Introductions - Please introduce yourself.

[SalmaUS]

Hi, my name is Salma and I am a US citizen who is married to a WONDERFUL Egyptian man. I currently live and work in Heidelberg Germany as a civilian employee with the US Department of Defense. I have 32 years of US civil service. My husband and I are separated by geography and have been since we were married. I fly to Egypt about every 45 days. We have applied for his Visa to come to the US to live but...still waiting. I'm probably going to be moving to Egypt to be with my husband in the next few months. I am rather scared because I don't know if I'll be able to find work there. I have experience teaching English as a Second Language in Japan and hope that I can find a job in Egypt doing this. I LOVE Egypt to visit but knowing what my poor (and I mean poor in every sense of the word) husband goes through on a daily basis (struggling to survive, ID card checks for no apparent reason and paying 70, 80 pounds to leave the police station, in other words extortion..) I am not sure I can survive there for too long, but I know that I can't live without my husband much longer.

Any words of wisdom or good ideas out there?

[razanne99]

Hello guys some of you may know me from the totally property forum.

My name is Andy (41) and my wife is Anne (46).

After purchasing a 3 bedroom apartment on the Sunset Pearl development and coming to see progress (last week), we have decided to sell up in the UK and move out to Sahl Hasheesh on a permanent basis.

We are hoping to open a cafe bar on Palm Beach, Sahl Hasheesh, but its a nightmare trying to get information about anything, even when you look on the internet it is very confusing. So i hope some kind soul can help us through the pitfalls and minefields of visas applications, residency, work permits and how to set up a business in Egypt.

Our house is going up for sale in the next few weeks and hope to be in Hurghada by next April. (end of the tax year).

We are coming back over to hurghada for 3 weeks at christmas, so would be great if we could meet some of you guys to drain you of the information we need and maybe i could lubricate your tongues with a few beers or a G&T if you prefer. (December 19th 2008 to January 9th 2009). We are staying at the Desert Pearl 1, so we are not to far from Bulls Bar if you are having a get together.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Andy and Anne

[masr8]

I've lived in Cairo for a few years. Originally from England (london). Cairo is a bit of a culture shock but after you get used to it you will love it. The freedom for children if you live in a good area such a Heliopolis, Zamelek, Maadi or New Cairo (Which is beautiful) is wonderful. Education is good - lots of good schools around (but shop around). Just getting over the crazy driving is hard

[kariem1510]

Hello Everybody,
just thought I'd pop by to say hi

[Bissycissy]

This is me:
Girl from Iceland,so tired of cold weather,snow and ice!
Have fallen in love with Egypt and the Egyptian people.
Now trying to find a flat in Zamalek,and have turned to this forum for advice.......
Not a single soul has answered though,I really thought this forum was for helping oneanother,Expats helping Expats-to-be!
You don´t have to know,just share your thoughts,and let me know what you think!
Bye for now,hope to hear from You!
Cissy.

[kariem1510]

Hey Cissy:
I'm Kariem, I'm Egyptian but I'm currently living in Dubai.
Guess you could very easily get a flat in Zamalek through any real estate agency. Zamalek is one of the nicest neighbourhoods in Cairo, I really love it, I live in Heliopolis, If you couldn't find a flat in Zamalek, you could get one in Helipolis or Maadi especially Daglaa.
Wish you all the best with your flat hunting.

[Bissycissy]

Hello,kariem1510!
Thank you for answering.
I have no problem finding a flat in Zamalek,my question was if 1800-2000 US dollar is an ok rent for a 3bedroom 2bathroom apartment,or if I get overcharged because i´m a foreigner?I think it´s expensive!
Do you know if this is normal rent?
Thanks,Cissy

[kariem1510]

Well, It depends on the Location,Whereabouts in zamalek you want it.
and If you get a nile view or not, cause it's much more expensive.
I think you're being a bit overcharged though.
The exchange rate between the Dollar and EG Pound is 1:5.5
so I think a Reasonable price for a 3 bedroom would be around 9000 EGP, Almost 1700 USD.but i'm not really sure, cause the rents keep going up every year or whenever there is a price hike.
My advice for you is to seek some egyptian friend of yours and ask him/her to contact the agents for you, that way you'll get to know for sure if you're being overcharged or not.
If I were there, I would have really loved to help you.
you can get any work colleague to do it for you.

[Bissycissy]

Thank You,Kariem1510!
So nice of You to answer my questions.
Your reply is much appreciated,as I didn´t have a clue how things worked.
It´s much easier now,with Your help.Thanks for taking the time to help me.
With Regards,Cissy.

[safrine]

Hello to you all,

Our names are Sandra and Saied. We have two daughters who are 8 and 9.

For nine years we have looked at the whole of egypt to find a place to settle and bring up our kids, and decided on hurghada.

We are bringing a container for all of our household effects, plus a 15 week old labrador puppy. We have also decided on Rajac school for our girls. It all sounds so simple now but it has been a long haul to get this far. We fly to cairo on the 6th Aug 08 to visit family first.

Any help with the puppy, vets etc, would be much appreciated. My husband who is egyptian would be able to give advice to anyone who needs it. He has been living in the uk for the last 25 years, so he has the british mentality with the egyptian knowledge. We will be in hurghada around the end of aug .beg. sep. and will need to organise our internet at home.

Whoever is thinking of opening boarding kennels for ex pats, please can i encourage you. We all need to visit our familys back home and would like to know that our pets are looked after by animal lovers.

Sandra