Anyone in Egypt?

[Dar]

I'll be spending 5 weeks in Al-Iskanderiya (Alexandria) as the newest chapter in my struggles to learn Arabic... at least I'll be struggling on the sea! Anyone nearby? I'm flying into Cairo and taking the bus to Alexandria to go to a language school, but I'll definitely have some free time to play tourist and check out the country. Luckily I have a friend here from there, and he's setting me up with one of his friends there in case I have any problems, but it's always good to meet more MDC mamas!

I was in Morocco last summer and it was awesome... hoping for another great experience!

[Liquesce]

What school, if you don't mind my being nosey?

I can tell you, if your friend hasn't already, that a lot of the tourist sites you'll find in a guidebook are mostly just worth skipping over ... Pompey's Pillar, for example, or Stanley Bridge (when my sister showed up with a printout suggesting making a trip to see the bridge we all pretty much just laughed). Even the new library is mostly just a good trip for researchers and architects (or people willing to pay admission to air conditioning ). Montazah Gardens, on the other hand, is a beautiful spot of green in a city that badly needs one. The good beaches are west of the city ... a lot of guides seem to say Marsa Matroh, but you really don't have to go nearly that far to get to ones that are basically just as nice. Some of the museums are nice, but don't even begin to touch what's available in Cairo. The best times available in Alex mostly are just along the waterfront and/or interacting with the community. Mostly people who come looking for attractions and visible history are disappointed, and people who come just looking for a place to experience are not.

You're going this summer though? "Oh the humidity!" Dress light. If you get back into the city away from the sea breeze it can be horribly oppressive. Seriously, I prefer the summer heat of Cairo to the weather of Alex. (Of course everyone else thinks I'm crazy with that, so it's possible I'm the odd one out when it comes to that opinion.)

Hope you enjoy your trip!

[Dar]

Qortoba Language Institute. Although they have been a bit lax as far as responding to emails in a timely manner, but inshall'ah it will work out... I'm not really worried.

I am flying in and out of Cairo, so I'll have some time to hang there and do stuff... any tips for things to do there? Or anywhere, really... the buses are cheap!

[Liquesce]

Ha ... if you said an institution there was getting back to you promptly and without prodding I might have fainted.

And sorry, my Cairene experiences have so far been restricted to visiting family and running around for paperwork. I *think* -- though I could be dead wrong -- that umsami has spent a little more time there if you wanted to ask her.

Between Cairo and Alex Wadi el Natrun might be a nice stop.

[Dar]

Originally Posted by Liquesce

Between Cairo and Alex Wadi el Natrun might be a nice stop.

Googled... that does look interesting. I didn't anticipate visiting monasteries in Egypt, but those look really neat...

I was thinking of spending a day in at Egyptian museum in Cairo... and maybe seeing a pyramid or two?

Also, how do you say the name of the local currency in Arabic? I keep getting "Egyptian pound" but if I'm asking someone "Kem ____?" what would I say? My friend told me to insist on paying in Egyptian currency, not US dollars, because it was cheaper... but I'm not finding the actual term.

Also, do you think it would be better to change money here or there? In Morocco here isn't an option, so I did it there, and after that I just used the ATM there...

THanks... do you need anything from Egypt, while I'm there?

[Liquesce]

Uhm, for asking prices you can just say "bekam?" or "aad eh floos?" for "how much / how much money?" If you just said "kem?" and nothing else at all people would still get you though. If you need to specify Egyptian currency, it's el gineh el Masri for pounds. You can pretty much count on getting ripped off the second people realize you're foreign though ... when at all possible I usually keep to the background and leave any exchange of money to my family, no matter how small (says she who was once charged triple just for a drink by daring to say something in English to my husband prior to his paying). I "pass" though ... if you look foreign, trying to get the rate Egyptians pay is probably a lost cause.

I would just change money in the airport there, myself ... the difference last I knew was slight enough to not make it worth making an extra trip anywhere. ATMs can be a little challenging to find in Alex sometimes, but far from impossible if you prefer.

I have never yet gone to the pyramids, myself. I know a little bit about the Qena/Luxor area, but that's a reeeeeaaaaaally long trip to make, especially if the trains are still running extremely slow. (The train is a much more comfortable way to get between Cairo and Alexandria though ... buses are a little bit a gamble, albeit frugal as anything.)

[Dar]

So geneh is pounds? Is it جنيح? And I need to remember to start pronouncing my jeems as /g/ rather than /j/, and turning my qaf into a glottal stop, right?

My friend said that if I started with "How much?" (bekem) people would answer with an amount in dollars, so I should specify that I wanted to know how much in Egyptian pounds because it would be a lot less... although I'm blonde and blue-eyed and will never pass for a local... but at least I can be a little more savvy than the usual tourist and maybe pay a little less.

I was thinking of the pyramids in Giza... basically in Cairo. Luxor would be pretty far, yes... I would kind of like to go to Mt. Sinai, but that would be far, too...

Train! I didn't know about the train... googling... $5 to get from Cairo to Alexandria is plenty frugal for me! This is going to be such an adventure!

Oh - clothes! I've heard different things... I dress fairly modestly anyway and always travel with a scarf... will that be okay for most places? I usually wear capris and short sleeves shirts, nothing tight, no tank tops. I'll bring long pants and long sleeved shirts, and a couple of tunics - I own three abayat, maybe I should bring one?- but I was thinking that would be more for if I was visiting a masjid or something, not for every day... does that sound okay?

Thanks so much!

[Liquesce]

The other "h." جنيه Sorry, my transliterations tend to kind of suck. Piastres are قرش ... so hey, a ج and a ق for you all in one go.

No one will look at you askance if you use standard over local pronunciations, especially given a foreign accent ... that you know how to say anything even remotely comprehensible at all will delight people to no end. I'm guessing it was pretty much the same story in Morocco? But yeah, the "j/g" thing especially repeatedly threw me for a loop in understanding what other people were saying ... many times I found myself staring completely blankly at someone who was in fact using a word I knew perfectly well. You wouldn't think it would matter so much, but if your language is shaky to begin with ... oi.

Clothes-wise ... you can wear whatever makes you comfortable. Even off the beaten path, it's a country that relies on tourism ... people aren't very shockable when it comes to foreigners. And even more urban local fashion, unless its changed dramatically in the past few years, encompasses a lot of skin tight clothes and even some room for the occasional short skirt, tube top, or whatever, so just normal, comfy, non-flashy clothes will get enough respect even if they're not offering coverage up to the topmost local ideals.

The closer you get the the ideals, though, in the broader population the more social perks there are for you. I know of several people who just by my nationality had some pretty awful preconceived notions about me, but the very second they saw me it all turned to "oh my god, she's a walking angel." On a deeper level it's actually kind of troubling, but superficially it's a very convenient way to make a lazy good impression. An abaya would win you those cultural brownie points if you wanted to visit the Muhammad Ali mosque in Cairo, Azhar, or maybe the Mursi mosque in Alexandria, though at least in the bigger ones like those it's not really required. (They're used to tourists too. AFAIK they tend to ask visitors to wear long trousers or skirts and at least some kind of sleeve.)

But in short: whatever balance works for you, go with it.

[svmaine]

A couple of girlfriends and I spent about a week in Egypt back in 96 and it was amazing, though the harassment was a bit much. 2 of us dressed appropriately but the 3rd was in very short shorts and tank tops, and the men were constantly approaching us. Though the 2 of us were also super sensitive since we'd been living in Africa for 2 years and were a bit sick of the attention:. Sounds like things have changed sort of the better.

Anyways the Cairo museum is a must, you could easily spend days there, gorgeous stuff. We did hit the pyramids, Sphinx, local markets and enjoyed them. We did make it down to Luxor, stunning, and came back partway up the Nile on a local felucca, definitely the highlight of the trip.

Oh and the food:::::. I'd go back just for the shwarmas(sp)? and hummus!

Enjoy!!
Sarah

[Liquesce]

Originally Posted by svmaine

A couple of girlfriends and I spent about a week in Egypt back in 96 and it was amazing, though the harassment was a bit much. 2 of us dressed appropriately but the 3rd was in very short shorts and tank tops, and the men were constantly approaching us. Though the 2 of us were also super sensitive since we'd been living in Africa for 2 years and were a bit sick of the attention:. Sounds like things have changed sort of the better.

Err, maybe not. Street harassment is a problem in Egypt. It just doesn't, to my knowledge at least, often have all that much to do with dress -- aside perhaps from far extremes. Native women in t-shirts and jeans get it just as much as native women in niqab, and foreigns get the extra-special brand of harassment from men looking for visas and sugar mamas.

Which actually makes another point: if on a train or a bus or something where you're kind of stuck in close quarters with someone who tries to get a little touchy-feely, do speak up. Usually you will find people who are happy to help make him back off.

Oh, and I never really paid attention to the national train system, but the Alexandrian local train does have a women-only car at the end. As a woman traveling alone, it could save some bother to make use of it in getting around.

[Katie Bugs Mama]

Try to go to Siwa, if you can. It's stunning. Truly stunning. It's a long trip from Alexandria, but worth it, although it sounds like it might have a lot more tourists than it did when I was there in '96.

[Dar]

Well, I made it!! So far everything has been great - no one told me about the Egyptian custom of giving chocolate bars to strangers! At least, I've been given three so far, after less than 24 hours in the country. No complaints...

I walked down by the sea this evening and a crowd quickly gathered... mostly 12 year old boys who kept exuberantly saying, in both English and Arabic, USA 3! Egypt zero! It took me quite a while figure out what the heck they were talking about (soccer, for anyone similarly not into sports). I got to try out my meager Arabic (which thankfully does include the word for soccer) and was generally understood...

[Happiestever]

I hope you are having a great time and your Arabic is become more natural. I would love to go to Egypt!