Cairo - Post Report Question and Answers
What do you wish you had known about this particular city/country before moving there?
That there would be no SND, no danger pay, and no work shuttles. That it will take months to get your personal shipments, and twice as long to get your car. - Aug 2025
That Cairo is not a major international city. It's provincial. That I will be scammed and cheated at every turn. That the traffic would be so terrible. That there would be no buses from home to work. That the housing is so shabby. That morale was so low. That there is nowhere to walk safely. That the pollution would affect my health and desire to be outside. That restaurants are not up to an international standard. - Aug 2025
Arabic! - Apr 2025
The pollution really does suck. - Mar 2023
I honestly didn't know how much tourism there would be to see. I feel overwhelmed by how much cool stuff there is to do. - Aug 2022
You will want a car for the convenience of getting out of the city when you need it. There are four seasons so don't leave all your winter clothing at home. - Mar 2022
Nothing I can think of. - Dec 2021
How difficult spousal employment really would be. I was assured time and time again by many different people that spouses would have ample employment opportunities, that was simply not true in my case. - Sep 2017
The time. Egypt is extremely polychronic--time is a flexible concept. If you're from a monochronic, time-conscious, culture it can drive you nuts. - May 2017
I didn't need to buy all of those baggy long sleeved shirts! Most likely your regular wardrobe will be fine. - Jan 2016
How repressive it has become. - Jan 2016
That it's a LOT safer than people expect. - Oct 2014
How unstable it would be politically, the uneasiness caused by the continuous "low level" terrorist attacks and unreliability of electricity (knowing what we know now, we definitely would have chosen to live in a compound [backup generators!] in Maadi [other families and school!]). We would not have come here if we would have known there would be an ordered evacuation (2 in three years). Plus it's tough living with the threat of protests and potential bombs. - Aug 2014
How unstable it would be politically. - May 2014
How fast things would go downhill. - Apr 2014
