alex too, better get used to it and find your way in it.
Posts: 1419 | From: Amsterdam, Netherlands | Registered: Aug 2003
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Ok, what's scary about the photo album, is that I recognized some of the pictures. They're all just taken from flickr.com--some of them are of the apartment of someone I know through e-mail. That's weird!
Posts: 22 | From: Phoenix | Registered: Sep 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Demiana: That is a puzzling photoset. All the westerners in the beginning of the series look very bored. Halfway they ask you if you care to go on, as if they know it might have become boring!LOL And I can hardly believe the snow on the trees is in Tanta, as I am puzzled why some of the pictures remind me of the entrance to Alex coming from the desertroad! Obviously someones familyphotoalbum. I don't know where that pharao is displayed either. Tanta is just some suburb between Cairo and Alex and I consider it not the most exciting place on earth but you do have attractive malls and horsecarriages, the usual weddings on the streets. Besides being there I noticed my family travel a lot to work on their lands or to visit family in Alex or anywhere. In the surroundings are also some pittoresque small villages with the pigeonhomes, the cluttering together of clay farms surrounded with green pastures and irrigationchannels, ongoing traffic of all sorts on the main road and interesting mosques and churches. It does have a university. But I sure prefer Alex over Tanta, but when your family happens to live their it should not be to bad to stay there. I consider hygiene a problem in Alex too.
Tanta isn't just a suburb. Its been a very important town for hundreds of years. The Ottomans used it as a administrative town and it also has several important Sufi Shrines.
I am not saying this to be flippant, but Tanta is a town in its own right. Just a bit of a large "wild west" town with loads of western influence.
Posts: 991 | From: My daughter is a stalker | Registered: Jul 2006
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Could you elaborate more on the wild west idea? What does that look like in Egypt? Now I'm intrigued! Posts: 22 | From: Phoenix | Registered: Sep 2006
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