I'd be curious if someone I knew was living in another country that was the total opposite of my own....or is it? I'd wonder what they do all day, what do they eat, what do they do for fun, why we are here, etc.
So, that's what this is about.
Why are you in Egypt?
We are here because of Seth's job. There was an opening here doing what he did in Houston, and we jumped at the chance to move to another country. We always hoped that would be an option when he first started with his company. We should be here at least 2 years if not more.
Where do you live?
We live in an area of Cairo called
Maadi. Maadi is a suburb south of Cairo. Most (but far from all) of Egypt's expats live here. We live on a very quiet street and apartment building. It's very easy to walk to different shops, grocery store, where I get my hair done, where Benjamin will to daycare (in September, part time) and to other friend's homes. It's easy, but especially right now, not always doable because of the heat.
Maadi suits us very well. Seth's work is very close and he could walk to it if he couldn't drive.
It's also full of trees- especially mango trees! We have one in our backyard (pardon, our garden)...it's a little rough looking because nobody watered it when the apartment was vacant. We're working on getting it back to normal.
What do you do all day?
Seth goes to work because he's awesome. The great part about his work is that he goes to the BP morning meeting at 8:30, so he has some time in the morning to enjoy his coffee and play with Benny before heading out the door.
For Benjamin and myself it depends on the day. Benjamin and I go to a pool on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We are not able to be members of Maadi House (a private club for American Diplomats or Embassy related workers), but we have a couple of friends who are kind enough to invite us as their guests.
We have a playgroup with other toddlers on Wednesday mornings. The location rotates from different mom and tot's homes each week. I've met so many great women from this group. It's a nice support system and a mix of new arrivals (us) and people who have been here for up to 12+ years.
 |
| Bennet and Benjamin at Maadi House. "Men-nen-net" is Benjamin's best bud in Egypt. |
Afternoons are either spent playing at a friends house, having someone over here or running errands. Pretty typical stuff, same as what I would do if I was a stay at home mom in the US.
Do you have to "cover up"?
You don't
have to dress in any particular way. This, as I'm told by expats and locals, "isn't Saudi". I am not expected to wear a
hijab or a
chador. Egypt, compared to other Islamic countries, is pretty liberal when it comes to women's dress.
Some Muslim women wear a very colorful hijab (and the way they wear them is pretty cool looking- very intricate), some wear
burkas (pretty rare, but common enough), and some don't cover their heads at all.
There are some women (most if not all expats) who wear very short skirts/skimpy tops/all of the above. They're allowed to wear whatever they want. However, you couldn't pay me to wear that in public here. 1. Because, however I personally feel about the subject, I still appreciate the culture and the Islamic faith. I wouldn't want to offend anyone and 2. You will get all kinds of unwanted (and gross) attention. I already get the occasional rude gesture, so I can't imagine what these women get. No thanks.
I typically wear linen pants, a tank top and then either a long sleeved shirt or a cover up (for lack of a better word) type thing. I wear light weight dresses, longer skirts and comfortable shoes. I never wear skirts or shorts that are above my knee, and I don't wear tank tops in public unless I have something over it to cover my upper arms.
Seth isn't totally off the hook (well, okay he is), but in keeping with the typical norm he wears long pants if we go out in public. The only men we have seen wearing shorts are expats or younger Egyptians.
What do you eat?
Typically the same things that we did back home. I packed up all
my one day BFF's cookbooks, so I make a lot of her stuff. I also love Food Network's
Quick Recipe Finder (scroll down to the bottom of the page) because I'll have a couple of ingredients that are about to go bad and need a fun way to make them. I cook a lot of Italian meals lately. I think it has a lot to do with the large amounts of awesome Italian imports that are in the grocery stores. No complaining from me!
 |
| Benjamin eating Polenta |
We don't eat a lot of pork because it's expensive. It's definitely available to purchase. We can even have it delivered! We do eat a lot of chicken because I've found that the local chicken is just like what we're accostomed to eating back home. Local beef is another story- it's gritty, fatty and really tough. There is a great place called
Gourmet Egypt where you can buy (and get it delivered!) Austrailian beef. We've been once and stocked up.
I'm not a full fledged domestic goddess though. We do order out about once a week. Pizza here is excellent. We found a great Italian place after my bright idea to walk to our favorite gelatto shop in 100 deg weather. I stopped in (ran in) for a bottle of water and noticed a man kneading pizza dough. I knew it was a start of a beautiful relationship.
 |
| Kushari-a mix of rice, pasta, chick peas and lentils. Topped with a tomato sauce. So good, so cheap and Benny loves it |
 |
Fresh juices are very popular here. Benny is enjoying a Mango Juice
This is another local favorite- fresh lemon juice. Sounds really sour, but it's amazing.
Don't be fooled by Benny's expression- he loves this stuff. |
 |
Red Snapper dinner that Seth and I had on a restaurant on The Nile
Pigeon is also a local favorite.
|
