# Offered a teaching job in Cairo



## gsw

Hello expats!

I was recently offered a teaching job at an international school in Cairo to begin this August, and I have spent some time looking through the board to get a sense of the basic information about this kind of move. I'm from the US and will be bringing my wife. I had a few questions, and I apologize in advance if these are super common questions.

-- I'm curious about the different parts of Cairo... I've heard a lot about Maadi on this board, and a little about Rehab. What are the other main areas of Cairo (or are there too many to name)? What are these different places like?

-- What, typically, is the rent like in these different areas. I get an allowance of 3000 LE, and seem to have read on this board that that isn't really enough to get a place. Is that true?

-- My wife is looking into securing some sort of job, perhaps teaching English, before leaving. Would it be a good idea to try to find employment before we go or is that something that's easier to do when there. 

-- We've never been to Egypt -- any tips for first timers? Anything that we could do to help prepare ourselves for the culture shock? 

Any advice that you guys could give would be extremely helpful. We're very excited and a little nervous about the prospect. 

Thanks so much.


----------



## txlstewart

gsw said:


> Hello expats!
> 
> I was recently offered a teaching job at an international school in Cairo to begin this August, and I have spent some time looking through the board to get a sense of the basic information about this kind of move. I'm from the US and will be bringing my wife. I had a few questions, and I apologize in advance if these are super common questions.
> 
> -- I'm curious about the different parts of Cairo... I've heard a lot about Maadi on this board, and a little about Rehab. What are the other main areas of Cairo (or are there too many to name)? What are these different places like?
> 
> -- What, typically, is the rent like in these different areas. I get an allowance of 3000 LE, and seem to have read on this board that that isn't really enough to get a place. Is that true?
> 
> -- My wife is looking into securing some sort of job, perhaps teaching English, before leaving. Would it be a good idea to try to find employment before we go or is that something that's easier to do when there.
> 
> -- We've never been to Egypt -- any tips for first timers? Anything that we could do to help prepare ourselves for the culture shock?
> 
> Any advice that you guys could give would be extremely helpful. We're very excited and a little nervous about the prospect.
> 
> Thanks so much.


Which school? Some hire spouses as full-time substitute teachers. I like Maadi because I can walk everywhere. If I need a cab, there is no shortage of them around. There will be culture shock, but that would happen anywhere. The political climate is "fluid" (to put it mildly). Find out what your school's evacuation plan is and if you will get severance pay if they cancel the school year for any reason. 

Best of luck!


----------



## SilverMagpie

*Coming to Cairo*

You're very brave cosidering Egypt as your first venture abroad, especially given the current political climate.
It's likely to be much more difficult for your wife than yourself as she will be stared at, commented on and have cars honking their horns at her everywhere she goes.
3000 LE isn't really enough for an apartment for a couple. 4000-4500 would be the minimum for somewhere decent in Rehab - somewhat more in Maadi.
Rehab is easily the safest place in Cairo and with the Salafis now deciding to attack the Coptic Christiams as well as the mainstream Muslims, staying out of the central areas (like Maadi) would probably be intelligent.
It's easy to pick up a job teaching English but the pay will be so poor it might not be worth getting out of bed for.
You need to understand that Egypt is still very third world and that most ordinary Egyptians live on about 1000-1500 LE a month. Having spent most of my life working abroad, I would say that the only country I found more difficult than Egypt was Cambodia - so best of luck.


----------



## gsw

txlstewart said:


> Which school? Some hire spouses as full-time substitute teachers. I like Maadi because I can walk everywhere. If I need a cab, there is no shortage of them around. There will be culture shock, but that would happen anywhere. The political climate is "fluid" (to put it mildly). Find out what your school's evacuation plan is and if you will get severance pay if they cancel the school year for any reason.
> 
> Best of luck!




Thanks for the response! The school is AIS Egypt. We're both very excited. I've been doing some research on Maadi and it sounds pretty interesting. Any particular advice, tips, etc about Maadi?


----------



## Lanason

I was at AIS last weekend for a football tournament. Good facilities at the school.
Its very easy from Rehab - if you live in Maadi - its easy but the ring road has to be negotiated.

Would you rather a hassle getting back and forward to work or when you go out.

Rehab is clean and gated - even if the Security are a bit lax sometimes. During the 25th Jan they were great and secured the compound. The security outside my villa will let me know if I forget to lock my car or leave the interior light on. Maadi is not s compound but a suburb.

Depends how your like your night-life??

be prepared for a big shock !!!


----------



## txlstewart

gsw said:


> Thanks for the response! The school is AIS Egypt. We're both very excited. I've been doing some research on Maadi and it sounds pretty interesting. Any particular advice, tips, etc about Maadi?


I teach there as well. For a well rounded social life, I recommend Maadi. I've visited Rehab (the compound, not a detox area--lol) and found it a bit generic and similar to gated communities in the States. If you have younger children, then Maadi has a lot of organized sports leagues. There are a lot of expats from many different countries there, which is really cool.

As for transportation, our school provides air conditioned Mercedes Benz buses for teachers. I take the early bus (a van, actually), and get to school in about 20 minutes. The trip home is usually 45 minutes unless there's an accident on the Ring Road. The late bus takes a bit longer, about an hour.

PM me if you need specific information. Welcome to the AIS family!


----------



## gsw

Thanks for all the info, everyone. 

What would you say are some of the bigger shocks? I've read the stories on here about how women are treated too -- any advice about that for my wife? 

I'm reading a lot of negative press on here about living in Egypt. I'm sure that it will be difficult in many ways and a HUGE adjustment, but what would you guys say are some of the positive aspects? Is it just completely a gamble right now?

Txlstewart, I will definitely PM you, but I think I need to post here a few more times before I get that privelege -- thanks for the offer!


----------



## EgyptianTraveller

Rehab is lovely - but sterile. You can certainly get flats for less than 3000LE in Maadi, but you'll need to choose between an ex pat area or a more Egyptian one.
I pay 2500LE per month for a huge 3 bedroom flat - I know a couple who pay 1500LE for a small 1 bedroom flat. Prices differ wildly - what you need is to come first, and arrange to be somewhere for 2 weeks while you house hunt. And don't ask estate agents online.... they'll just tell you dollar prices.
2 Stories for you.
1. A friend lives 3 mins walk from me, has a VERY nice apartment with great furniture - but pays $2000 per month. It is nice, but no 4 times nicer than mine. (He went to an estate agent)
2. A lady rang our doorbell last week looking to move to the apartment next to us - she told us we were overpaying because her current apartment is nicer than ours and she pays 2400. It was only a few days later that we realised in the whole conversation she was talking dollars and we were talking Egyptian pounds.

Conclusion - there are two worlds here in Egypt. Anyone who gives you a price in dollars or Euros is in one world. If you want to live comfortably but still have money for extras - get yourself in the Local Currency market!


----------



## canuck2010

I think apartment prices are determined by location more than anything. If you want to live in an expat area, you have to pay expat prices.

Political instability is a big issue now until the elections at the end of the year. Strikes, protests, violence and instability will be more frequent.


----------

