ok..lots of questions, I realize. Just anybody who can answer any--

More answers. There is no predjudices in Egypt. Woman should cover their arms at least to the elbows, do not wear shorts, or tight pants. Do wear your skirts below the knee. No head coverings necessary, this is a very Westernized country. Very Modern country in many respects What the American media portrays and the reality are two different things. Do not get involved with Egyptian men. They seem sincere, but the economy is so bad there they will do anything to have you fall in love with them and take them back to USA. I am very serious about this. Please be very careful. If you have sex with them they will no view you with respect at all. Please be careful. Yes you can rent current DVD's and Video's in English almost everywhere.
Medical care is excellent if you go to dr. in Mohandeseen. As far as male dominence. Men are men no matter where they are. Do not hang up the phone on anyone, raise your voice in public places against anyone, or slam the door in anyone's face. No name calling either. You can get a mobile phone or cell phone. Try to avoid taking buses and take taxi but negociate fares before you get into the taxi and pay after, after, after you get out of the taxi. Do not let them cheat you. If you can find an Egyptian female friend that will teach you the in's and outs of the way to live there and what is accepted. I adjusted very easy. I lived there 3 years. I've been away for 8 and I return Jan. 21st and can hardly wait.

#1 - We don't have any "American" neighborhoods in Cairo. They would be Expat neighborhoods, and probably more filled with Brits than Americans...so try to get over the idea that you're going to be living with Americans. The ONE that your boyfriend must be talking about would be Maadi, and a flat there in a decent part of it is going to cost LE2000 pretty much as a minimum.
#2 - Were you the one that asked that flats be quoted to you in USD instead of LE? If so, get over that too. You will be a landlords dream if you will discuss rent in USD instead of LE, but in 6 months when the exchange changes drastically, you will be kicking yourself for doing it. Over the 3 years I've lived in my flat, while the LE rent increases every year by 5%, it has gone down nearly $100 per month because of the exchange rate. If I had originally talked USD in my lease contract, I'd still be paying the original USD.
#3 Don't worry too much about short sleeves, especially if you live in Maadi. T-shirt length sleeves are fine, and you will see sleeveless in the Maadi neighborhood. Some of the people that live there have no idea what's appropriate and what isn't and it becomes common. LOL

Thanks for the tip on negotiating the rent in Egyptian currency. I hear the rate has been changing in favor of the American dollar for a while now. I was asking in dollars mainly since I haven't gotten the rate translation clear yet, so was trying to assess in dollar for now. I'll go to Google to get the current exchane rate and dollar equivalent for the 2000LD average that you quoted.

I really appreciate all of your suggestions and was glad to hear, too, that short sleeves aren't out of line in certain areas.

quote:

---

Originally posted by pris:
Yes, Maadi was the one he was referring to. He didn't actually refer to it as an American section (that's my error in the post), but said that there were more English speaking people there and many Americans (some he knew from the University there). It sounds as if it may be a pricier area than might be affordable, too, though.

---

Yes, Maadi is expensive. Most of the USAID contractors live down there because the best school for American kids (K-12) is located there. You also have the bulk of the teachers from the school living in Maadi. These people have a housing allowance of at least $1500 (yes dollars) to spend that they can't put in their pocket if they don't spend it, so they have the market ruined in Maadi for the rest of us that can't afford this. Oil company employees often spend twice or 3 times that for flats and villas in Maadi.

Like I said before, the cheapest decent places I've seen have been LE2000/mo. (that is in the range of $300/mo). There are some flats cheaper, but in general, they will either be in an icky part of Maadi (and yes, Maadi does stretch out to poor neighborhoods where poor Egyptians live (for example, my maid lives in Maadi), or in a brand new part of Maadi that requires a car to get around because it is so far away from everything even the taxis rarely go out that far. So if someone says I have a flat for you in Maadi for LE1500 or less, be wary, be careful, and look at it before you rent. What you want is one in Digla (and be careful because some landlords are really stretching the term Digla to include some of the far out areas), the old section of Maadi (between the RR tracks and Road 9), or perhaps New Maadi over by the MGM and Satelite field. Some of that is ok and fairly economical.

Good luck.

P.S. Question - Have you ever been to Egypt? Wouldn't it be a good idea to come look at these neighborhoods and the country before making such a move?

I was wondering why the rentals ran so high in that one area and how people could afford it. No wonder! And yes, what a bummer that it ruins the area for others, pricewise.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Stacy Star:
It would help to learn Arabic words for Where is the Bus (Fin autobeast)

---

As you know, the actual Egyptian word for a bus is “autobees” which was probably derived from the “auto bus”. I have to admit though that “autobeast” is practically more accurate word and we should give Stacy thumbs up for coming up with this accurate description.