Those stuck in Egypt

[punisher.man 0]

Nothing to do with visa questions, just a general discussion about Egypt. Anyone else (American women) stuck here in Egypt waiting for your NOA2, NVC, embassy interview, or AP for your spouse to be approved so you can go home together? Do you have to deal with people staring at you every time you go outside, like you are a piece of meat ready to be eaten even if you wear hijab and clothes so baggy that 5 people could fit inside them? Do you deal with thief taxi drivers charging extra because you are foreign? Is there anywhere safe to go here in Cairo other than city stars, roxy, or sun city to have fun? Would really like to visit the zoo with my baby, but heard like 2 months ago someone put a bomb there. Going crazy here stuck inside all the time because of the weekly protests (they happen all the time in my part of the city) and people shooting each other. Just yesterday in my area, idiots used automatic AKs to kill police and military, and then paraded past our house showing them off. FML lol

Edited October 14, 2013 by punisher.man

[RightClicK 17]

You sound like your my wife ....are you my wife lol...she is living here with me and we have a 2 years old baby and these are the places we go to..i wish she could have american friends here to hang out with...u should send me ur phone number in PM so u guys can at least feel that ur home somehow..i really feel so bad for her..she doesn't wanna go out too because of whats going on here and how people stare at her..specially because she thinks am going get into fights because of that....

[Marslove 3]

Hey guys I am living in Egypt too! There is a group I am in on Facebook for American-Egyptian families. It is really helpful for this whole process and you can meet other people who are going through the same things! Let me know if you or anyone you know is interested!

Edited October 15, 2013 by Marslove

[RightClicK 17]

Hey guys I am living in Egypt too! There is a group I am in on Facebook for American-Egyptian families. It is really helpful for this whole process and you can meet other people who are going through the same things! Let me know if you or anyone you know is interested!

Ohhh yeah..I totally am ..am greatly bored .

[sparkles_ 456]

Do you have to deal with people staring at you every time you go outside, like you are a piece of meat ready to be eaten even if you wear hijab and clothes so baggy that 5 people could fit inside them?

LOL not in Egypt anymore but the 'eyeball rape' is pretty freaking intense...especially on the metro....ugh.

Hey guys I am living in Egypt too! There is a group I am in on Facebook for American-Egyptian families. It is really helpful for this whole process and you can meet other people who are going through the same things! Let me know if you or anyone you know is interested!

I need this link.

[punisher.man 0]

No metro here, taxis only. I heard of women getting touched and molested in vans and buses. So no thank you lol

[EegyptA 41]

oh yeah i remember the eye rape.....like your alien from outerspace

i got swatted on the arm...hard...one time walking in a crowded street, by the time i turned to see who or what hit me, i couldn't see anything that would have accidently hit me.....other than a person swatting me with something

Edited October 15, 2013 by EegyptA

[sparkles_ 456]

Metro was never a problem as far as someone touching me, my fiance always stood infront of me, and I stood against the wall. There was some string of taxi sexual assaults in Nasr city when I was there so I was freaked out by that and took the lovely little VW bus thingies all over and sat up front with the driver every time.

I always had constant catcalls/whatever of "abyad", white, all over the streets of Cairo from men. I'm a redhead and I guess they had never seen whiteness like I possess.

[A_M 7]

wow... you suffering too much .... so sorry for you ... i will short and direct ... i think there are some places that ppl used to see and deal with foreigners and you can feel much safe and no much protests, it's pretty calm and safe ... Like " El Maadi & Zamalik " and there is a community buildings for Foreigners they meet there and have a lot of activities Like " CSA " in maadi .. you can find csa website too .... i don't know where you live .. i feel it's like hell ... hope this post can help you . and hope you stay safe. Good luck.

[Heather&Ramy 22]

I'm living in Egypt right now too, my fiancé is waiting for his interview for the K1, but we are soooo lucky to be living in El Gouna right now and not Cairo or Alex where his family is... but we may be moving to Alex in a few months if he doesn't get his visa. When we were talking about me coming to Egypt to wait with him, we both were really motivated to avoid living in Cairo or Alex, just because I know that as a red-white-and blue- blooded American, I really struggle in Egypt with not being able to go outside and do normal things like go to the grocery store on my street by myself. It drives me NUTS. My fiancé won't allow me to go out alone at all. I think he is right in that, but it really makes me stir crazy and makes me feel inhuman. I can't live like that for more than a few weeks. I feel your pain!

Im guessing this is a temporary move and you will be going to America after recieving the visa, right? That's the case for us.The only advice I can give you besides the helpful things other posters mentioned is just to try to make the best of it by getting in the mindset that this is temporary and will be over in a short time. Meanwhile, do what you can at home to be creative to keep your mind occupied, do whatever you can to develop some new hobbies or activites that you and your husband can even do together from your home when you are stuck there. My fiancé and I are both into drawing and painting and that kind of stuff, so when I knew I would move here I brought some art supplies from America and we have been doing some of that together, and we're also reading a few books together and going through seasons of various American tv shows which helps his English and helps me feel more at home.

I also would like to get the link to that facebook group, can someone pm it to me?

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Heather you're in El Gouna and you're not going outside? It's really safe there. People in Cairo go there to get away from the protests and for holidays as you may have seen how busy it was with this last Eid. I used to live in Hurghada and would visit El Gouna since it's really close. There is an old established expat community there. They have over 4,300 property owners from all over the world and many live there full-time. They tell me they don't have any problems going outside alone there during both this revolution and the last one. It's one of the safest places in Egypt to live right now besides the newer resort town Marsa Alam which is further down the coast on the Red Sea.

The expat community meets every Sunday night down at Smugglers Pub in the Marina. It's nice and cosy and easy to meet and talk to people there. One of the expats behind the bar that helps out on Sunday nights has been living in el gouna for 10 years. There is also an expat diving club in el gouna you can join to meet people and get out more. link There are also street parties every week twice a week on Friday and Monday with live music, ect. Other days the stage is set up in downtown.

[RightClicK 17]

Heather you're in El Gouna and you're not going outside? It's really safe there. People in Cairo go there to get away from the protests and for holidays as you may have seen how busy it was with this last Eid. I used to live in Hurghada and would visit El Gouna since it's really close. There is an old established expat community there. They have over 4,300 property owners from all over the world and many live there full-time. They tell me they don't have any problems going outside alone there during both this revolution and the last one. It's one of the safest places in Egypt to live right now besides the newer resort town Marsa Alam which is further down the coast on the Red Sea.

The expat community meets every Sunday night down at Smugglers Pub in the Marina. It's nice and cosy and easy to meet and talk to people there. One of the expats behind the bar that helps out on Sunday nights has been living in el gouna for 10 years. There is also an expat diving club in el gouna you can join to meet people and get out more. link There are also street parties every week twice a week on Friday and Monday with live music, ect. Other days the stage is set up in downtown.

Safest places in Egypt are the crowded neighborhoods such as Ain-Shams,Zaitoon and so on.Everyone knows the other there and too many brave guys everywhere...Yes there are bad people and so on but they never attack anyone from INSIDE the hood ..they attack and mug people from the outside.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Safest places in Egypt are the crowded neighborhoods such as Ain-Shams,Zaitoon and so on.Everyone knows the other there and too many brave guys everywhere...Yes there are bad people and so on but they never attack anyone from INSIDE the hood ..they attack and mug people from the outside.

El Gouna is the furthest thing from the ghetto and she's living there. She's safe going outside and meeting expats that live there. There hasn't been any unrest there since everything began.

[RightClicK 17]

I really just wish safety for everyone and happiness after this long journey.