posted
i decided to post this because lately for me life in cairo became unbearable. i live in an area in cairo called mohandessin, which is considered by most egyptians as being high class and renting or buying flats in this area can be quite expensive. what i wonder is how much worse a low class area will look like if mohandessin is this bad? here the parking area, which right now extended 2 more lanes in the street, is full of fancy cars and my street full of expensive shops but also the dirt here makes the place look like a garbage hole. each time i get out into the balcony i look on the roof above the ground floor and i feel like screaming. it's decorated with women's used pads, plastic bottles, empty pizza boxes, plastic bags and anything a person might consider garbage. if i look from the other window i find the intersection blocked and drivers honking till their fingers hurt and then they give up for half a minute or so. besides the fact that the cars here make the air so polluted also there is beggars or bawabs that sometimes burn garbage in the street and they make an awful smell, then the noise the cars make just drives me insane, especially the shurta car that can wake the dead. each day we go down and at any given hour the streets of mohandessin are blocked with cars, when we return home there is no parking place so we have to go around searching for a place to leave the car, sometimes parking it few streets away from our building. if sometimes because of all this "zahma" i decide to walk then i will be annoyed by men in the streets because they stare like hell and always have something to say. then if i need to cross the street i better recite the shahada before, that's how crossing the street is in cairo. when i first came here i thought that im so lucky to live in a muslim country, to hear the calling for the prayer daily, to eat halal food, to be able to go to a restaurant and not have to worry that my food was cooked with pork or the cream in my cake might have alcohol. also i thought that because men are muslims they will never harass women in the street or cheat women. now i don't feel that im in a muslim country anymore. where is the muslims in this country?? i found that lately harassment here is worse than in non muslim countries. when i go shopping for vegetables there is no prices written so i have to argue with them most of the times because they want to give me a higher price. sometimes i buy a product from the pharmacy just to realize at the end that it's not even the real product. the list can go on and on but at the end of the day i am married here and i can't leave so what can i do not to go insane?? i want to ask egyptians why people here are dirty like this? why they like to ride fancy cars and throw garbage in the street right from their car's window? why people here lie a lot and cheat a lot? why they call themselves muslims but they are not muslims in fact???
Posts: 103 | From: cairo | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
I think you need to go on a little vacation away from Egypt. Once in a while everyone needs it.
Btw, I thought you are Egyptian yourself. May I ask where you are originally from??
Posts: 30135 | From: The owner of this website killed ES....... | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Hm, Mohandessin is not familiar to me but I've read that it would be "middle class area". Yes, that means that it is STILL high class for most Egyptians. The little that I've been exploring Mohandessin it seems more dirty and not so nice as those Heliopolis areas I'm familiar with. But like I said I really don't know Mohandessin very well.
Posts: 758 | From: Finland | Registered: Jun 2006
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I think el-ka that at times things can get alittle too much. I know for me after 4 years i was pulling my hair out! I also think a holiday would be great, i know in my time we quite often went away for a few days to get some peace and quiet. Tarabin in Nuweiba is lovely! There is no one there and the few Egyptains there are working and leave you in peace. I loved it there no hassle no trouble!
I lived in Mohandessin for about a year but luckly my street was quite quiet. I know the main road is REALLY busy 24 hours a day. If you are renting why now try and move to a quieter area?
Good luck and Take care.
Posts: 895 | Registered: Sep 2007
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posted
I know how you feel, but this is so sad due to the construction going on in Mohandessin after pulling down all the villas which the streets were disigned originally to hold, but unfortunately towers have come up to replace them. As for the quality of people, I know what you mean, those are the low class people who have made fortunes working in the Gulf or God knows how, selling drugs, prostitution, illegal money from selling stolen land you name it, making tons of money coming from poor districts to live in Mohandessin with their newly made money. This class has invaded Cairo's elite residential places bringing its bad image and habits, those are presumed muslims but have no ethics nor manners. I am a muslim Egyptian and feel these people choking me, although I live in Zamalek, but can feel the agony you're in when I visit my friends and family members in Mohandessin. I don't know what to tell you, but there's no hope with the contiuous construction of high rises in this area.
Posts: 3219 | From: Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone. | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Firstly, I don't think it's right for you or anyone to say if someone is muslim or not. Only God has that right. Although I do agree with you that muslims in Egypt completely misunderstand what Islam is about. And I have said it before to people who wanted to move to Egypt to be around muslims that they will be dissapointed. A sheikh once said "In the West there are muslims but no Islam but in Egypt there is Islam but no muslims." I totally agree.
So how do we stop you from going insane? Well firslty, I think you should take up some of the offers for a coffee that were provided by a few people on this thread. Talking about it especially with someone in the situation will really help.
The second thing, is you can move to a quieter place. You can try some of the gated communities like 6th of October for example. But if you can't afford that, you can try some of the quieter places in Cairo. Mohandseen is the center of the city and has some of the best outings in Cairo, that's why it is so crowded. You can move to Heliopolis. It's also pretty crowded but much better than Mohandseen. The street where I lived in Heliopolis was actually pretty quite most of the day and relatively clean for Cairo. So thats the second option. You can also if possible move to Alexandria and live on the North Coast or King Maryout, these are really really quite and beautiful places.
The third thing is to try and get busy. You can find a job, that will help you mingle more with the people and maybe when you get more involved in the life there, the annoying things (and I know they are many) might not seem so important.
You can also try to look at some of the good things in Cairo. Despite its crap, it really is a special place. It's lively and never sleeps. It's got an amazing social life and night life, great restaraunts and some beautiful heritage. You can try and enjoy that.
Good luck
Posts: 4446 | From: Egyptian in Sydney | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
It can be a crazy, crazy place. If you can't get away for a holiday just try heading out to Giza, find the peace and quiet in the desert, it always takes my breath away - no beeping horns, no pollution, no filth.
When I'm out walking I just put my headphones on and listen to my music, that certainly lowers the stress levels.
Posts: 19 | Registered: Mar 2009
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posted
also i thought that because men are muslims they will never harass women in the street or cheat women. now i don't feel that im in a muslim country anymore. where is the muslims in this country?? i found that lately harassment here is worse than in non muslim countries.
Please don’t take it in the bad way, but thinking that because you are in the Muslim country things are going to be very Islamic and nice, is a bit naïve, I m not trying to find excuses to people you have described, but is not because some people have grown up into an Islamic state that they are all nice and honest. Being Muslim does not mean you have to be perfect.
when i go shopping for vegetables there is no prices written so i have to argue with them most of the times because they want to give me a higher price. sometimes i buy a product from the pharmacy just to realize at the end that it's not even the real product.
Buying things in the shop, and negotiating prices are part of things you will have to learn as a foreigners, you can ask for example an Egyptian to show you how to deal with people when you buy .
I want to ask egyptians why people here are dirty like this? why they like to ride fancy cars and throw garbage in the street right from their car's window? why people here lie a lot and cheat a lot? why they call themselves muslims but they are not muslims in fact???
There are many others things in Egypt to see than people who drive fancy cars, those who are cheating, and lying, there are also the kindness of people who will welcome you at any time, real friends who will go out of their way to help you, and many other beautiful things you will discover.
Also as a foreign Muslim, you will come across a lot of people who will support you and encourage you to learn more about Islam, and will invite you to pray with them. One advise I can give you, is , to try to learn some Egyptian Arabic, it will change your view of Cairo and also Egyptian really appreciate when you make an effort to speak their language. when I was in Cairo I used to go to a school name: Arabic 4 u in Thahil square , which was a good school.
posted
thanx a lot for all u'r answers, it's so nice of u guys to offer going out for a coffee. really thank u so much LF, i wish to but the traffic makes heliopolis unreachable for me. maybe during a friday we could meet.
TL i just returned from austria in january and i almost felt refreshed when i came back to cairo, but then the nightmare started. 1st of all on 8th of february i was scheduled for a minor surgery and when i went to the hospital i was told that unfortunately i can't do it because the instruments in the operating room have been stolen . then the next day since i was free, i went with a friend of mine to october to see a school for her son and on the way back while we had to stop for a police check a huge truck came at full speed and got us hit from the back and also caused a smaller truck to hit our car from the side. i ended up in dar el foad hospital and the truck driver is still out in the streets. couple of days later the operating room was equipped again and i was called at the hospital for my surgery at a certain hour. there i had to wait for about 4 hours till they found an empty room. this is not the first time i take an appointment at a doctor and i end up waiting 2-3 hours over. obviously things are not going in a good direction here and this is what makes me more crazy, that there is no hope for a better tomorrow. some1 here said that there are good things to look at here in egypt and yes, there are but sometimes for all the bad things, the good things don't compensate. and yes i was so naive to expect that just because people are born muslims they are supposed to be good. very silly of me.
quote:Originally posted by * 7ayat *: Although I do agree with you that muslims in Egypt completely misunderstand what Islam is about. And I have said it before to people who wanted to move to Egypt to be around muslims that they will be dissapointed. A sheikh once said "In the West there are muslims but no Islam but in Egypt there is Islam but no muslims." I totally agree.
i couldn't agree more 7ayat. this is what i always tell my egyptian friends.
for the ones who said they live in heliopolis i want to say that yes i saw some nice areas there. it is cleaner and more quiet, so u are lucky. also i have a friend who lives in maady, sarayat area, and it looks so much different from mohandessin, so quiet, green and clean.
i went with my husband to see for an apartment in october and i found the prices so high for the quality provided and especially now when prices supposedly went down and the construction materials got cheaper. so it's better to wait a while.
we are hoping to take a vacation to gouna soon because i really need it. i wish my husband could make it a vacation for a year or so .
Posts: 103 | From: cairo | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
I don't negotiate anymore, I decide what I want to pay and there it stands
I like to get out of Cairo as much as possible as the pollution and poor air quality plays havoc with my chest and throat. Sokhna is only a hop skip and a jump away and it is nice to get some fresh-ish air... failing that I like to go up to the Marriott and have a nice little walk around the golf course with some friends... sociable, healthy and away from the hustle and bustle.
I like Heliopolis for many reasons but in particular there is a high number of Brits here... they keep me sane after a day of working with Egyptians who drive me cuckoo la la
I find the people in my area to be very friendly and polite and it is like running a gauntlet in a morning wit all the hellos, fullas and other such greetings... even at 2am when some of us are wobbly we still get greeted with pleasantries... I guess I am very lucky.
HB... I would never like to think of anybody feeling down, stressed or unhappy.
Coffee offer still stands That applies to all as I am always happy to sit and have a natter and meet new people.
Posts: 11097 | From: Cairo | Registered: May 2008
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posted
I can just jump in a cab and meet you in Mohandissen el-ka... i don't mind.
Or we can meet down town in a hotel or such if you like.
You sure have had some bad luck!!! I have only ever been in one small bump here. Also, I have been on the operating table here and I had a good experience (better than UK). Sorry you seem to have the rough edge of the sword.
Maybe just meeting folk to chat with and vent your thoughts will help, I can assure you Cairo is like every other city in the world, it has it's ups and downs but it mostly depends on what you put into your life here as to what you get back out of it. I am lucky, I live in a very nice area, I have fabulous friends and my social life is thriving. I cannot imagine feeling low so far from home
Just PM and we can chat there and find a Friday we are both free
Keep positive and try to think of the things you love and at least you have Gouna to look forward to.
Posts: 11097 | From: Cairo | Registered: May 2008
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posted
Friends are the best medicine. Accept those coffee offers and go out to relax.
I used to get cabin fever in our apartment there, and with my telecommuting to work often didn't have the time to go out every day. We were in a new city also with lots of construction near us... hearing that jackhammer beast pounding the earth 24 hours a day didn't help any on the crazy factor.
Best thing was to go out with friends, it helped me tremendously, would reset my attitude so nothing bothered me for awhile again
One of my favorite places to go to wind down was a tent just outside the back of sofitel hotel in maadi (on corniche street). It's a little expensive but worth it (25LE cover charge per person) They have live music in the evenings. Sometimes guy singers, sometimes a woman. They sing old music it's very relaxing. The woman singer reminded me of fayrouz, I like old arabic songs
You might invite a bunch of people over for a party too. Everyone loves parties! Doesn't have to be a special occasion, just celebrate life and having friends. Your egyptian friends will love it, egyptians know how to liven up a party. Good food and friends, set the satellite to your favorite music channel and have fun.
Posts: 409 | From: Betelgeuse | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
u need to dedicate more money to have suitable flat, i had similar ecxp. in the same area for 5 months, really it is awful one, i knew afterwards it is famous of prostitution esp in summer
Posts: 20 | From: cairo | Registered: Mar 2009
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posted
u r overloaded and i excuse u, why dont u try 6th oct at least i will have company here:)
Posts: 20 | From: cairo | Registered: Mar 2009
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quote:Originally posted by serenesky: u r overloaded and i excuse u, why dont u try 6th oct at least i will have company here:)
where do u live in october?? are u renting or own a house? im searching for something with a garden in 6th of october but most offers i picked will be ready in 2 years time , and 2-3 million LE for a villa is really way over the budget . hey about prostitution here in mohandessin that is strange, cause i don't see any women in the streets that look like prostitutes to me, they are all beggars.
Posts: 103 | From: cairo | Registered: Apr 2008
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Over 10 years ago i heard that there were lots of prosititutes in Mohandessin also. Never saw one though - then again i don't think they carry a placard declaring it Posts: 895 | Registered: Sep 2007
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quote:Originally posted by ourluxor: I don't want to start a war, but let's be honest? In my limited experience, this picture could have been taken in any Muslim country.
Regards, Edward.
sorry yr experiences are bad but its egypt it came from a friend of mine that is egyptian....
Posts: 9776 | From: You like If only mosquitoes sucked fat instead of blood. | Registered: Jul 2007
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-------------------- your ass is so tight when you fart only a dog can hear it.when you queef only a cat can hear that one. Posts: 9776 | From: You like If only mosquitoes sucked fat instead of blood. | Registered: Jul 2007
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quote:Originally posted by Vader-: Lmao, you poor little thing. Okay I take that back.
You poor thing.
no indian givers...u can be the donkey not me..
Posts: 9776 | From: You like If only mosquitoes sucked fat instead of blood. | Registered: Jul 2007
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-------------------- your ass is so tight when you fart only a dog can hear it.when you queef only a cat can hear that one. Posts: 9776 | From: You like If only mosquitoes sucked fat instead of blood. | Registered: Jul 2007
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posted
hahaha do u take checks?? mine are rubber...
-------------------- your ass is so tight when you fart only a dog can hear it.when you queef only a cat can hear that one. Posts: 9776 | From: You like If only mosquitoes sucked fat instead of blood. | Registered: Jul 2007
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-------------------- your ass is so tight when you fart only a dog can hear it.when you queef only a cat can hear that one. Posts: 9776 | From: You like If only mosquitoes sucked fat instead of blood. | Registered: Jul 2007
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posted
rubber checks are a person that has no money their checks bounce.....and if i was yr sugar mama u wouldnt be gettin no dough... all my checks would bounce... unless u take credit i can pay in a 20 yr time span....
Posts: 9776 | From: You like If only mosquitoes sucked fat instead of blood. | Registered: Jul 2007
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quote:Originally posted by ourluxor: I don't want to start a war, but let's be honest? In my limited experience, this picture could have been taken in any Muslim country.
Regards, Edward.
Really does that include the Gulf countries and Emirates as well as some of the Asian muslim countries and the European ones (Bosnia). No? So you're just an idiot. An idiot who is not trying to start war at all but just making an offensive remark about our faith. Let's not forget who introduced bathing to the West.
What are you doing in Luxor anyway, pimping? It suits you.
Posts: 4446 | From: Egyptian in Sydney | Registered: Mar 2005
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Nothing personal guys,but honestly these people are totally f*cked up. Posts: 3219 | From: Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone. | Registered: Nov 2005
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Well..proves my point, nobody's perfect even Muslims. Posts: 3219 | From: Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone. | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:Originally posted by happybunny: Are you feeling alittle happier el_ka?
Over 10 years ago i heard that there were lots of prosititutes in Mohandessin also. Never saw one though - then again i don't think they carry a placard declaring it
trying to but not really. yesterday at 2 am in my street there was a person honking repeatedly and also calling some1's name right from his car. i cant believe these people.
now i heard that the prostitutes here wear abaya so i don't know how can people recognize them.
tina that picture looks so familiar .
Posts: 103 | From: cairo | Registered: Apr 2008
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quote:Originally posted by ourluxor: I don't want to start a war, but let's be honest? In my limited experience, this picture could have been taken in any Muslim country.
Regards, Edward.
Really does that include the Gulf countries and Emirates as well as some of the Asian muslim countries and the European ones (Bosnia). No? So you're just an idiot. An idiot who is not trying to start war at all but just making an offensive remark about our faith. Let's not forget who introduced bathing to the West.
What are you doing in Luxor anyway, pimping? It suits you.
So you assume he is being offensive ?where .. are you not assuming then too hes a pimp ,so you admit there is prostituting muslims or western women or asian or even married women out there too ,ok confused now . Too much thinking i think you do .
Posts: 38 | From: egypt | Registered: Apr 2009
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quote:Originally posted by el_ka: i decided to post this because lately for me life in cairo became unbearable. i live in an area in cairo called mohandessin, which is considered by most egyptians as being high class and renting or buying flats in this area can be quite expensive. what i wonder is how much worse a low class area will look like if mohandessin is this bad? here the parking area, which right now extended 2 more lanes in the street, is full of fancy cars and my street full of expensive shops but also the dirt here makes the place look like a garbage hole. each time i get out into the balcony i look on the roof above the ground floor and i feel like screaming. it's decorated with women's used pads, plastic bottles, empty pizza boxes, plastic bags and anything a person might consider garbage. if i look from the other window i find the intersection blocked and drivers honking till their fingers hurt and then they give up for half a minute or so. besides the fact that the cars here make the air so polluted also there is beggars or bawabs that sometimes burn garbage in the street and they make an awful smell, then the noise the cars make just drives me insane, especially the shurta car that can wake the dead. each day we go down and at any given hour the streets of mohandessin are blocked with cars, when we return home there is no parking place so we have to go around searching for a place to leave the car, sometimes parking it few streets away from our building. if sometimes because of all this "zahma" i decide to walk then i will be annoyed by men in the streets because they stare like hell and always have something to say. then if i need to cross the street i better recite the shahada before, that's how crossing the street is in cairo. when i first came here i thought that im so lucky to live in a muslim country, to hear the calling for the prayer daily, to eat halal food, to be able to go to a restaurant and not have to worry that my food was cooked with pork or the cream in my cake might have alcohol. also i thought that because men are muslims they will never harass women in the street or cheat women. now i don't feel that im in a muslim country anymore. where is the muslims in this country?? i found that lately harassment here is worse than in non muslim countries. when i go shopping for vegetables there is no prices written so i have to argue with them most of the times because they want to give me a higher price. sometimes i buy a product from the pharmacy just to realize at the end that it's not even the real product. the list can go on and on but at the end of the day i am married here and i can't leave so what can i do not to go insane?? i want to ask egyptians why people here are dirty like this? why they like to ride fancy cars and throw garbage in the street right from their car's window? why people here lie a lot and cheat a lot? why they call themselves muslims but they are not muslims in fact???
Stop looking over the balcony and do something more rewarding GET OUT MORE !!!!go for the coffee have a chat believe me you will learn with a new experience that Egypt has changed with the surge of forigners moving in and their way of thinking .Its all good Posts: 38 | From: egypt | Registered: Apr 2009
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posted
Sorry tina kamal, I know it's Egypt. I've chosen to live here despite the muck! lol.
*7ayat*, Are you crazy or what? It's just an observation man! And the countries you mention are only different because of the influence of outsiders. I notice that you've managed to get out of a Muslim country, why was that? Too dirty for you? By the way, if I ever want lessons in being offensive I know that I can count on you for some pointers. Where's your famous Muslim tolerance? Grow up will you!
Best wishes, even to you.
Posts: 430 | From: luxor | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
Its very simple, if you dont like Egypt and how it is and you dont want to CONTRIBUTE to change and helping it even by doing something as little as picking up a piece of paper on the street and throwing it in teh garbage then GET THE F-OUT of EGYPT!
quote:Originally posted by TAREK307: Its very simple, if you dont like Egypt and how it is and you dont want to CONTRIBUTE to change and helping it even by doing something as little as picking up a piece of paper on the street and throwing it in teh garbage then GET THE F-OUT of EGYPT!
Someone does not like you very much ,care to share why ?
Posts: 38 | From: egypt | Registered: Apr 2009
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quote:Originally posted by ourluxor: I don't want to start a war, but let's be honest? In my limited experience, this picture could have been taken in any Muslim country.
Regards, Edward.
Really does that include the Gulf countries and Emirates as well as some of the Asian muslim countries and the European ones (Bosnia). No? So you're just an idiot. An idiot who is not trying to start war at all but just making an offensive remark about our faith. Let's not forget who introduced bathing to the West.
What are you doing in Luxor anyway, pimping? It suits you.
So you assume he is being offensive ?where .. are you not assuming then too hes a pimp ,so you admit there is prostituting muslims or western women or asian or even married women out there too ,ok confused now . Too much thinking i think you do .
What's confusing you idiot? Of course I admit that there are muslim prostitutes and muslim thieves and muslim liars etc. But unlike him I don't say that they are all like that.
I do too much thinking and you obviously don't think at all.
Posts: 4446 | From: Egyptian in Sydney | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by ourluxor: Sorry tina kamal, I know it's Egypt. I've chosen to live here despite the muck! lol.
*7ayat*, Are you crazy or what? It's just an observation man! And the countries you mention are only different because of the influence of outsiders. I notice that you've managed to get out of a Muslim country, why was that? Too dirty for you? By the way, if I ever want lessons in being offensive I know that I can count on you for some pointers. Where's your famous Muslim tolerance? Grow up will you!
Best wishes, even to you.
What outside influence you dork? You need to read history, it was the Muslims that introduced bathing to the west. And I left Egypt because I married an Aussie and I miss Egypt every day.
I never said I was tolernt you pimp. And I'm starting to believe that you are not offensive but just stupid. I nmean what idiot would call an entire faith dirty and then is surprised when someone gets offended hmm? Ya homar.
Posts: 4446 | From: Egyptian in Sydney | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
pondadreefah and ourluxor, you two are what we call in Egypt, "two asses in one underwear."
Posts: 4446 | From: Egyptian in Sydney | Registered: Mar 2005
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