posted
In America, atleast where I live, you can drive down the street at 1AM and see no one. You feel like you're in your own little world; everyone else is most likely sleeping. In Egypt, however, it seems that the city never sleeps. Well, atleast in Cairo. I thought maybe it's just because it was Cairo, this big touristy center. But... my fiance lives in Giza and he calls me at what would be around 2:30AM Egyptian time. And I can hear his youngest sister (who's 9) talking in the background. An hour ago, on a work day, he called me and told me he was getting together with some friends for awhile... This would've been after midnight there. This is very common for him. Is this common all around? Maybe just among the young adults? I guess I'd just like to know what "typical" is. Do most people work 8 to 5, like they seem to in the U.S? I'd just like to know what to expect when I get there. I guess I just thought my fiance and I spent many late nights out because we were getting to know eachother. But I'm wondering now if my life is going to consist of sleeping the majority of my daylight hours away and than working and spending time with friends at night.
Posts: 130 | From: Michigan | Registered: Feb 2006
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I don't know about most Egyptians. When I visited Cairo, my husband's friends seemed to work 10-5. I have no idea if that's typical or not. I think a lot of people wake for dawn prayers and then go back to sleep.
But the late nights seem common.
Posts: 8794 | From: 01-20-09 The End of an Error | Registered: Dec 2004
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Thanks for the welcome and thanks for your comments. That's what I thought, that it was fairly typical.. I've always considered myself a late night person, but this just seems really late night to me. I loved it while I was on vacation there, but I just don't know how it would feel to live that way every day.
Posts: 130 | From: Michigan | Registered: Feb 2006
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Snoozin - I assume you married an Egyptian man? When you married, did you take his last name? I asked my fiance what name I would take after our marriage and, though he speaks very good English, I don't think he understood me. I believe he said my last name would be Amr. That's his first name. ??? Is that correct? I can't imagine that it would be, otherwise there would be thousands of Mrs. Mohamed's and Mrs. Ahmed's running around. This can't be right.
Posts: 130 | From: Michigan | Registered: Feb 2006
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Yeah isn't it great though their lifestyle I wouldn't even drive round the street's over here at 1AM
Posts: 200 | From: uk | Registered: Dec 2005
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Exactly, Karena. But in Egypt it seems that many things don't even get started until so late. As a young person, well not that young, I kind of like that. It's exciting. But, I'm trying to think rationally. Is this a good thing?
Posts: 130 | From: Michigan | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote:Originally posted by ShannonAmr: In America, atleast where I live, you can drive down the street at 1AM and see no one. You feel like you're in your own little world; everyone else is most likely sleeping. In Egypt, however, it seems that the city never sleeps. Well, atleast in Cairo. I thought maybe it's just because it was Cairo, this big touristy center. But... my fiance lives in Giza and he calls me at what would be around 2:30AM Egyptian time. And I can hear his youngest sister (who's 9) talking in the background. An hour ago, on a work day, he called me and told me he was getting together with some friends for awhile... This would've been after midnight there. This is very common for him. Is this common all around? Maybe just among the young adults? I guess I'd just like to know what "typical" is. Do most people work 8 to 5, like they seem to in the U.S? I'd just like to know what to expect when I get there. I guess I just thought my fiance and I spent many late nights out because we were getting to know eachother. But I'm wondering now if my life is going to consist of sleeping the majority of my daylight hours away and than working and spending time with friends at night.
for example, I have work Tomorrow Inshallh at 8:00 am and I'm online rightnow, and it is 2:15 AM cairo time... Posts: 968 | From: www | Registered: Aug 2005
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I completely respect your decision to do that. i have many friends who've chosen to do that. I'd like to take part of his name though, because I know that it would make me feel closer to him. And when we have children, I'd like them to be recognized as mine by name. I just don't know about Amr. It's not the name, it's just the fact that it's his first name. I'd feel less like I was becoming part of a family and more like I was losing part of my identity by taking his first name. His full name is Amr Magdy Hussein Mohamed. I think, by America's general thought process, that I would take either Magdy or Hussein as my last name.
Posts: 130 | From: Michigan | Registered: Feb 2006
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"Karen, you love our lifestyle, sweet, but what about yours sweet lady ?! "
Corv, My lifestyle in England is very different. I could quite easily change my lifestyle for yours ?! Posts: 200 | From: uk | Registered: Dec 2005
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Corvinous - I plan to. Soon. I'll be there in June. I consider myself to be pretty openminded, I'd just like to know what to expect. I don't want to be completely shocked!
Posts: 130 | From: Michigan | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote:Originally posted by ShannonAmr: Asooma - When do you sleep????
Corvinous - I plan to. Soon. I'll be there in June. I consider myself to be pretty openminded, I'd just like to know what to expect. I don't want to be completely shocked!
Shocked ?! i don't think so at all. From the way you sound like, you will be Surprised and squealing with happiness I can tell Posts: 3903 | From: The Moon | Registered: Feb 2005
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quote:Originally posted by ShannonAmr: I completely respect your decision to do that. i have many friends who've chosen to do that. I'd like to take part of his name though, because I know that it would make me feel closer to him. And when we have children, I'd like them to be recognized as mine by name. I just don't know about Amr. It's not the name, it's just the fact that it's his first name. I'd feel less like I was becoming part of a family and more like I was losing part of my identity by taking his first name. His full name is Amr Magdy Hussein Mohamed. I think, by America's general thought process, that I would take either Magdy or Hussein as my last name.
What does *he* use as a last name...
I don't know what the general practice is...but my husband uses his 3rd name as his last name here. So it looks very American. But his dad in Egypt uses his 2nd name as his last name....so you'd think they had the same last name. My husband said it's just kind of what *sticks.*
Also, when my husband was growing up, his dad used to call his mother by my husband's name. Instead of Om Ali (mother of Ali), for example, his dad just called his mother Ali.
There is lots to learn over there. Have fun. Posts: 8794 | From: 01-20-09 The End of an Error | Registered: Dec 2004
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posted
Snoozin - I believe he uses Magdy as his last name. This is how he signs his artwork. Magdy is his father's name though and he once told me that he didn't want me to take his father's name. I think he was angry with him at that time though... That is strange, atleast to me, what you said about your husband's dad calling his wife "Ali". It just seems like that takes some of her (his mom's) own person away. You know? Like she's no longer her own person, but the mother of Ali only. I just don't get it. But I don't think they see it that way.
Posts: 130 | From: Michigan | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
In India, the common tradition is for nobody to repeat a person's real birth name outside the house. Somehow made the real name more valuable and intimate. It's a cultural thing, and I guess the Egyptian thing is similar.
My husband is 45 years old, and his parents are in their 60s and 70s, so it might be a very old-fashioned custom that people don't use anymore.
Posts: 8794 | From: 01-20-09 The End of an Error | Registered: Dec 2004
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Corv - I know that to be true. I was in Egypt for only a month, but within only a few days I was in love with the country itself. And I know I'll feel that way about it for a long time to come. It was so wonderful to walk down the street, to wave at people who I actually knew at that point, to know where I was going... I miss the Kasr El Nil Bridge! The Nile! Garden City! I miss it all!
Posts: 130 | From: Michigan | Registered: Feb 2006
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I like Magdy. My husband has a couple of business partners with that name and they are cool. I like Amr too. Posts: 8794 | From: 01-20-09 The End of an Error | Registered: Dec 2004
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Corv - One day you will come to the U.S. and hopefully it will be as wonderful to you as Egypt is to me.
Snoozin - Yes! My fiance told me his mother's name once, but he asked me never to repeat it to anyone. I think it's for that reason. Only the family calls her by her first name, I guess. It does seem more intimate and I kind of like that. Posts: 130 | From: Michigan | Registered: Feb 2006
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Snoozin - I like Magdy too. And Amr. I'd prefer Magdy as a last name though. Seems a little closer to what I'm used to. Plus... I apparently still have a problem pronouncing Amr correctly! LOL!
Posts: 130 | From: Michigan | Registered: Feb 2006
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Heh heh. I still can't pronounce my husband's name correctly. I told him he's going to have to live with it. I'm American after all. Posts: 8794 | From: 01-20-09 The End of an Error | Registered: Dec 2004
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quote:Originally posted by ShannonAmr: Corv - I know that to be true. I was in Egypt for only a month, but within only a few days I was in love with the country itself. And I know I'll feel that way about it for a long time to come. It was so wonderful to walk down the street, to wave at people who I actually knew at that point, to know where I was going... I miss the Kasr El Nil Bridge! The Nile! Garden City! I miss it all!
That is the true Glory of Egypt, hearts like yours Posts: 3903 | From: The Moon | Registered: Feb 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Snoozin: Heh heh. I still can't pronounce my husband's name correctly. I told him he's going to have to live with it. I'm American after all.
When I was teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) to immigrants I made a strong attempt to correctly spell their names.
Most of my students didn't have a written native language or their native language was in a different script. So if I got it right it was a strong effort on their part to get the spelling of their own name correctly.
Now I am pretty darn good at all of these foreign names. But with Hmong its easy, basically 5 last names to keep track of with little variation of spelling. Simple. But then you get to the Somali names and I get lost. But by the spelling you can tell whethr they have had a relative working in an Oil country as an expatriate. When moving to the USA they just apply the spelling of the expat relative and its pretty symbolic of which country that is.
Interesting, the spelling tells a person alot of where a person or their relatives have been. Posts: 5744 | From: Minneapolis, Mn USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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Corv - Insh'Allah! Yes! You will visit the U.S. one day. And than you can tell me what you love here. It's so easy to take your own country for granted, to never see its true beauty. It's nice to hear about it from a foreigners point of view. Posts: 130 | From: Michigan | Registered: Feb 2006
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Snoozin - I understand. I just spoke with my fiance on the phone again and asked him again if he could help me pronounce his name. I swear to you, it sounds right to me! But he can tell it's not perfect. I think he likes that though. LOL!
Sonomod - I work at a university, in a department that's 90% international students... and I too go out of my way to pronounce their names as correctly as possible. It's hard though!
Posts: 130 | From: Michigan | Registered: Feb 2006
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I can't believe that though it's only just after 8PM (and yet after 3AM in Egypt) I'm going to say this... But I have to go. I have to go home, eat dinner, play with my cat, and than eventually sleep. Why I thought I could get away without having a computer at home anymore, I have no idea. Posts: 130 | From: Michigan | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote:Originally posted by ShannonAmr: Corv - Insh'Allah! Yes! You will visit the U.S. one day. And than you can tell me what you love here. It's so easy to take your own country for granted, to never see its true beauty. It's nice to hear about it from a foreigners point of view.
It has been my pleasure indeed
Wish you the happiest time in Egypt Posts: 3903 | From: The Moon | Registered: Feb 2005
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goooooooood evening everyone. i am about to type and post something i may delete in the morning!!! i have just got in... i even have guests, but guess what i had to do.. yip.. check in with ES!!! i wanted to check up on a political thread.... but i love this forum. let me get to my somewhat drunk point.. i am a piss taker.. sarcasm is my favorite form of wit! i am intelligent but i cant spell. i am not a pig!!! i came to ES for help but got caught up in things that had no bearing on my life. ??? i dont know why? all i know is this. i am a decent human being. i am not religous but i live my life by 'god fearing' rules. i have been subjected to horrible things.. and have moved on. i am essentially a happy person caught up in a bad situation. i dont know any of you... but.. in the last week (bear in mind this has been a week of great soul searching) i have probably spent more time looking for answers here, with you guys, than my own friends. why? i dont know. Corv. sorry. you upset me when i needed it least. but i think you just want a happy relationship.. i do to.. and to that end in a way i admire your ability to 'cut to the chase' even if i cannot condone your methods or vocabulary. anyway, i still see your good and true nature through the other stuff. i have, since childhood been the 'joker' the one who makes light of any and every situation... it makes you both popular and hated. however, the thing that affects me the most is when its my turn to be serious.. and no one is there. enter ES. i dont know any of you. and sarcasm aside.. do any of you think i joined ES to just take the piss.. course not. i want to move to egypt.. i want to run away from the **** thrown at me here to a place where i felt welcome..at home. i have been single for soooooooo long i dont know if i could even begin to think about being with a man... and yet, here i am, considering life with an egyptian. this site seemed so anti-egyman when i joined... and me being me liked that... because i didnt join to have my hand held. however, i have found egyption men to be very hurtfull here. and it has made me think again about egypt. i am not an immoral woman. i was brought up without religeon.. without parents in fact and therefor am trying to figure things out for myself. put yourself in those shoes for a moment. what would you believe in right now if youd had no guidence. its not easy i can tell you. add to that i have a science degree.... science directly verses religeon. but i want to believe in something. my sence of humour is not fake. i am what you read me to be... dont be shy to dislike that.. many people do, even in real life. but that is me, and i have friends who love me. however i am the odd one out, and i do yearn to belong. i havnt been here long.. and i have (to my embarrasment) posted a goodbye thread (oh dear) which i have now deleated. i did that because i came back. well, in fact i never left. i felt that i shared a piece of me with you all last friday... and didnt get much feedback. thats fine, why should you. but i would urge you, as i do, to try to hear a cry for help if you hear it, im fine now.. but i wasnt last week. in my real life circle, i am the one who people turn to.. i have no one to turn to... i turned to you all, and to be ignored is hurtfull. thankyou to all of you who Pmd me and posted on the goobye thread. every little positive note helped. anyway, im done here. i dont even have a point! just thought id introduce myself a little more accuratly than the picture ive painted.
nite all.
Posts: 5642 | From: hellonearth.myfastforum.org Forum Index | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
And please Dear Charm, remove my name from your ignore list, friends don't ignore each other, no ignoring hurts me but when It comes from a friend like you my dear.
-------------------- No papa! No mama! No whisky soda! Posts: 3903 | From: The Moon | Registered: Feb 2005
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Shannon, your coming to this forum sounded great from the very first letter, here we go, good things take place on your thread and at your sweet coming
-------------------- No papa! No mama! No whisky soda! Posts: 3903 | From: The Moon | Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
The naming thing is very interesting. I've discussed it with my man a couple of times to be able to understand it correctly. The way I understand it is that children are given a first name that their parents choose, and then their "middle" name is their fathers first name (this goes for both boys and girls) and their last name is the fathers middle name. So each new generation that gets born uses their fathers first and middle name and one name (the fathers last) always gets left off for each successive generation. So, no, they don't keep the same last name. For each generation it's different. That probably made no sense at all, but I can't think of a better way to explain it.
Posts: 1283 | From: Cairo | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote:Originally posted by ShannonAmr: In America, atleast where I live, you can drive down the street at 1AM and see no one. You feel like you're in your own little world; everyone else is most likely sleeping. In Egypt, however, it seems that the city never sleeps. Well, atleast in Cairo. I thought maybe it's just because it was Cairo, this big touristy center. But... my fiance lives in Giza and he calls me at what would be around 2:30AM Egyptian time. And I can hear his youngest sister (who's 9) talking in the background. An hour ago, on a work day, he called me and told me he was getting together with some friends for awhile... This would've been after midnight there. This is very common for him. Is this common all around? Maybe just among the young adults? I guess I'd just like to know what "typical" is. Do most people work 8 to 5, like they seem to in the U.S? I'd just like to know what to expect when I get there. I guess I just thought my fiance and I spent many late nights out because we were getting to know eachother. But I'm wondering now if my life is going to consist of sleeping the majority of my daylight hours away and than working and spending time with friends at night.
for example, I have work Tomorrow Inshallh at 8:00 am and I'm online rightnow, and it is 2:15 AM cairo time...
That is an example of a bad bad bad gurl Posts: 3903 | From: The Moon | Registered: Feb 2005
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Corvious Clan but only if you tell us what corvious means!! LOL mwah mwah Charm is nursing hangover I think. Too much Vino Collapso I fear!!! LOL She will wake up soon............. Posts: 115 | From: Buckingham Palace | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
Originally posted by Corvinous: Dear Charm,
"You have said before that you have helped great boxers to heal from major injuries, well, you are a great boxer yourself ...
I respect nothing, nothing, and nothing in this world but Brave Hearts, and you have got a genuine one.
I weclome you to my world of dear rare friends.
When you come to Egypt, I promise to help you get your business running, and I know what I am talking about.
That is a promise you can count on."
Corv, sorry is one of the hardest things to say to somebody and you have shown you are a real trouper!!!! and a good friend....
Posts: 200 | From: uk | Registered: Dec 2005
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oh dear, how embarrasing...... i really did get drunk last night didnt i!? i didnt even go to work today!!! you think that post was long?... now think what my poor friends sat through till the early hours!!!! by the way, ive never noticed how bright this screen is before!! Ow.
thanks for the PMs, i feel pretty stupid but hey, something had to give somewhere i suppose.
now im off to take a couple of paracetamol and ring my poor friends to find out what on earth i did last night and who i need to appologise to!!
Posts: 5642 | From: hellonearth.myfastforum.org Forum Index | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote:Originally posted by H.R.H elizabeth windsor: Corvious Clan but only if you tell us what corvious means!! LOL mwah mwah Charm is nursing hangover I think. Too much Vino Collapso I fear!!! LOL She will wake up soon.............
Corvinous was the main character in The Underworld movie, a man who had noble blood of a very rare caln, was picked up to help his cousins to rise from death, and he became a man between two worlds of the best noble clans, he has became Prince of the two worlds and his life was saved by a death dealer vampiress who gave him Glory and Immoratily
Charm is coming back soon, I know her enough to believe so, she is of that type that Never Dies Posts: 3903 | From: The Moon | Registered: Feb 2005
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