"Put me a list with the really necessary things we need in our place."

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

8 months. Staying until school starts Jan 13th, 2010.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

I fly out May 19th!

Len fab decorating idea! I love maps and framing them is right up my alley! Thank hermana!

It is fab, and super useful. So go for it babe!!!

[Sandrila 1]

I am just so happy for you that you are close enough to start making your list

i will think on it and get back to you

lots of food is good, i think

i made all kinds of meals and froze them before he came and cookies and such because i wanted him to taste the love i have for him

i felt i wanted him to get some real american food but i dont have to waste time doing it

[sweet_peach 0]

Just remember one thing - Egypt is the spice capital of the world - no need to bring them, but if you wanted to you could.

Im sure dishes / pots / pans are cheap there.

When you need to bring with you is things you wont be able to find there.

Like kool-aid - if you drink it - I have a friend in Spain and I have to send "care packages" all the time.

Things like:

Kool-aid

Cake mixes / frosting

candy

jello / pudding packs

jelly

specialty caned foods / boxed foods

cant think of anything else......

What airline are you taking to Egypt??

Edited February 24, 2009 by sweet_peach

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Delta!

[sweet_peach 0]

I fly out May 19th!

Len fab decorating idea! I love maps and framing them is right up my alley! Thank hermana!

One other tip for you - what we all do in the airline to make sure you dont go over weight with your bags

anything that is very heavy put it in your carry on luggage.

light items - put them in your checked baggage.

remember most airlines will let you have a carry on bag and a "personal item" which can be a purse so what I normally do is put my purse in another bag - normally my back-pack and I still get to carry on another bag.

Delta!

Really

such a great airline

what flight are you traveling on? or do you have your ticket number?

if so send me a message and tell me what day you want to change your ticket to and I will look it up and tell you how much it will be.

[sara535 15]

I would take toiletries, makeup and food: brown sugar, a huge bag of craisins ( I use them in everything from salads to rice pilaf to cookies), brownie and cake mixes, taco and chili seasoning, and big thing of peanut butter. Oh and OTCs like everyone mentioned - Advil, Nyquil, cough syrup.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

I fly out May 19th!

Len fab decorating idea! I love maps and framing them is right up my alley! Thank hermana!

One other tip for you - what we all do in the airline to make sure you dont go over weight with your bags

anything that is very heavy put it in your carry on luggage.

light items - put them in your checked baggage.

remember most airlines will let you have a carry on bag and a "personal item" which can be a purse so what I normally do is put my purse in another bag - normally my back-pack and I still get to carry on another bag.

Delta!

Really

such a great airline

what flight are you traveling on? or do you have your ticket number?

if so send me a message and tell me what day you want to change your ticket to and I will look it up and tell you how much it will be.

Sweet peach! Let me check my email then!

[Cheryl & Medo 3]

In Cario there is a store called Carfor It is out side of Cairo It is like wallmart and dose carry alot of american stuff. American foods They even have washers and dryers for your cloths. Medo and I went there at lease once a week. But anything that is american cost alot more there.

Good luck on your travel.

[ya falaha! 0]

Ditto on the taco, kool aid, chili, etc. seasonings, cake mixes, make up and other toiletries. You can get a lot of stuff at Carrefour but most of it is way expensive. A lot of OTCs are better in Egypt but you'd have to find out which ones do which function. I wish I could remember the pain relievers and cold meds that the mister brought with him. For stomach issues be sure to look for Fawar fruit...wonder drug!

About the fem hygiene stuff...they sell tampons and such at Carrefour and I believe Hyper One. They even sell thong panty liners...I was shocked, lol. You can find just about everything in bigger stores but like I said before, you're gonna pay more.

How exciting for you..I'm jealous! I'd love to pack up and have a little adventure like that. I'll live vicariously through you.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Thx for the tips ladies! Funny Astarte!

[Staashi 371]

Olivia - how cool is this!

Even though my experience is with Argentina, being out of USA/North America is practically the same anywhere.

As with everyone, I totally agree about the birth control (if you're buying condoms here...take a stroll to your local health dept because you can probably get tons free!), tampons, cake mixes and jams/jellies, maybe even a big box of Bisquick and Syrup. Cuz sometimes a girl just wants pancakes! I love a big jar of peanut butter, because in AR a little jar of skippy was 15 pesos - 5 bucks! I also suggest a 12 pack of Scott TP. We take that with us to AR as it lasts forever and is soooo soft compared to what you'll get there...I love bidets for certain times and tp for others - but that's just me. Oh and one more thing...anti-diarrheal tablets. Nothing like a touch of the trots to make your stay miserable in a foreign country.

ETA - I love hair removal in foreign countries!!! I would be literally hairless if I was in Arg all the time. It is sooo cheap to have it removed and you'll love having it done.

Edited February 24, 2009 by Staashi

[KHPerfectMatch 1]

Chili Powder is not available anywhere I could find... take your own. Mapleine flavoring to make your own pancake syrup. It's WAY expensive there... And if you like corn tortillas take a package, I've never found them there, only flour or Old El Paso taco shells, REALLY expensive, and likely broken and rancid... Powdered sugar is available there but tastes gritty like sand... not sure what's with THAT. Liquid vanilla if you want it, you won't find it there. Only powdered.

Reading your list you are going to be WAY over limit... You can find lovely pillows at Carrefour for cheap. Hyperone has great stuff too. In fact if you look long enough you'll find almost anything you want there, but at a price... I suggest trying to live "native" if you can...

Forget the sheets and pillow cases from here. They simply won't fit pillows or beds there. Think metric sizing. And personally I would take a freakin' air mattress before I'd sleep on one of those damn cotton mattresses for 8 months. It's really CEMENT covered with cotton. Don't be fooled...

I disagree with whoever said not to take any cooking stuff. I took my favorite Chef's knife, and 2 silverstone pans and nylon "tools" to use in them. A deep skilletn (about a 2 quart) with a lid (great for making rice) and a regular large silverstone skillet, wish I had room for a griddle.. Most non-stick pans there are either ####### from China or SKY HIGH in price. My MIL was so excited when she heard I WAS NOT taking them back with me.

High end cosmetics or special face creams you like will be hard to find and really expensive. Plenty of hair products. I disagree about shoes there...I think their shoes are the WORST... YUCK! Don't plan to buy underwear unless you like buying them from MEN! (Go figure, they are the ONLY ones who sell them!) And don't bother to take any cheesy lingerie... you can find it blowing in the breeze in every clothing market... some CRAZY stuff! H wouldn't let me take photos of it, but I REALLY wanted to... weirdest junk I've EVER seen... kept hoping they never wore it near the gas stove! POOOOOOUUUUUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF and MELTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

If you are a coffee drinker, (and I don't mean Nescafe) you better make a plan... I took a French press mug with me last trip, but the coffee at Carrefour was so bad (they ground it in the same machine they used to grind some spices! YUCK) that even after paying like 65LE for a lb. I couldn't drink it. A cup of Starbucks regular coffee will set you back a pretty piaster... I mean about 17 LE, last time I was there. Latte's etc. much more.

I took my own Sweet and Low in tablet form. The bottles with 500 tiny tablets were GREAT! If you are a fake sugar fan. You're young so you probably don't color your hair, if you do and you lighten take your own product. And whatever you do, don't let any hair dresser in Egypt lighten your hair.... It's a long a sad story... hehehehehehehehe

I'm too tired to remember more... will try to think more and write it down. OH YES, VITAMINS! If you take any supplements you won't find them there for less than a small fortune! I am always loaded down with Fish oil, Centrum Silver, and Glucosamine and Chondroitin for all the relatives when I go.....

Off to my pillow top Beautyrest I go! THANKFULLY.... H said our bed here hurt his back when he first got here... but nothing like the concussion I could have had if I had flopped onto our bed there dramatically EVEN ONCE!!!!! They should put warnings on those beds for foreigners who think it's actually a MATTRESS and not the SIDEWALK!

Oh memories of why he is here and I am NOT there... More later...

[ya falaha! 0]

Hahahaha...I agree about the underwear. Bring plenty. We went to Cairo for a few days and I didn't bring enough so I tried to buy a pair or two. Talk about your granny panties. Big bins filled with either grannies or teeny tiny girl sized draws. Yeah I didn't buy any.

[sweet_peach 0]

Thx for the tips ladies! Funny Astarte!

One last thing - if you forget something and really need it im sure someone would be more than happy to send it to you or personally bring it to you .