# Hiring a fruit/veg/meat shopper?



## mythik (May 7, 2010)

...Not that I've done an extensive survey ( having been in the country for all of 6 weeks so far  ) but the meat + veg selections I usually see down here in Hurghada at Metro / Abu Ashara has usually either been very limited or of... lets say, _questionable_ quality... or both 

I went down to the fruit/veg souq in Dahar and wow... there's so much on offer and pretty much all of it looks gorgeously fresh!

The only thing was 
1) I don't speak arabic 
2) I'm still slightly retarded at reading the arabic numerals 
3) Obviously, I'm a foreigner, so I might as well run around with a big flashing neon sign saying 'Please stare at me constantly -and- charge me at least three times the price for the privilege'  
4) Good god... it takes soooo long! We were there for 2+ hours to get 15 minutes worth of vegetables (i know, i know... it's EGYPT  )


Does anyone (or can you) hire someone to shop on your behalf? How would you go about finding someone and how much do you think it should generally cost to have someone go 1-2 times a week?


---Monica


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

Hi,

Practise you numerals by looking at car number plates.. I found this the easiest way to learn them
Sending someone to do your shopping will only mean that you pay even more for them.. your shopper will rip you off.
I am afraid you just have to get used to the slow slow way of life here and then come in here to rant about it lol.

Maiden


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## mythik (May 7, 2010)

MaidenScotland said:


> Hi,
> 
> Practise you numerals by looking at car number plates.. I found this the easiest way to learn them
> Sending someone to do your shopping will only mean that you pay even more for them.. your shopper will rip you off.
> ...


yeah, i'm starting to realize it's something we just have to get used to! lol

...although in some ways I don't really mind that much - I may just be being lazy but it almost seems to even itself out either way - spend an extra 100le on nice veggies that arrive at my door or an extra 50le on taxi fares + 2 hours having to traipse through the market myself 

I console myself with the fact that their minimum wage here is so abysmal maybe i am in fact doing a public service - though i don't think that can be said of taxi drivers here in hurghada, apparently they do REALLY well for themselves here in high-tourism areas ( ...comparably, of course  )


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## ASAMY (Apr 9, 2010)

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
٠	١	٢	٣	٤	٥	٦	٧	٨	٩​
Arabic Numbers

sometimes 2 is written in a different way which will look like in this picture

http://www.3ddesign9.com/uploaded/1_1229021493.jpg



I hope I was helpful


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## mythik (May 7, 2010)

it's definitely a good thing to have on the board, even if just for the reference 

i'm halfway to getting them down - it just takes about 5 minutes for me to "think" about it first... rather than just _knowing_ what they are.

like ٦ ??! the brain says "7" ...gaddamit nope, it's 6


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## Peggy Chapman (Nov 9, 2008)

I always kept a piece of paper in my bag and would check the numbers when I was looking at something in a shop etc - eventually it sticks.
Where in Hurghada are you? Are you working here permanently?


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## mythik (May 7, 2010)

I'm in El Helal... Technically I'm not working yet (I'm an artist, so i get to work from home) but my other half works near Marsa Alam at the gold mine there... we'll be here for at least 2 years, probably more


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## Guest (May 14, 2010)

*Price tags*

Price tags in the produce section of your friendly Egyptian souk? Are you kidding me?
Here in Al Rehab thee are no price tags on anything and you are at the mercy of the merchants. And if you try to ask about the price of particular items - you might get to know what a grumpy, vengeful, sour-faced vegetable guy looks like. 

I did as my Arabic is sufficient to manage this - and was asked in return if I came to shop or ask about the prices


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## DeadGuy (Jan 22, 2010)

mythik said:


> ...Not that I've done an extensive survey ( having been in the country for all of 6 weeks so far  ) but the meat + veg selections I usually see down here in Hurghada at Metro / Abu Ashara has usually either been very limited or of... lets say, _questionable_ quality... or both
> 
> I went down to the fruit/veg souq in Dahar and wow... there's so much on offer and pretty much all of it looks gorgeously fresh!
> 
> ...




Hi there,

You said the "one thing" but you came up with FOUR! :lol:

Will try to answer some:

1) I don't speak arabic 

You said you been here for 6 weeks, so be a bit patient, it takes long to understand none sense spoken in any language...... You'll just get used to it.


2) I'm still slightly retarded at reading the arabic numerals 

As you could see, you're not the only one, but if it's worrying you cause you can't read the price tags, then it's not a problem, cause price tags are useless even if they did exist in any market (As long as it's not a bar code that's gonna be scanned by a MACHINE??? It's useless I'm afraid!!)


3) Obviously, I'm a foreigner, so I might as well run around with a big flashing neon sign saying 'Please stare at me constantly -and- charge me at least three times the price for the privilege'  

Sorry about that :s

But you can learn how to be "harsh" with them? Be rude if anyone went rude with you? There's nothing wrong with that by the way! They'd earn it in case you haven't noticed????

The prices' overcharge thing...... may be you have to live with that till you manage to be a better shopper (Don't have anything I can say actually, I hate shopping in here myself! And I'm not a foreigner!)

4) Good god... it takes soooo long! We were there for 2+ hours to get 15 minutes worth of vegetables (i know, i know... it's EGYPT  )

That's why you should never go shopping except in a day when you got absolutely nothing else to do :lol:

About hiring someone, I'll have to agree with what MaidenScotland said about that, you will only get yourself robbed more, the only difference is that you're gonna be happy about it! An oh ya! You're gonna loose more money than if you shop by yourself!

The only situation that I'd tell you that it would help is if you're living in a building with a janitor (Bawaab?) working there, in that case he or any of his family members would be an "ok" choice to shop for you (Please notice that I did NOT say that it would be a good choice??), with the right tips for them of course, but not a stranger, no way! 

Good luck in here


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## hurghadapat (Mar 26, 2010)

In the market in Dahar there is an indoor section which sells all sorts of vegetables and almost all of them have a price on so the easy way is to go with a load of small change so you are able to give the sellars the right price more or less and take a piece of paper with the numbers written in arabic but with the english equivalant along side so you can check what the price is.Doing it this way and you will soon get used to the arabic numbers and shopping will become quicker and not such a chore.Shopping for meat then you best stick to Abu Ashara or Metro until you become more fluent in Arabic,at least you can see what you are buying unlike going to a butcher on the street where they just hack a lump of and will try and sell it to you complete with all the fat unless you can argue with them!!! Don't give up it will soon come to you being able to speak enough Arabic to be able to shop.


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## Peggy Chapman (Nov 9, 2008)

I wouldn't ask any Egyptian unless they were very westernised or understood your 'quality' ideals to get your fruit/veg shopping from a market particularly - what they will accept is not always the standard we expect!
AS you'll know from my message I teach - in Al Rehab, New Cairo at present but want to just be in Hurghada where our home is and tutor privately. So if you have any children and want quality tutoring - full or part-time/hourly etc let me know.
Hope you enjoy your time here - this is my home now, will only be visiting UK for hols.


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## GM1 (Sep 30, 2008)

in the souq in Hurghada you can find most products with prices, you just have to learn the Arabic numbers (only 10!)
In Egypt when a 2 is *hand*written it looks like a c, and a 3 will be written as a printed 2. (little bit confusing, but you will get used to it).


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