WTNY 8-27-2007 18:26
Maryanne is an American expat who runs a riding center in Abu Sir, Egypt
[img]http://expatinterviews.com/files/imagecache/thumb/files/th_maryanne%20stroud.jpg[/img]
Maryanne has been in Egypt for a long time, having lived in Alexandria, Maadi, and now Abu Sir. She maintains what seems to be a very interesting household and operates a tourist riding center there. For Maryanne, there are still many things to do and places to visit in Egypt, a place where the people are hospitable and learning to relax is important.
Maryanne Stroud
August 26 2006
-Where were you born?
Near San Diego, California, USA
-In which country and city are you living now?
Abu Sir, Giza, Egypt...but on a farm, not in a city
-Are you living alone or with your family?
I live "alone" with 10 parrots, two cats, fourteen dogs, thirteen horses, 2.5 donkeys (one pregnant), a water buffalo...my kids visit from time to time but both are pursuing graduate studies in the US. My husband died six years ago in an accident.
-How long have you been living in Egypt?
I've been living in Abu Sir for 2.5 years now, with about ten years in Maadi (a southern suburb of Cairo) before that and five years in Alexandria on the north coast before that. I've been in Egypt since the summer of 1988.
-What is your age?
57
-When did you come up with the idea of living in Egypt?
Part of the decision was made easier by the fact that I'd already moved to another country (from the US to Canada in the 70's). I first visited Egypt with my late husband long before we were married (1976), and then we visited on a more or less yearly basis until 1988. We were both immigrants to Canada (me from US and him from Egypt) so the idea was to live there, but he established some companies in both Canada and Egypt, and he discovered that while he could run a Canadian company from Egypt, he couldn't run an Egyptian company from Canada. I got tired of being a single mom so we moved to Egypt.
-Was it hard to get a visa or a working permit?
Anyone can get a visa to Egypt at the airport for about USD 20. This visitor's visa can be extended and many times if you find a good job here, a residence visa can be arranged. There are other situations that can bring someone a residence visa as well.
-Was it difficult for you to get medical insurance before you went there or when you first arrived?
When we first came to Egypt there was no local medical insurance available, but that has changed. There are now a number of companies offering medical insurance. I am currently insured through one of my late husband's companies, but on the whole I simply pay my medical bills, which thankfully are quite small, rather than go through the bureaucracy.
-How do you make your living in Egypt? Do you have any type of income generated?
I was a housewife when I moved here but when my kids got into middle school, I began working as a substitute teacher at the American school. Later I was offered a job as writer/editor of an English-language magazine. When my husband died in a plane crash I had to go to work sorting out the companies that he'd established in Egypt, since my two children were minors and the majority shareholders in the companies. Six years later, I've moved to a farm outside of Cairo where I run a riding center for tourists. I have some income from the rental of the family home in Maadi as well. Finding a job in Cairo isn't actually that hard because they really need skilled workers.
-Do you speak Arabic and do you think it's important to speak the local language?
I learned to speak Arabic the first year because I didn't see the point of living in a place where I couldn't talk to people. I learned from the fruit sellers, plumbers, car repairmen, and the like. I also learned the customs and if someone wants to live in Egypt (as opposed to living in a foreign enclave in Egypt) it is highly advisable to learn about the society and culture. Egyptian culture is wonderfully rich and has a lot to offer expats here. Islam is demonised in much of the media these days, but it is a fascinating religion with a lot to someone who is interested in learning about something new. It is entirely possible to live in Egypt without speaking Arabic, but that narrows the possibilities a great deal and you will miss so much.
-Do you miss home and family sometimes?
Egypt is my home. I have a hard time when I travel outside of Egypt and am happy to be here even for holidays. When we moved the family here we did not visit North America for about eight years. I wanted the children to have a sense of roots in Egypt so instead of going back to Canada, we traveled in Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean. Egypt is close enough to Europe and other parts of Africa and the Middle East (believe it or not, Syria and Lebanon can be really wonderful places to visit if they are not being bombed) so travel is easy. As well, we would go to the Red Sea on the Sinai Peninsula where we eventually bought a house. We all learned scuba diving and spent a lot of time exploring the sea there. There are still so many places that I haven't seen here. You can do desert safaris by jeep and visit the oases in the Western Desert for example. Believe it or not, one of the things I've never done is to take a Nile cruise. One of these days. What I like most of all is to have my family and friends visit me here.
-Do you have other plans for the future?
I'm almost 60, which is a limiting factor in plans. I'll be very happy to be able to live where I do, do the work that I do, and to see my family here as often as possible.
-What about housing, have you bought, or are you renting a home?
I have rented housing, but right now I'm living in a house that I built on my farm. Land is not cheap in much of Egypt because there is so much pressure on the available land. Only about 3% of the land in the country can be inhabited; the rest is desert. It is possible to rent apartments for a relatively small sum because the average wage here is quite low.
-What is the cost of living in Egypt?
If you have an income in a strong foreign currency, Egypt is wonderfully cheap. Food, especially, is inexpensive compared to, for example, the US. Fresh fruits and vegetables are available year round and meat, fish, and poultry are locally produced and high quality as well. Junk food is imported at this point, although unfortunately that is changing, and right now it's still cheaper to eat well and healthily rather than to eat prepared things. In Cairo and Alexandria there are all sorts of restaurants at any price range you like.
If, however, you are working for an Egyptian salary, things are not nearly as easy because the wage level is low. It is still very possible to get by. The cost of education is the biggest problem for people with children because the school system, while free for Egyptian citizens, is horrible, so most people have to send their children to private schools, some of which are amazingly expensive.
-What do you think about the Egyptian people?
Egyptians, in general, are incredibly warm, welcoming, hospitable people. This is probably the effect of practice since travelers have been passing through the country due to its geography and importance for the last ten thousand years. If you are "just a tourist" (and I believe that Egypt invented tourism way back with the pharaohs), they welcome you and the cash that you bring into the country. If you take the time to learn the language and culture, the welcome is much warmer and more encompassing. Tourists see locals as part of the scenery and the reverse holds true as well. If you step out of that framework, you become real. I spend my days with rural Egyptians and am very rarely made to feel an outsider, but part of that is the fact that I like and respect my neighbours. I've seen urban Egyptians have more problems with rural Egyptians than I have.
-What are the positive and negative aspects of living in Egypt?
For me the fact that there is sunshine virtually every day is one of the biggest pluses. I can ride my horses all year round. I love the fresh fruit and vegetables and I appreciate the slower pace of life. There are times when the casual disregard for timeframes drives me wild, but on the whole, I'm okay with this aspect of life here, although it can drive a lot of people totally crazy. I really can't live in urban Cairo; it's simply too crowded. One of the hardest things about living in Egypt is the fact that people have so many strange and often stupid ideas about the country and culture.
-Do you have any tips for our readers about living in Egypt?
Relax. You can't MAKE anything happen here, but on the other hand, nothing is going to happen if you aren't following up. Relax. Most of the things that anyone is saying to you in Arabic are probably nice. After all, the traditional greeting is "Peace be upon you," with the reply of "And upon you peace and the mercy and blessings of God." If you mean it when you say it, that's pretty important. Relax.
Einstein said that time is the universe's way of seeing that everything doesn't happen at once. Most guidebooks say that Egypt is timeless. This means that either everything happens at once or it doesn't happen at all. So relax.
-Do you have any favorite Web sites or blogs about Egypt?
There are a lot of Egyptian bloggers who have some pretty interesting sites. Living In Egypt is about my own daily life living in rural Egypt.
Most of the other blogs are more urban and often more political but they are a fascinating look at life here from the inside: The Egyptian Blog Ring or at Alaa and Manal's Bitbucket.
TourEgypt is a website out of Texas (of all places) that has an astounding amount of information on travel and life in Egypt. The Community Services Association site has a lot of information on moving to and settling into life in Egypt/ Then there is my riding site Egypt Face to Face, which has a lot of photos of the countryside and desert areas between Cairo and Dahshur.