posted
Despite what he or she is telling....some of us including me need to know ... have you got the courage telling that face to face to Egyptians instead of hiding under a keyboard or a fack name. by the way lets keep this topic as civilized as possible which means no need for bad words ( insults)
[This message has been edited by freeman (edited 16 June 2005).]
quote:Originally posted by freeman: Despite what he or she is telling....some of us including me need to know ... have you got the courage telling that face to face to Egyptians instead of hiding under a keyboard or a fack name. by the way lets keep this topic as civilized as possible which means no need for bad words ( insults)
[This message has been edited by freeman (edited 16 June 2005).]
freeman just ignore him. he just swears and is incapable of having an intelligent conversation
Posts: 4446 | From: Egyptian in Sydney | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
LOL ... Courage? She/he didn't go face to face with any egyptians.....she's under a fake name like the rest of us. So what are you talking about? It's much easier for her to curse and call names, than to actually back her own opinion up. She was disrespectful and insulting, that's the problem with her/him. You can state your opinion without a garbage mouth.
quote:Originally posted by freeman: Despite what he or she is telling....some of us including me need to know ... have you got the courage telling that face to face to Egyptians instead of hiding under a keyboard or a fack name. by the way lets keep this topic as civilized as possible which means no need for bad words ( insults)
[This message has been edited by freeman (edited 16 June 2005).]
You start this topic calling me a coward and say no insults, f uck you asskissing fag.
Keepingintfake go wash your dirty face, 7aya ass prints are all over it.
7aya no words for you bitch, just keep living in denial.
Yeah I tell Egyptians face to face what I fucking think, and take one guess what their response is, only a foreigner attending AUC will know the reply: Oh, its the low class, felahim, coming to Cairo, they are the dirty ones,the lying ones, the cheating one.
IT IS SO TYPICAL FOR A SO-CALLED HIGH CLASS EGYPTIAN TO BLAME ALL THE COUNTRIES BAD ELEMENTS ON THE LOWER CLASSES.
Don't ever fucking call an American arrogant until you meet one of these AUC dickheads...."ohh thats why my family moved to New Cairo to get away from these low class people. Thats why we vacation on the North Coast, because only people with money can go there, you should visit our summer villa, its so quiet and clean, not like those low class public beaches," and so on and so forth.
You will never find anyne to put down egyptians worst than they put themselves down thru their class systems.
Sounds to me like you have had a massive dose of culture shock and haven’t managed to work through it. No one denies that the things you are complaining about happen; we have all seen/experienced most of them too. But instead of giving yourself time to try to understand why things are the way they are, or to see things from another perspective, it seems as if you have mainly mixed with other foreigners who sit around all the time complaining about “the natives” and have reinforced all your negative stereotypes. If you had got out of that circle and tried to find people you felt more comfortable with, your experience here would have been very different.
Why did you come all the way to Cairo to study? You obviously have something that you hoped to gain from the experience, particularly if you’re going to continue your studies in Dubai. Have you gain absolutely nothing positive from being here? Has your vision been so clouded that you can’t say anything positive or even speak decently anymore?
posted
I haven't been to Egypt yet, but the Egyptians that I know here are all very nice, polite, and have very pleasant personalities.
quote:Originally posted by newcomer: Hi tempted!
Sounds to me like you have had a massive dose of culture shock and haven’t managed to work through it. No one denies that the things you are complaining about happen; we have all seen/experienced most of them too. But instead of giving yourself time to try to understand why things are the way they are, or to see things from another perspective, it seems as if you have mainly mixed with other foreigners who sit around all the time complaining about “the natives” and have reinforced all your negative stereotypes. If you had got out of that circle and tried to find people you felt more comfortable with, your experience here would have been very different.
Why did you come all the way to Cairo to study? You obviously have something that you hoped to gain from the experience, particularly if you’re going to continue your studies in Dubai. Have you gain absolutely nothing positive from being here? Has your vision been so clouded that you can’t say anything positive or even speak decently anymore?
posted
I think we hit a nerve with you Tempted. Why don't you wash out your mouth? There's too much crap in it, along with being full of it. I'm surprised you're in a University, you probably lied about that too. I just can't figure out that someone with an education can't hold up a discussion without insulting and cursing. Your mouth is bigger than your brain.
quote:Originally posted by leilanism: For any american who says their country is polite and wonderful. YOU ARE LYING.
My state is very polite and friendly, its called Minnesota nice. And its fake to a point. Still its gets weird for non-Minnesotans when we give directions, ask about where they are from, tell the kids they are smart and cute and then tell them to have an excellent time in our home. People think we are nuts because we really do mean it.
But then we can be zenophobic, racist, and not very open about our not so positive feelings.
I am quite different because I am not polite, but overly friendly and will do anything for a stranger. I know I am weird.
Posts: 5744 | From: Minneapolis, Mn USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote:Originally posted by tempted: You start this topic calling me a coward and say no insults, f uck you asskissing fag.
Keepingintfake go wash your dirty face, 7aya ass prints are all over it.
7aya no words for you bitch, just keep living in denial.
Yeah I tell Egyptians face to face what I fucking think, and take one guess what their response is, only a foreigner attending AUC will know the reply: Oh, its the low class, felahim, coming to Cairo, they are the dirty ones,the lying ones, the cheating one.
IT IS SO TYPICAL FOR A SO-CALLED HIGH CLASS EGYPTIAN TO BLAME ALL THE COUNTRIES BAD ELEMENTS ON THE LOWER CLASSES.
Don't ever fucking call an American arrogant until you meet one of these AUC dickheads...."ohh thats why my family moved to New Cairo to get away from these low class people. Thats why we vacation on the North Coast, because only people with money can go there, you should visit our summer villa, its so quiet and clean, not like those low class public beaches," and so on and so forth.
You will never find anyne to put down egyptians worst than they put themselves down thru their class systems.
hay honey calling you a cowered was not an insult more LIKE a description of PERSONALITY just had the idea of adding something else which is cowered and stupid , cuz it looks like some of the high class, which you were runing after , give you a kick in the A.. , you know why coz you though you were damn clever but in fact you are stupid
LETS NOT TALK ABOUT YOUR PERSONALITY CUZ we don't give a **** about it , IT IS CLEAR ....
DO YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO MEET US IN PUBLIC TELLING WHAT YOU BELIEVE OR YOU ARE A BAAAK...BAAK,,,,, CHIKEN......
[This message has been edited by freeman (edited 18 June 2005).]
posted
@ tempted.. all 10 defects of my country are nothing but trivial matters that can be easily resolved by an experienced and well adapted foreigner..I understand it's tough at the start,but hey..if you were sent off to a special mission in Afghanistan..Iraq..or even Bombay you should know what you're into..cultures and people in the African jungle are another story, so why do you find Cairo hard to adapt to ? didn't you read or ask before coming here how this 15+ MILLION strong city would be ? with all its frustated and caotic inhabitants who are struggling for their lives in a third world ghetto as you put it..man if you only read this country's history and knew that it had been stripped to the bone by invasions throughout the past 2500 years for its riches and wealth as it had once been the greatest of the world's civilizations..I won't brag about that since a simple visit to the museum will prove my point..its not so far from AUC. If you were to go to the Egyptian Western Sahara desert,you should expect venomous snakes, scorpions and sand storms..you will need to be very well prepared for that mission..exactly like it were a north pole expedition..each expedition has its thrills, so its either you adapt or pull out and fail. You may insult me and call me names..no problem buddy..I know how you feel. Have a good one.
Posts: 48 | From: Transylvania. | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by snefru: @ tempted.. all 10 defects of my country are nothing but trivial matters that can be easily resolved by an experienced and well adapted foreigner..I understand it's tough at the start,but hey..if you were sent off to a special mission in Afghanistan..Iraq..or even Bombay you should know what you're into..cultures and people in the African jungle are another story, so why do you find Cairo hard to adapt to ? didn't you read or ask before coming here how this 15+ MILLION strong city would be ? with all its frustated and caotic inhabitants who are struggling for their lives in a third world ghetto as you put it..man if you only read this country's history and knew that it had been stripped to the bone by invasions throughout the past 2500 years for its riches and wealth as it had once been the greatest of the world's civilizations..I won't brag about that since a simple visit to the museum will prove my point..its not so far from AUC. If you were to go to the Egyptian Western Sahara desert,you should expect venomous snakes, scorpions and sand storms..you will need to be very well prepared for that mission..exactly like it were a north pole expedition..each expedition has its thrills, so its either you adapt or pull out and fail. You may insult me and call me names..no problem buddy..I know how you feel. Have a good one.
No I won't call you names becaue you make a lot of sense. I bet you're one of those Egyptians with the prayer scars that I do respect and admire because of there honesty.
Actually the brochures painted of Cairo by Emory University's PYOW program made it seem like any other well developed western country, this is where my frustraton came in, or as newcomer said, culture shock. I attended 1 year of Arabic at Emory before transferring to Cairo to practice it amongst arabic speaking people.
My biggest headache has been trying to be a spokesperson for my country, I became annoyed of everyone on campus acting as if I personally handpicked GW Bush. After a while of taking so much trash, you began to spit it back out. Egypt has its own problems, I became sick of hearing them talk about America's problems. Excuse my french but when that bitch Salama started on the American justice system, it just sent me overboard to think about all the things I've been holding inside and can't take anymore.
You may not believe it when I first came I was opened minded, I intentionally tried to avoid the American cliches, choosing to hang around arabs, to practice my language skills, it wasnt until being constantly cornered by the Egyptian ones of course, about our government policies, that I began to avoid them and hang around other Arabs and foreigners. But I've taken as much **** as I could take here, and that's that.
Glad to see that there are still some traces of a rational human being under there! You think you have it bad being blamed for Bush, as I Brit I have to carry the can for everything from the Crusades, British (and European) colonialism, the carving up of the Middle East, the creation of Israel and the displacement of the Palestinians, to the Egyptian government office system and the fact that Omar Effendi still only has one cash till on each floor and one credit card machine for the whole shop…modeled on the British system don’t you know! And they say it with a straight face, knowing that I am a Muslim too!
What you have experienced here is what many Muslims in the States are also experiencing now, they are being made to carry the blame for everything that Usama bin Laden has been accused of! There are a lot of narrow-minded people in the world and we can either carry on perpetuating these negative ideas or we can try to understand why the cultures are different and break down some of the barriers.
You have sadly come into the Muslim world when your country political aims in this region are seen with a lot of suspicion and you will not escape this by going to Dubai. You may find more foreigners there, but I would guess that the atmosphere in the American University of Dubai will be pretty similar to AUC and you will experience a lot of the same comments. My advice to you is that you need to learn how to deal with it in a better way than responding by attacking, as it will only end up with you being even more miserable than you are right now. Mixing with other ex-pats who only have negative things to say about the country they are living is (and you will find them all over the world) is not the best way to understand it. Try to read up more on culture shock and acculturation and find other ways to cushion the adjustment, hopefully this will help!
posted
Tempted.. As I said you didn't do your homework before coming to Cairo..the cultural shock is because you feel the poster missled you to this horrid place..but actually no, its the people you mingled with in this place who drove you up the wall..those are the snakes, scorpions and sand storms of the Sahara desert,the doorman,taxi drivers and street cleanliness..ignore them. Rule of thumb in the Arab region : NEVER TALK POLITICS OR RELIGION WITH THE NATIVES. For the record I'm muslim but don't have a prayer scar..although I pray, its called 'ZEBIBET SALA' AND NOT EVERYONE WITH THAT IS AN ANGEL..I assure you. Cheers!
Posts: 48 | From: Transylvania. | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Actually the brochures painted of Cairo by Emory University's PYOW program made it seem like any other well developed western country, this is where my frustraton came in, or as newcomer said, culture shock. I attended 1 year of Arabic at Emory before transferring to Cairo to practice it amongst arabic speaking people.
posted by tempted
You went to Emory.It's located in my home state...
posted
Tempted- I can see your point now that you've explained your side of it. I can relate with how people define you with your country. I encountered that as well and it does get exhausting. In fact, I've encoutered it in every country I've ever been in. They all think we hand picked Bush and that we support all the politics that involve America. Which just isn't so.I know Egypt isn't perfect. I feel it's about what you desire in your life. You will find your "place." With all of your travels you will find a country that is special and will steal your heart. Just as Egypt did mine.
posted
I just don't like fake pretentious fucking people, and they are all over Egypt. I've seen a man throw a 'homeless looking' guy out of his shop, and told him he can't afford anything in there, and then kiss my ass to come in the shop, because he thinks he's got another foreign fool to overcharge for the cheap **** .
I can't avoid talking politics on campus, most people know I'm a Political Science major with a concentration on middle easter studies. All of my credits will be accepted from AUC toward my PHd at Emory. I hope to one day become a diplomat in the middle east, instrumental in smoothing out political relations in the region. That's long term, short term, I just want to get the hell out of this hell hole, that's after I spend my last week with these pretentious assholes up in the Marina, "to see how the other half lives", I'm sure they'll have plenty of hash for everyone. Ha ha ha.
Glad to see that there are still some traces of a rational human being under there! You think you have it bad being blamed for Bush, as I Brit I have to carry the can for everything from the Crusades, British (and European) colonialism, the carving up of the Middle East, the creation of Israel and the displacement of the Palestinians, to the Egyptian government office system and the fact that Omar Effendi still only has one cash till on each floor and one credit card machine for the whole shop…modeled on the British system don’t you know! And they say it with a straight face, knowing that I am a Muslim too!
What you have experienced here is what many Muslims in the States are also experiencing now, they are being made to carry the blame for everything that Usama bin Laden has been accused of! There are a lot of narrow-minded people in the world and we can either carry on perpetuating these negative ideas or we can try to understand why the cultures are different and break down some of the barriers.
You have sadly come into the Muslim world when your country political aims in this region are seen with a lot of suspicion and you will not escape this by going to Dubai. You may find more foreigners there, but I would guess that the atmosphere in the American University of Dubai will be pretty similar to AUC and you will experience a lot of the same comments. My advice to you is that you need to learn how to deal with it in a better way than responding by attacking, as it will only end up with you being even more miserable than you are right now. Mixing with other ex-pats who only have negative things to say about the country they are living is (and you will find them all over the world) is not the best way to understand it. Try to read up more on culture shock and acculturation and find other ways to cushion the adjustment, hopefully this will help!
I dont know if you have actually been to the states or just reading what the media, who is btw biased on all sides, but muslims are not being blamed for what Osmama Bin Laden has done. Some Americans may be ignorant to what is going on outside their borders, but within their borders, they can't possibly differentiate between an Arab, east indian, Pakistani, South American, they basically all have the black hair, and dark skin, so how could they discriminate.
Most of the arabs I know in the states say they experience discrimination at the airport, but once they get beyond that, the average American is pretty much indifferent towards them.
Unlike backward ass countries like Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, in the US, you are free to practice whatever religion you choose. I resent anyone to try to compare us in retrospect to these backward societies, that uses their religion to blatantly discriminate against the opposite sex, and anyone who is not their religion.
I won't experience the same problems in Dubai, because Arabs are a powerful minority there. There are more foreigners living there, than arabs. And the arabs that are there are pretty well off, so their wont be the same issues with Egypt. And their government forbids them for discussing politics publicly. It can only be discussed in a controlled environment in the classroom.
All the westerners I know living there are very happy, and many dont wont to go back home.
Unlike backward ass countries like Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, in the US, you are free to practice whatever religion you choose. I resent anyone to try to compare us in retrospect to these backward societies, that uses their religion to blatantly discriminate against the opposite sex, and anyone who is not their religion.
I won't experience the same problems in Dubai, because Arabs are a powerful minority there. There are more foreigners living there, than arabs. And the arabs that are there are pretty well off, so their wont be the same issues with Egypt. And their government forbids them for discussing politics publicly. It can only be discussed in a controlled environment in the classroom.
All the westerners I know living there are very happy, and many dont wont to go back home.
Yes I am sure you will have a pleasent time there, cause there they wont bother you or attack you, the once attacked are the pkaistanis and afghan ppl who works like slaves for the arab ppl there. They are used like animals for work there, they work more than 14 hours a day without any vacation and a very small salary. and there is more but let keep this for when you reach there. I am sure you will love the beach and the overwhelming large buildings, but remembered those who built them were not arabs, they are spoiled bosses who sits at their office with a big stomach and a big chicken bone in their hands, bossing over the pakistanis and afghans to work day and night. and if the unpleasent thing happens that one of them dies in the time they worked in, well to bad for them! but have fun you will love the big centres. there so many fake ppl there, and not to mention the clown painted women, who walks around day and night in the centres looking for a 4th boyfriend.
but I still love to go there jumeirah beach is just great!
quote:Originally posted by Serendipity: Yes I am sure you will have a pleasent time there, cause there they wont bother you or attack you, the once attacked are the pkaistanis and afghan ppl who works like slaves for the arab ppl there. They are used like animals for work there, they work more than 14 hours a day without any vacation and a very small salary. and there is more but let keep this for when you reach there. I am sure you will love the beach and the overwhelming large buildings, but remembered those who built them were not arabs, they are spoiled bosses who sits at their office with a big stomach and a big chicken bone in their hands, bossing over the pakistanis and afghans to work day and night. and if the unpleasent thing happens that one of them dies in the time they worked in, well to bad for them! but have fun you will love the big centres. there so many fake ppl there, and not to mention the clown painted women, who walks around day and night in the centres looking for a 4th boyfriend.
but I still love to go there jumeirah beach is just great!
Ha ha ha, great since of humor, you have. Yeah I'm sure I will like it there since I am NOT pakistani of Afghan. Yeah I heard how they treat other muslim minorities, even Egyptians who go there to work, but are they to blame or the governemnt who couldnt provide enoough decent jobs for their own to put them in a situation to have to work abroad to began with?
I just want to be in a sanitary environment, Cairo's filth is just driving me nuts, I cant take it anymore.
quote:Originally posted by tempted: Ha ha ha, great since of humor, you have. Yeah I'm sure I will like it there since I am NOT pakistani of Afghan. Yeah I heard how they treat other muslim minorities, even Egyptians who go there to work, but are they to blame or the governemnt who couldnt provide enoough decent jobs for their own to put them in a situation to have to work abroad to began with?
I just want to be in a sanitary environment, Cairo's filth is just driving me nuts, I cant take it anymore.
well tempted if you need any advice of wich places to see just ask me! I am an expert on Dubai land! been there more than 5 times now. But the best place is still the beach! so be sure you have a place near jumeirah beach, it suits you, there are mostly foreigners in that place. veeeery nice place. but in the summer, watch out or you will burnt! really hot! But be prepared for the girls there, they will hang around your neck day and night!!!
(nice to see no swearing , you can still have deacent conversation eventhough we disagree in some things )
and BTW, of course the government has something to do with that. But there are things that maybe you wont experience there that others who are arabs or pakistani or other nationalities who arent white experience there. They think they are superior over all, and man, the girls there they hate ANY GIRL! they used to give me these ugly looks and very nice words too You mentioned the waiting for line thing in egypt.. well its the same in dubai, I was so used to Norway and the waiting for line thing, that I had to wait for 30 minutes only to order a Big Mac menu!! the people just jumped in front of me! I dont know exactly how they treat foreigners there in Dubai, but I am an arab, wearing hijab, and man, I was treated like a queen (NOT!). But I still love it! just take away the ppl and the tons of makeup and Dubai would be great
[This message has been edited by Serendipity (edited 20 June 2005).]
Actually I was in the States on 9/11, in DC, so I felt it, saw it, and experienced the after effects, possibly more closely than you did! And although I am not there now, I still have friends there, and they tell me that life is getting more and more difficult for practicing Muslims. The prejudice is not just coming from the idiots who give a knee-jerk reaction to someone who wears a hijab, looks as if they might an Arab/Muslim (I agree most of the people can’t differentiate), or has an Arabic/Muslim sounding name, but it becoming more insidious, institutionalized, and accepted. Maybe in areas that don’t have a large Muslim population, what you say is true, but it is not the same everywhere.
The point of my bringing up the way Muslims are being treated in America was to highlight that the comments you are getting here in Egypt because you are an American are similar to those being experienced by Muslims in your country because of the way their co-religionists are perceived in your country. In the same way the Arabic media denigrates Americans and American politics, the American media denigrates Muslims and uses inflammatory language when describing them. Both sides are guilty of inflaming emotions.
I would be interested to hear from you one year after being in Dubai and experiencing how those rich Arabs and foreigners talk about the Emiraties, and as Serendipity says, about the foreign labourers who do the dirty jobs they don’t want to do, and also after you have coped with a year at the American University there. I wonder if you will be saying the same thing then!
By the way, there are many foreigners who love being in Egypt too, and many don’t want to go back home; it depends where you go to look for them!
I would also like to suggest that you take my comments about acculturation seriously. If you really want a job as a diplomat in the Foreign Service being “instrumental in smoothing out political relations in the region” i.e. the Middle East, you are going to need to learn what diplomacy means: di•plo•ma•cy (dĭ-plôʹmə-sç) noun 1. The art or practice of conducting international relations, as in negotiating alliances, treaties, and agreements. 2. Tact and skill in dealing with people. I would suggest that you need to concentrate a little more on the latter part of the definition if you want to be successful in your chosen career, as your current mode of communication with those people whose political relationships you want to smooth out won’t work!
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