About Patth

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Some Forum Posts:

Egypt: Visa process help please:

I am so happy engaged/sort of married to the man of my dreams and living in Cairo. The constant noise of vehicles, donkeys, dogs, children and people hawking food, natural gas and who knows what causes me some stress and the call to prayer is loud too. It's not possible to just go for a stroll here. You can't get lost in thought while walking because you must watch where you step from all the garbage and lack of pavement but most of all because unless you are in a pricey area there are no real sidewalks and you have to turn sideways sometimes for cars to pass. I've been hit by several rear view mirrors. Prepare to play Frogger with only one life - yours- while walking around Cairo. I suggest using your husband as a human shield until you have a lot of practice crossing highways and streets with traffic that doesn't stop. Don't fantasize cooking up gourmet meals for your man - the ingredients are not to be found. Expect to spend a lot of time in your home, that's what women do. At first, I thought it was not good for women but now that it's the height of summer I think women have the better part. It's really a third world country and worse it's a desert. I could walk for miles in several directions from our apartment and not see a tree. I need to wash my hair constantly because it gets so dusty if I go out and everything in the apartment is covered in dirt because we don't have air conditioning and keep the windows open. We spend ~$700 dollars a month only - each contributing half. He won't spend more of my money so far even though I dearly want air conditioning but I think he is going to cave about spending a little bit once we are married because he is getting used to the idea that by Egyptian standards we are very well off even though we would just be middle class in the US. I want to go back to the US but not without my love. It's really harsh living here but he makes it worthwhile. We aren't living in his hometown because everyone would know we aren't married and it's illegal and a big no-no to live together so we are pretty alone. We've gone to a few meetups with expats from internations but we didn't really make friends. Wait until you ride a mircrobus!!!! All that being said - my fiancé is AWESOME and I am so proud of myself because his friends and family who wen to great lengths to warn him against an American say that I don't act American. My fiance and plan to marry next month and I couldn't be happier. When I think of all the racist things and craziness that people said to me to convince me that my fiance was using me or going to harm me I laugh. The best one I heard was - "he is going to steal your passport" Well at my age in my mid 40's that sounds pretty damn exciting! The fact is though - your man keeps all the family's important documents. Marriage is different here in Egypt - I am sort of married because we signed a paper that we are married before his friend would let us rent an apartment - it is urfi marriage. I recommend BEFORE you marry in Australia that you also sort of marry your man and live together in Egypt to see if you really really want to live in with your love for the rest of your life. One thing you give up is privacy. I write this knowing he may read it and not like something I say. He is on my facebook and reads my email. However, he hides nothing from me either. This was the biggest adjustment for me. But as I grew to trust him more and more I began to see that no privacy between each other is wonderful. He doesn't judge me harshly or ever say something I write is stupid. He is so supportive of me and I am working on my writing and hoping to get published. I was so unhappy when I met him! Still I recommend living together like we are doing before you get married and living in Egypt for at least a few months before you commit to a lifetime. Get a 30 day tourist visa and then renew it for a six month visa. Where you get your visa is purgatory and don't accept it when the woman tells you only 3 months or tells you no - go to an officer to get six months. Once you are married - I don't know if you need to get your marriage certificate from Australia certified or not - you can get a 4 year visa. Until you get the residency visa you won't be able to open a bank account. You stated that you and he earn the same amount - then maybe he is too good for you!!!!! - just joking - but teachers only earn around $400 a month! If your man is earning what you are earning in Australia he's really well off and you might have a totally different experience than me. Just my two cents.... We might be moving to Alexandria and we'd love to get together!

Date Joined:

8/7/2016

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