This World is Not Perfect!

[Lanason]

Originally Posted by MaidenScotland

You handed over your money believing you paid the correct price for it... to be charged extra because you are foreign is imo being ripped off. If you are happy with that then fine.
If you were deliberately charged too much in the USA because you were not quite sure how much things cost.. I would guess you would say your being ripped off.

I don't get ripped off in my local shop although one of their new assistants tried to do me out of two bottles of water .. the next day he was gone from the shop.. I guess the owner got rid of him.

I agree with expatagogo - If the price has been upped then its "buyer beware" - of course the price rises - sometimes I know, but see it as giving a bit of "charity" especially in small local shops.

I check prices with my colleagues at work to see what they pay. A lot of shops I go to have scanners and bar code readers - so price is fixed

[MaidenScotland]

I shake my head in disbelief... if that happened in your home country you would not consider it as giving to charity.. so why is it acceptable practice to you here?

[Lanason]

Originally Posted by MaidenScotland

I shake my head in disbelief... if that happened in your home country you would not consider it as giving to charity.. so why is it acceptable practice to you here?

Come on - these guys are poor and a few extra pennies is no skin of my nose - they are trying to make a living it also depends on their attitude and if I'm in a good mood

Actually the service we have had when we return to these shops is great. so it cuts both way. Of course, if I dont like the price I either walk away or negotiate

Of course in England the standard of living is much higher so don't feel the need

[Eco-Mariner]

Come on Adrian.... You are condoning theft.
And if they get away with it the practice surely multiplies.
Then prices spiral out of control as we've seen over the past 5 years.


Eco-Mariner.

[ArabianNights]

Originally Posted by SHendra

Arabian you must not think anyone is against you, I doubt anyone is. You have had a difficult time trying to settle in there and the let say the adventures you've had have not been pleasent. By the sound of it your uni somehow has misled you including your teachers.. if that was me I would not even want to study with them!! It would be a simple case of cutting the losses and going. I'm also going to say your living in one of the worse areas of Alex's for a foreigner.. you got some of Alex's most poorest living in and around that area going northwards. Maybe it why you been targetted alot there too.

Your so sweet, SHendra... I dont think anyone is 'against' me per se, its just that everyone I interact with here see me as someone they can 'play about' with simply because I am foreign and everything is about the money. The University of Alexandria here have a 'link' with my University in London, which is why I came here. I am also having issues with my department back in London - because of the year abroad in regards to the fact that this program isn't organized. It is not only the fault of the University here in Alexandria, but also my University back home. In any other situation, I would happily cut the losses and move off, but the consequences are high

The area that I am living in is certainly not the best, but I do not think it is THAT bad - although if I had a choice, I wouldn't be here. I could move and find another place to live - but that would mean all the hassles that come with it and all the money I would loose in the process, and considering its *only* four months, I am not too sure its worth it.

I soon learnt walking around Miami/Mamorna/Manshaya by myself = a hard time and was just not worth the hassle. I only ventured to those places if someone was with me. Just how it goes.

See, if I had someone with me then I am sure that I would not have encountered many of the problems that I am encountering here. Even going into a 'western style' restaurant causing eyelids of waiters to flick, when a girl on her own walks in and asks for a table for one. Its not just the place, the people and the ripping off and other stuff, its also being alone here. People keep saying there are are good Egyptians out here and that one should make efforts to socialize with them - how, where? here can I meet normal Egyptians that do not see me as a walking ATM machine and question me with *suspicion* as to why I am a girl living on her own in Egypt?

I have no choice but to walk about in Miami and all over Alex or anywhere in Egypt on my own.

As for the taxis it same as I always said before. Have the cash ready for your A to B in the correct amount. Get to B, get out of the car.. hand the man the money and walk away. No need to talk to him at all.. only for your destination and to hena when you wish to stop! Thats it. Said before also about the shopping stick to the supermarkets and your be fine in that to.

Yes, when I take a cab, this is what I do now. I think its just a case of dealing with taxi drivers who like to look in the mirror back at you and wondering why a female (who looks Egyptian) is traveling alone. This leads to them speaking to me, asking me questions, (a nice line is, "where exactly at your destination do you want to go to?... followed by "where are you from", after realizing I am not Egyptian) which leads to them realizing that I am in fact foreign. Then they have this idea in their mind that they can rip me off, or do even worse - who knows, they could take me down a back ally somewhere, if they wanted to and do anything. I know they are thinking this. To counter this, I have to make up a fake story - such as my husband is waiting for me at home, or that my family are waiting for me at my destination and the rest of it. I have to lie in order to survive here and its not only in the cab. Having to do this every single time I sit in a cab, can be frustrating. I try to counter this by just listening to my headphones, or closing my eyes, to make it look like I am sick (headache) and not in the mood to talk or whatever... doesnt work, they still talk.

This is why I take a microbus, because it is not just me and the driver - buses go on a specific routing and there are many other people. Because there is no risk of being talked to by the driver or anyone on the bus, people just assume by looking at me that I am just another Egyptian. There is no reason for someone to speak to me on the bus, apart from maybe ask what the fare is, and that can be responded by me, with a few words in Arabic, which are few enough not to reveal my non-Egyptian accent. I know the fare, pay it and sit silent until I get off. Much easier then having to go through all what I explained in a taxi.

Its' made me a stronger person and very grateful to have the choices in life that I do have. Because at the end of the day the country we are born into is pure luck!

I agree. I think that when I do leave - I am positive that I will miss aspects of Egypt, there are good people here, not all are bad. Living here in Egypt as certainly given me lots of 'skills', shall I say in dealing with people and being able to deal with certain situations or problems. My language has also improved here and I think that is key to living in places like Egypt. I dont regret taking my year abroad here - in fact when I leave, it will have made me into a better person and refined a lot of the characteristics that I already had.

I dont blame them sometimes, either - but its not nice to be at the brunt of their political issues or any other issues they have. Just because they are poor, it doesnt justify ripping me off. This is my thinking - I could be wrong as far as others are concerned. I dont consider myself poor, but I am not a millionaire either. I do not have an endless resource of cash, that I can handle having to accept the ripping off. Its quite normal for someone to want to keep to a budget, or want to pay a certain amount in return for something that you think is fair. A chocolate bar in Metro costs 3.50LE and to Egyptians that could be expensive, for me, I think it is fair. What is considered rich for one person can be poor for another. I am sure that in comparison to Bill Gates, I am very very poor indeed .... Jokes aside, though, the Expats who live here on their nice expat packages may not be rich, but they fare well considering the allowances provided to them by their employer. Back home in their own country, they are still plain old Joe.

[Lanason]

Originally Posted by Eco-Mariner

Come on Adrian.... You are condoning theft.
And if they get away with it the practice surely multiplies.
Then prices spiral out of control as we've seen over the past 5 years.


Eco-Mariner.

Theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it.

So how, in heavens name, can an "Invitation to treat" or an "Offer", which is then accepted by my payment be considered theft in any form what so ever.

By handing over the money I am giving consent.

[ArabianNights]

Originally Posted by crewmeal

ArabianNights - I'm sorry that you have had a bad time here, but as others have suggested perhaps it's time to draw a line under all this, move on and study elsewhere. I suggest Jordan. They have excellent Uni's and Colleges and your quality of life will be improved. Having lived in Jordan they will sympathise with your circumstances and help you. There shouldn't be any problems with your husband entering on a visitor's visa.

What is the point of enduring all this unhappiness in an unstable country. Your studies must be constantly interrupted and therefore learning cannot be taking place. You will be wasting time.

In all honesty - I kinda regret not going to Jordan. My options were Qatar, Syria and Egypt being a last resort. The reason Egypt was my last resort, was because the University of Alexandria is 'linked' to my University back home and we were led to believe that a 'link' meant that everything would be organized for those on this program - including accommodation, etc. It wasnt until a few weeks before I was going to come, that I realized that this was not the case - but I didnt know how hard everything was going to be here, especially finding a place to live, for example

Qatar was reliant on a scholarship with everything being included, but that fell through, Syria was a choice, because it had a good reputation, but due to the revolution there - it was not an option anymore, so I had to reluctantly come to Egypt. I inquired and researched about Jordan and their fees were much much higher then Egypt and living expenses much much higher too... this was what was told to me by other Arabs and my research showed this too. Actually, 2 of my classmates from London went to Jordan, but they went through an organized Christian program, for Christians wanting to learn Arabic and their curriculum apart from language was Christian based - I was not eligible. So, even if I was in Jordan, I would have been on my own - but still, prices and fees were a deciding point. Had I known that I was going to deal with these issues, I would have rather spent the bit extra and gone then. I had lived in Egypt before for a month (not long enough, of course), but not Jordan... I thought I knew what to expect... as one does...

[Eco-Mariner]

Because once they take it from you Adrian (which is not actually being tipped) they expect it as the norm from everyone following you.


Eco-Mariner.

[expatagogo]

Originally Posted by Lanason

Theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it.

So how, in heavens name, can an "Invitation to treat" or an "Offer", which is then accepted by my payment be considered theft in any form what so ever.

By handing over the money I am giving consent.

Exactly!

Nobody is stealing it if I give it to them; it's my choice to pay the price they've said or walk away without.

Paying too much for anything isn't being "ripped off" nearly as much as it is being stupid with money.

[ArabianNights]

Originally Posted by Lanason

Come on - these guys are poor and a few extra pennies is no skin of my nose - they are trying to make a living it also depends on their attitude and if I'm in a good mood

Actually the service we have had when we return to these shops is great. so it cuts both way. Of course, if I dont like the price I either walk away or negotiate

Of course in England the standard of living is much higher so don't feel the need

If you think these people are so poor and need the extra few pennies and its no skin, then tip them. Thing is, these people expect to rip you off, plus tip them.

If the service is good, then tip them. If the service is bad, then don't tip them. I was in a restaurant yesterday and had a meal - which was of bad quality, the plate itself was bigger (a lot bigger!) then the amount of food that was in it. I had a very large dinner plate, which had 6 pieces of 'chips' and was charged 45LE for it.

Now what are you saying, that I should not question this, because its no skin off your nose?