Hello! Think I'm moving to Cairo. I'm a girl from Italy

SALARY $2000 MAX,RENT $500 FOR A 2 BEDROOM APPARTMENT, SHARING IS NOT RECOMENDED. THE MIDDLE NAME OF CAIRO IS CHAOS, CARRY LOTS OF SINGLE EGPs TO TIP EACH AND EVERY ONE LOOK TO YOU, THEY EXPECT THAT, DO NOT THINK OF DRIVING, AND STAY AWAY FROM SLUMS. ALTERNATIVLY THINK OF KUWAIT, QATAR, DUBAI AND GULF COUNTRIES, MUCH MORE MODERN, ACTUALLY EGYPTIAN TEACHERS TEND TO GO WORK THERE FOR THE HIGHER INCOM. I DO NOT KNOW HOW MUCH EXACTLY BUT I AM SURE IT SHOULD BE DOUBLE THE EGYPTIAN SALARY, HOWEVER RENT IN GULF IS EXTEREMLY HIGH, BUT SHARING IS COMMON.

Thanks
what do you mean about the tip? Can I live comfortably with 2000 then?

Thanks for your info! I hope I will be ok as a single person there

Sure you can,Comfortably but not Luxuriously. Unfortionatly I am currently out of Egypt, I could have arranged accomodation for you near new cairo,did you know where exactly the location of school is it at new cairo, Maadi, or Misr Al Gadida? anyway I will be back by Sep, glad to help.

They said Maadi. Thanks, very kind of you. i look forward to moving there.

good luck, wish you a pleasant experience

Hello Nadiadee.

Welcome to Expat.com!

For more visibility, your thread has been moved to the Cairo forum.

Thank you,
Aurélie

Hi,

I see there's no death penalty for Mubarak, and some riots outside the tribunal.
Anyway, I hope this is a fresh start for Egypt.

Hello,
I think you should check your contract before travelling (this is common before travelling to any country)
Is there transportation? or you should go by your self?
if transportation included in your offer, so I suggest new cairo, if not so Maadi is a good place as well and there are many foreigners in there.
regarding the salary I think it depend on you to confirm weather it is suitable for you or not.
teaching in Gulf Countries as suggested is much more better (am Egyptian by the way) if you are looking for money only.
sharing a house is good if you managed to arrange with female expats.
at the end I wanna say that you are welcome and hope you will enjoy your stay in Egypt.

i want to say make friends with a local and have them get you a flat.. you wont pay expat prices! have a local friend help you with everything.:-)thats my tip.. there 2 prices foreign and egyptian i lived in maadi its nice.

maadi will be better place

Hi Nadiadee,

well if the school in maadi I can help you to find a good accommodation  with decent price I speak french and english and I can provide with some Arabic lesson if you are interested

Hi Nadiadee,

I use to live in Maadi for almost 2 years but I left Egypt in March this year. I am sure you will enjoy the country and the place. Here are some hints: Maadi best places to live are in Old Maadi - Degla, where you can meet a lot of foreigners and also a lot of nice and decent locals. You could find a rent in an apartment building ( 2 bedrooms) for minimum 2500 EGP - price for egyptians, or minimum 4500 EGP - price for foreigners, but you need a local to help you with this. Living cost is similar to Italy (a coffee in a decent place is around 3 - 5 dollars), some of goods you will find more expensive than in Europe - Maadi Carrefour for instance is more expensive than anything I've seen in Europe. Still, vegetables and fruits are cheaper once you go to local markets.
There are a lot of nice places were you can have breakfast - lunch - dinner, prices would be around 40-80 pounds (pound is how you call the EGP in Egypt) for breakfast, 70 - 150 pounds for lunch and similar for dinner. On the other hand you can have a shawerma for 7 pounds or a falafel for 2 pounds. Egyptian bread is the best and very cheap, around 5 pounds per kg. My advice is to negotiate your salary so you are left with at least 6000 pounds after rent. I think one dollar was around 6 pounds when I left.
Good luck and enjoy Cairo!

A Modest Monthly Budget:

1500le rent
70le bills
600le local food
300le travel
2000le trips to nicer places to keep you sane

You need at least 1000 euros/month to survive.

It's easy to find housemates if you check Cairo Scholars.


As a blonde woman, who likes to get out and about a lot, I would recommend Cairo to anyone.  Not for it's aesthetic features, for it has very few that have not been destroyed, not for the lifestyle of having people do things for you, that you should really do yourself, like clean your home and walk your dog, but for the inner peace and tranquility of the people, who somehow keep it together, despite living in an absolutely s**t country.

There are no regulations for anything and as a result, everything is of dire quality.  I've heard people call Egypt the garbage dump of the world.  I think anything that is banned or rejected everywhere else is sent here to be sold.  this permeates everyone's life and lifestyle.

Maadi is not so great.  I lived there last year and moved to get away from it.  If you want to move to another country, to learn about a different way of life and the culture, why would you live in a village full of ex-pats? 

Yes.  You do need people you can talk to at normal speed who 'get you' but you also need to experience Egypt in order to enjoy it. 

Maadi is also a hot spot for sexual assault, burglary and mugging due to the ex-pats-like a candy store for petty criminals.  I'm speaking from personal experience and the experience of about 30 or so people who I know who have been attacked in Maadi during the past 12 months, mostly Degla to be precise.   

Egypt is comparable to India in the crazy stakes, but far less dangerous.  Crime is still minimal (compared to most big cities)and even when the security forces disappeared, most people carried on with their lives in a peaceful, civilised manner.  I know this sounds like a contradiction to my description of Maadi, but I'm comparing it to India and other big cities.

Non of us on this forum, who have access to the internet, will ever know what goes on in the slums, so lets no go there.  The rough areas are very dangerous, so you need to know how to avoid them.

We should keep an open mind about the poor areas.  Out on the farms around Sakkara and Garbage city, people might not have money, but when I have visited I felt very comfortable and was not harassed at all, unlike in Zamalek, where I am shouted at every time I pop over there.  Zamalek is very safe, I believe, but the people who hang around harassing women spoil it. 

I actually got out of the car in Garbage city for a walk and it was perfectly safe.  I heard the same about Mokkatam from other foreign women (who leave the village).  Incidentally, parts of Garbage City are as pretty or prettier than Zamalek. 

If your school is in Heliopolis, then live in Heliopolis and forget about commuting. 

Housing depends on location.  For some bizarre reason, Zamalek (which in many areas looks like a run down social housing project) is expensive.  3500le minimum for a dark dingy gaff that looks like a drug den.

Maadi is more spacious and accommodation will be cheaper if you decide to live in the middle of a building site, mwhah, hahaha! for 3000le you can get a reasonable dwelling.  There are lots of trees and bushes for the perverts to hide in.

In Heliopolis you can find something decent for 2500le and Downtown is roughly the same.

Downtown is possibly the ugliest, most grey, depressing city centre I've seen in my almost 100 years of travelling the world.

You can buy cheap, fresh fruit and vegetables daily for pennies and if you like 3rd world food, you can try to stomach foul and tamaya.  I love the chicken and rice shops (how do you say that in Arabic anyone?)  Food can be fairly cheap.

You don't want to be buying any...well anything in Egypt.  Clothes, apart from being mostly hideous are often made of polyester, which makes everyone pen and ink.  There are a couple of over priced malls where you can eat Mc Donalds and buy imported stuff (that probably didn't make it through quality checks elsewhere)  Bring plenty of clothes then.

You do need money as an ex-pat living in Cairo, if only to keep your head screwed on.  As female it is much harder.

Every year I sign up for another.  The things that bug me, just bug me to a greater extent, but I keep on learning more and more, all the time.  It grows on you.   For me it is a city that's easy to love and hate at the same time.

* i don't agree that there are two prices: local and foreigner.  I know many Egyptians who get ripped off too.  People judge how much to charge based on how much they think they can get out of you.  They do not discriminate when overcharging! (I'm sure there is a sura about weights and measures?)
Cairo is a big, over populated city, where people can be anonymous.  Be very wary of meeting up with people from the internet!

Now I understood why most of the expatriate are afraid of talking with locals

I'm studying at the tourism Guidance collage, which mean, i'm supposed to be a tourist guide...

well i can see that after a few years, the tourism will totally disappear in Egypt.

that was a wrong decision of me, i've to admit

Why is that ?

I didn't receive confirmation for the job offer so I ain't coming. But I will definitely visit as a tourist

THANK YOU

Nadiadee,

Welcome to Egypt, Just come and try by your self it is a totally different experience for you that you will never regret, Egypt is a country of Contradictions and this is the secret Beauty, you will find good & Bad, Beauty & Ugly..
either you will fall in love with it or you will not like it..
at the end it is an experience worse trying..
GO AHEAD!!!

Dear Nadiadee,

I am sure that you will enjoy your time in Egypt

Regards
Galal

Burnside wrote:

A Modest Monthly Budget:

1500le rent
70le bills
600le local food
300le travel
2000le trips to nicer places to keep you sane

You need at least 1000 euros/month to survive.

It's easy to find housemates if you check Cairo Scholars.


As a blonde woman, who likes to get out and about a lot, I would recommend Cairo to anyone.  Not for it's aesthetic features, for it has very few that have not been destroyed, not for the lifestyle of having people do things for you, that you should really do yourself, like clean your home and walk your dog, but for the inner peace and tranquility of the people, who somehow keep it together, despite living in an absolutely s**t country.

There are no regulations for anything and as a result, everything is of dire quality.  I've heard people call Egypt the garbage dump of the world.  I think anything that is banned or rejected everywhere else is sent here to be sold.  this permeates everyone's life and lifestyle.

Maadi is not so great.  I lived there last year and moved to get away from it.  If you want to move to another country, to learn about a different way of life and the culture, why would you live in a village full of ex-pats? 

Yes.  You do need people you can talk to at normal speed who 'get you' but you also need to experience Egypt in order to enjoy it. 

Maadi is also a hot spot for sexual assault, burglary and mugging due to the ex-pats-like a candy store for petty criminals.  I'm speaking from personal experience and the experience of about 30 or so people who I know who have been attacked in Maadi during the past 12 months, mostly Degla to be precise.   

Egypt is comparable to India in the crazy stakes, but far less dangerous.  Crime is still minimal (compared to most big cities)and even when the security forces disappeared, most people carried on with their lives in a peaceful, civilised manner.  I know this sounds like a contradiction to my description of Maadi, but I'm comparing it to India and other big cities.

Non of us on this forum, who have access to the internet, will ever know what goes on in the slums, so lets no go there.  The rough areas are very dangerous, so you need to know how to avoid them.

We should keep an open mind about the poor areas.  Out on the farms around Sakkara and Garbage city, people might not have money, but when I have visited I felt very comfortable and was not harassed at all, unlike in Zamalek, where I am shouted at every time I pop over there.  Zamalek is very safe, I believe, but the people who hang around harassing women spoil it. 

I actually got out of the car in Garbage city for a walk and it was perfectly safe.  I heard the same about Mokkatam from other foreign women (who leave the village).  Incidentally, parts of Garbage City are as pretty or prettier than Zamalek. 

If your school is in Heliopolis, then live in Heliopolis and forget about commuting. 

Housing depends on location.  For some bizarre reason, Zamalek (which in many areas looks like a run down social housing project) is expensive.  3500le minimum for a dark dingy gaff that looks like a drug den.

Maadi is more spacious and accommodation will be cheaper if you decide to live in the middle of a building site, mwhah, hahaha! for 3000le you can get a reasonable dwelling.  There are lots of trees and bushes for the perverts to hide in.

In Heliopolis you can find something decent for 2500le and Downtown is roughly the same.

Downtown is possibly the ugliest, most grey, depressing city centre I've seen in my almost 100 years of travelling the world.

You can buy cheap, fresh fruit and vegetables daily for pennies and if you like 3rd world food, you can try to stomach foul and tamaya.  I love the chicken and rice shops (how do you say that in Arabic anyone?)  Food can be fairly cheap.

You don't want to be buying any...well anything in Egypt.  Clothes, apart from being mostly hideous are often made of polyester, which makes everyone pen and ink.  There are a couple of over priced malls where you can eat Mc Donalds and buy imported stuff (that probably didn't make it through quality checks elsewhere)  Bring plenty of clothes then.

You do need money as an ex-pat living in Cairo, if only to keep your head screwed on.  As female it is much harder.

Every year I sign up for another.  The things that bug me, just bug me to a greater extent, but I keep on learning more and more, all the time.  It grows on you.   For me it is a city that's easy to love and hate at the same time.

The best reply I ever seen in this website, I strongly agree with your words, and I wish my country to be a better place, and attract many people to come & live in Egypt to gain the experience of the Civilized European People.

[Moderated]

Honestly - when I see sums of 600 LE for 'local food' for 1 month - I laugh my socks off!!!!
If you cook - meat here is very expensive - 45 LE a kilo if you love fat, you want something lean - 70 - 100 LE / kg.
If you have any european peculiarities that you like - you will pay an arm and a leg for them!!

Fruit - you will pay as much as the guy in the souk decides he can rip you off for!! (and trust me it will be alot- my Husband is EGyptian and now he doesn't take me anywhere near buying fruit / veg. or if I go I reamin separate until the deal is done.  We have learnt that as soon as people see me - the price at least doubles - last year a kilo of mango to my Husband alone 23 LE - with me in tow 2 days later the guy tried it on for 46LE!!)
Even in the souk they don't have the brian power to think that I am his wife - they assume he is my guide / friend - who will allow me to be ripped off!!
To the average Cairene I am a very big walking wallet!!

Clothes - imported they tax them like they don't want anyone to buy them!!!
And I agree the styles / fabrics of local clothes leave ALOT to be desired!

Be very careful where you walk, always keep your hand on your handbag (tightly)

HI thanks for your replies but as I said I will not be coming.
I did not receive confirmation for the job offer at all.

Thanks and enjoy Cairo!

biffy wrote:

Honestly - when I see sums of 600 LE for 'local food' for 1 month - I laugh my socks off!!!!
If you cook - meat here is very expensive - 45 LE a kilo if you love fat, you want something lean - 70 - 100 LE / kg.
If you have any european peculiarities that you like - you will pay an arm and a leg for them!!

Fruit - you will pay as much as the guy in the souk decides he can rip you off for!! (and trust me it will be alot- my Husband is EGyptian and now he doesn't take me anywhere near buying fruit / veg. or if I go I reamin separate until the deal is done.  We have learnt that as soon as people see me - the price at least doubles - last year a kilo of mango to my Husband alone 23 LE - with me in tow 2 days later the guy tried it on for 46LE!!)
Even in the souk they don't have the brian power to think that I am his wife - they assume he is my guide / friend - who will allow me to be ripped off!!
To the average Cairene I am a very big walking wallet!!

Clothes - imported they tax them like they don't want anyone to buy them!!!
And I agree the styles / fabrics of local clothes leave ALOT to be desired!

Be very careful where you walk, always keep your hand on your handbag (tightly)

Perfectly agree. My wife in tow == double and sometimes triple the price.

One time in Khan El Khalili, with my wife and my mother-in-law, I was even bluntly offered a "20% commission" .... I kept saying NO ...... I kept responding NO THEY DON'T WANT .... so they just ignore me and speak to them in Russian .... hehehehe .....

I ended up in a shop where a friend knows the owner and I told him SHE'S MY WIFE .... I AM PAYING ..... fortunately he did not rip me off.

Hahaha
I know the feeling.
Not long after my Husband and I got married we went on a nile Cruise (fantastic by the way if anyone wants to do one!!) in Luxor a guy selling the woolen shawls spent a long time explaing to my husband how they could both make a little money out of this and offer him baksheesh - my Husband just let him go on and then just answered actually she is my wife and trust me she will be getting the best price possible!!
It has also happend again in Cairo.

But the owrst was in the sma;; shop at the bottom of the EGyptian Tower - i went in first looking as a European saw a galebiya a liked - pointed (for my Husbands benefit as he is a local) and asked the price to you lovely madam - 150 LE - no I can't pay that price I say and walk on and out of the shop.
My husband browses - asks the price of the same garment 70 LE - he eventually bought it for 60LE!! (which isn't cheap either).

So it isn't just fruit and veg. that you get ripped off on.

When I wander though Khan EL Khalili (I love it) becuase it's so narrow - they shop owners often ' come look i give you really good price' to which I answer ' of course you will better than you could imagine -(point to my Husband) as he's my Husband!!"
Makes us all laugh!

And funny that they always try to talk to me in Russian too!!

[moderated]

Hi I can  not read your message. It is blank.

hey nadiadee, i didn't go through all posts but i know the main subject maadi or rehab city will be nice to stay

biffy wrote:

Honestly - when I see sums of 600 LE for 'local food' for 1 month - I laugh my socks off!!!!
If you cook - meat here is very expensive - 45 LE a kilo if you love fat, you want something lean - 70 - 100 LE / kg.
If you have any european peculiarities that you like - you will pay an arm and a leg for them!!

Fruit - you will pay as much as the guy in the souk decides he can rip you off for!! (and trust me it will be alot- my Husband is Egyptian and now he doesn't take me anywhere near buying fruit / veg. or if I go I reamin separate until the deal is done.  We have learnt that as soon as people see me - the price at least doubles - last year a kilo of mango to my Husband alone 23 LE - with me in tow 2 days later the guy tried it on for 46LE!!)
Even in the souk they don't have the brian power to think that I am his wife - they assume he is my guide / friend - who will allow me to be ripped off!!
To the average Cairene I am a very big walking wallet!!

Clothes - imported they tax them like they don't want anyone to buy them!!!
And I agree the styles / fabrics of local clothes leave ALOT to be desired!

Be very careful where you walk, always keep your hand on your handbag (tightly)

Welcome to Egypt

that's what we have to adopt as Egyptians

low salary and almost everything is at a high prices

Hi Belal,

thanks for your reply. As I mentioned above the job offer was a scam and I no longer plan to move to Egypt.

Thanks for all your replies.

Blessings