Going to live and work in Cairo... any experiences?

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My partner has got a new job in Cairo, so I'll be moving there with her. That's one of the main reasons I chose this profession, to be able to work where I want.

Anyway, I've pretty much experienced the whole of Europe, just got back from 3 months in Jamaica, but have zero experience of Egypt.

Has anyone stayed there, or is anyone living there that can share some feedback on anything they think might be useful to me, especially on the topic of working with businesses in Cairo providing IM and offline marketing services?

I would really appreciate any kind of advice.

Thank you.

Warmest regards,

Stewart

If it helps, I'm a British passport holder
#off topic forum
  • All I can say is that with the size of Cairo, I'm a little surprised they can fit 2 more people in there. Just for perspective. I met a guy that just moved to Boise that was from Cairo. He was laughing about how tiny NY city was and how everyone here talked about it as if it were so enormous. He was a bit baffled that people here thought that if you are from Africa you came from some small third world village and was quite proud of how tiny and backward NY was compared to Cairo. He was in severe cultural shock being stuck in a town with a population of only around a third of a mil people (Boise).

    As long as you like gargantuan metropolises you'll probably do just fine.
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    • You lost me at "gargantuan metropolises". Tried Googling it, but nothing that makes any sense to me. Can you expand on that if you have the time please.

      Thanks
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  • Stewart - all I meant is that it is an extremely huge, expansive city. If you like that kind of thing, you're most likely going to like Cairo just fine from what I've heard about it from people who travel there or have lived there.
  • Cairo is a spectacularly overcrowded city. It has been over 20 years since I have been there but I have no reason to think it has changed all that much.

    The one thing I had the hardest time with was air pollution from cars. I grew up in California which was early into the pollution control so I was never really exposed to anything like that. I could breathe okay, I have no health issues in that respect, but the underlying smell really grossed me out.

    Another thing was traffic. Roads designed for 3 lanes were used as 6 lanes. People just figured it out on their own. On the plus side, if you do get an uh oh on your car, they have some of the most talented mechanics and body workers on the planet. If you wreck a fender they simply reproduce one.

    If you don't mind sharing, I would love to know what your partner is planning to do there.
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    • SIMPLY? They may have a LOT of pieces, curves, etc... They could be INCREDIBLY hard to "simply reproduce". The car companies designed them, stamp them out, have jigs, etc... And then they paint and bake the paint. You can't even use the existing ones as a model.

      ALSO, there may be seemingly meaningless parts, or weak points that may not be done right and could be DANGEROUS! I have seen after market hoods that were built too strong and didn't have certain holes, and ended up getting shoved into the vab, which could DECAPITATE people! The proper ones would colapse and help to absorbe the impact, and possibly PREVENT injury.

      THAT is why it is RARE anyone ever attempts it! They either repair, or buy a new one.

      Steve
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    • She's going to be working in an international school. She's a teacher and a very good one I might add ;-)
  • hi , i spent some time travelling through egypt recently and yes cairo is overcrowded and noisy with a lot of fumes from old car's but i found the island of ZAMALEK which is in the center of cairo to be a haven .
    it's generally the home of most of the embassy and govermental staff and its quite clean and quiet compared to the rest of cairo. i stayed their on most of my visits to cairo and found it an oasis , especially bearing in mind the current political situation in the country..
    if you want any further info, feel free to p.m. me
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    • We are not too far away from there too :-)

      Any idea what the internet connections are like? Most reliable companies, speed etc. That's going to be paramount for me in my line of work.

      Thanks
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