I am a student who who will be studying Arabic for about 2 months in Cairo this summer, and I'm trying to get a handle on procedures for finding a flat before I leave. I'll be studying in Mohandessen, and I may perhaps be able to share a flat with someone else from my program. How much should I expect to spend for a modest apartment in a safe neighborhood not too far away? Any tips on how to go about looking for a place? How much time should I leave to deal with housing issues before my program starts? Thanks for the advice.

Best,

If you want to live within 10 minutes walking of either of these two places then I might just have the place for you: nice, quiet area; sat. TV; balcony etc. for a nice price.

I speak fluent Arabic and despite my love of Egyptians and Egyptian culture, you notice that everybody here wants to practice English with you which can get annoying after a while, especially if you're learning Arabic. My experience is that it would be foolhardy to live with an Egyptian thinking that you might be able to get special deals or learn more Arabic. Believe me it doesn't happen!! You'll just end up reverting to English all the time and defeating the object of coming here.....this doesn't stop you from making plenty of Arab friends which you can do easily. But if you want to learn Arabic, if someone answers you in English or trys to collar you for an "impromptu" lesson, then just reply in Arabic they'll soon get the message and this way, unless they are complete arses, you will learn Arabic. I mean come on, is it too much to ask Egyptians to speak their native tongue?

That said, I wouldn't live in Maadi either unless you want to rub shoulders with lots of ex-pats. Again you won't learn the language and you'll just end up doing exactly what you do at home. I'm sure that you're coming to Egypt for something different so make it different!

If you wanna live close to Tahrir then try a flat share in Garden City if you can find someone. Some decent shares can be had for 800LE all told - try advertising on this site or maybe ewasseet but can't remember if they do flats or not. Also if you wanna live near Tahrir put an ad or check out the ads already at AUC. The board is near the bookshop. But if it was me then I'd live in Mohandiseen or Dokki and commute everyday cos personally I fink Tahrir's a bit of a bore....plus you're safer out here!!

If anyone asks me where I'm from, an everyday occurence even now I might add, then I reply "Ana min Sohag". This generally shuts them up or puts them in fits of laughter.

Truthfully though I'm from the Caucases and my ancestors are the Avar people if that's any help.

I generally speak al lughat al 'arabia/fusHa to everyone instead of 'amiya cos it gets me a few concessions here and there as most Egyptians big up anyone who can speak the classical language. However it does sound a bit convoluted at times so if necessary I switch to colloquial.

If you wanna stay somewhere clean for a few days for not much cash, then try the Ismalaya hotel which is smack bang on Tahrir near KFC. This way you can access other areas easily at first and have a convenient "base of operations".