Getting by on forgotten fus7a

[Borealis]

Hello, I'm moving to Cairo for the summer in a couple of days, and being pretty allergic to advanced planning, I've decided that now is the time to figure out what I'll need there. Here are some questions:

Housing:
I've looked on this board and elsewhere on the internet, and the line seems to be the same: find a place once you are here, ask a bawwab if there are any vacancies, but will any of them give me the time of day if I try to ask about apartments in broken MSA? I can't imagine anyone actually understanding or responding to my "hal feeee hathihil binaya shuqqa khaliya????" but I've never actually tried to use my Arabic. Also, I would definitely prefer a slightly grimy flat share to spending the big bucks on my own fancy place. I saw a suggestion somewhere of looking at an AUC bulletin board. Is that a thing that still happens?

Neighborhoods:
Descriptions online make me think Mounira is the place for me. Is it horrible? Is it great? I'm not particularly in need of living around expats, and I think I would prefer to be in a situation that would encourage me to learn some real Arabic. Any advice on where to live? I'd prefer to be near that general area.

Cash money:
ATMs exist that will allow me to get money from my bank account back home, yes? Are the fees ridiculous? Should I just bring three months worth of cash with me and open a bank account, or would it not be possible/worth the hassle?

Learning the language:
I'd like to maybe hire a tutor to teach me how to talk the talk, but honestly, I'd prefer to learn a different dialect. Any advice on finding a tutor, how much I should expect to pay, whether there are better ways to learn, and whether it would be ridiculous to try to learn Shami Arabic when living in Masr would be appreciated.

[Beatle]

Originally Posted by Borealis

Housing:
Not sure if you are coming here as a student? If so, there are plenty of flatshares. There's a facebook page which is very useful for finding students/young professionals but not sure if I can put the name of it on here - if you post on this site 5 times I can send you a private message (you may have already done so). If you are looking for a flat on your own, they are less easy to find and obviously are more expensive. Flats tend to go up in price usually during the summer as the Gulf Arabs come over but not sure if they will do so this year due to Ramadan falling in August/elections in September?

Suggest you don't find anything in advance - I saw some horrors of flats. Stay in a hotel for a couple of days and you can quickly find something when you get there - I usually find something within 2-3 days.

We got by with our flathunting with our pathetic fusha (which to be honest makes Egyptians fall about laughing) - we predominately got by with English. Finding someone to assist with flathunting tends to work by word of mouth. Someone will suggest a contact who might know someone and it spirals from there. As with everywhere, be careful of the rip off merchants

Understanding fusha (which some of the Egyptians we dealt with didn't know) helped us realise who was trying to rip up off....

Neighborhoods:
Not sure about Mounira. I usually stay in Mohandiseen which has pockets of expats but is also quite Egyptian - I definitely had to practise my Arabic in the shops, cafes etc. A lot of expats in Zamalek and Maadi. Some in Heliopolis. In some ways, it's easier to live in a more Westernised area and if you want to practise your Arabic in those areas you can - there are still plenty of Egyptians around



Cash money:


Not worth the hassle of opening a bank account for 3 months. Loads of ATMs. It probably cost a couple of pounds (GBP) to withdraw cash. I withdraw about LE2500 a time.

Learning the language:
You can get some arabic tutors through the language schools and you also see plenty advertised freelance. Let me know if you want some language schools recommending but errrr... no idea how to find someone to teach a different dialect!

Hope that helps. Have fun - I've loved my study trips out there...

[Borealis]

Thanks!