# American expat moving to Cairo



## iddriscoll (Nov 15, 2012)

Hi all:

I'm an American, currently living in Cuzco, Peru. I'm planning on moving to Cairo toward the end of January or the beginning of February in 2013. I've wanted to live in Egypt for many years, and now seems an appropriate time in my life. I'm a writer, and a student of history, particularly interested in ancient cultures and beliefs. I'm looking for an apartment or a room in Cairo, preferably not too expensive (writer=not wealthy), and located in a safe, convenient area. I've been combing various listings, but most of what I've found is geared toward expats and the prices are inflated. Also, I'm having a hard time determining the better areas. If I'm specifically interested in the history of Egypt, where should I be looking to live? Thanks very much for any help you all can provide!

Ian Driscoll


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

HI and welcome to the forum

Rents are inflated for expats.. but you coming here means you are one regardless of your occupation plus of course we have an influx of refugees from Syria that are pushing the rental demand up. 

Areas to chose will depend on what you want to be near if indeed you want to be near anything. 

My area of choice is Zamalek but it's expensive then it would be Maadi once again expensive but your best bet is to come and traverse the streets in a area that you like ask to see apartments and then haggle the price... there are still more apartments than tenants. 

Maiden


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## charleen (Apr 26, 2009)

SO you have decided to come end of jan.beginning of feb.? Do you know there is an anniversary of the revolution in there? Do you realize that most Egyptians are not happy with the nothing that Morsi has done? I think that could be the worst time to move here....but that is just me.


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## iddriscoll (Nov 15, 2012)

Thanks for the advice guys, and Charleen, I am aware of the anniversary. Do you think that there will be mass demonstrations that might prevent me from getting around easily? I know that the political situation is incredibly volatile right now, but I'm not sure it's going to improve any time soon. What do you think?

And as an additional question: I teach English online, and I need reliable internet. Is this fairly common, or is it somewhat hard to come by? Any info would be great. Thanks, again.


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## expatagogo (May 31, 2010)

iddriscoll said:


> Thanks for the advice guys, and Charleen, I am aware of the anniversary. Do you think that there will be mass demonstrations that might prevent me from getting around easily? I know that the political situation is incredibly volatile right now, but I'm not sure it's going to improve any time soon. What do you think?


I think I can speak for all of us (who frequent this board) when I say we really don't know what to predict for tomorrow, much less a few months from now. We have no way of knowing what will happen in January.



iddriscoll said:


> And as an additional question: I teach English online, and I need reliable internet. Is this fairly common, or is it somewhat hard to come by? Any info would be great. Thanks, again.


Reliable internet is certainly available.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

If you need to start work straight away then you must find an apartment with a telephone line already installed.. you would be surprised how many dont.. You internet connection will not be done over night ..the last time I signed up it took 3 weeks..


I certainly wouldn't be aiming to travel here during the anniversery of the revolution


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## expatagogo (May 31, 2010)

MaidenScotland said:


> If you need to start work straight away then you must find an apartment with a telephone line already installed.. you would be surprised how many dont.. You internet connection will not be done over night ..the last time I signed up it took 3 weeks..


Not necessarily.

It depends on how it's hooked up.

I just have the bawaab find the closest internet guy, pay for the "silk" (cable) by the meter, throw him a 20 LE note for his trouble, then give him another 30 LE each month to keep the connection going.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

expatagogo said:


> Not necessarily.
> 
> It depends on how it's hooked up.
> 
> I just have the bawaab find the closest internet guy, pay for the "silk" (cable) by the meter, throw him a 20 LE note for his trouble, then give him another 30 LE each month to keep the connection going.




is that not theft?


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## expatagogo (May 31, 2010)

MaidenScotland said:


> is that not theft?


No. 

Net cafes don't make their money selling internet by the hour. They make their money by selling internet service to the neighborhood, which is why the government increased the fees net cafes pay to internet providers.


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## MaidenScotland (Jun 6, 2009)

a dicey way to go... if you need internet for your work get your own service.. 
Internet cafe could be gone the next day.. there are certainly fewer of them now,


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## canuck2010 (Jan 13, 2010)

Many cafes in the nicer areas do have free internet. Similarly, it's quite common to rent an apartment with an ISDL already installed and active. The cheapest internet is around $15 a month. Another way is to get a USB 3G modem, which is cheap and easy to buy.

I'm not sure what specific area is better suited for someone interested in history, 
The safest area for an expat these days is Maadi, in the area between the AUC and Old Maadi. There are still many empty apartments in the $1000 per month range, however getting this price lower requires persistence and a lot of bargaining. 

History is everywhere in Egypt, so that is not hard to find. The more important thing these days is to be aware of personal safety and find somewhere to stay that has a semblance of security.


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## GM1 (Sep 30, 2008)

If you need internet you will have to find an apartment with a landline, you can apply for ADSL (but you need a copy of the last telephone bill and maybe a copy of the ID of the owner of the landline). During the waiting you can use USB sticks from the different providers. For ADSL you can check the websites of: TEData Vodafone Etisalat
For mobile internet you can check Vodafone, Etisalat and Mobinil


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## GM1 (Sep 30, 2008)

BTW: only TEData has really unlimited ADSL packages, none of the others, they have a quota/fair usage policy.


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## hyper_janice (Jan 13, 2012)

GM1 said:


> BTW: only TEData has really unlimited ADSL packages, none of the others, they have a quota/fair usage policy.


I have dealt with another ADSL provider and have found TE Data to be wonderful, especially considering the last provider had his service cut and still expected payment for down time. When we asked to discontinue our service (after a month and many sha alla's) they would not allow it even though they weren't providing. What a mess and when that is what you depend on to speak with your family it can be infuriating. Also there was a problem of constantly having to turn the modem on and off to get the service to work, which I don't have to do with the TE Data. We ended up bringing in another phone line to bring in TE Data. No problems for almost 2 years!


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