My friend Allison has a lovely blog http://rassudrsinai.blogspot.com/ She has recently gone through the process of getting her Egyptian papers in order and has blogged about it.
I'm linking to the processes here:
Acquiring Egyptian citizenship for an expat spouse of an Egyptian.
Acquiring Egyptian ID & Passport (after acquiring citizenship)
Acquiring Egyptian ID with surname changed to husbands
Acquiring Egyptian Birth Certificate for foreign nationals
Acquring copy of Criminal Record -Feesh wa Tashbee
Hope this can help
Showing posts with label Interesting Link. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Interesting Link. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
El Koshary Today
Egypt's answer to The Onion.
Its in English, so its great fun for people who want to enjoy the Egyptians sense of humor, but don't follow Arabic.
Take a look at El Koshary Today Egypt's Most Reliable News Source. LOL
Its in English, so its great fun for people who want to enjoy the Egyptians sense of humor, but don't follow Arabic.
Take a look at El Koshary Today Egypt's Most Reliable News Source. LOL
Monday, June 15, 2009
A Belly Dancer's Blog
I was chuffed to see "BellyLorna" as one the Followers of My Blog.
I visited her blog and found it very interesting. We always see the performance side of a dancer and don't really have an insight into the dancers point of view. Lorna's blog http://bellylorna.blogspot.com/ gives the reader that insight. She is a Scottish lady who now performs in Cairo.
I enjoyed reading her blog posts and then found a link to a video of her performance:
I realised I have watched her perform on the Nile Pharoahs Boat at least 4 times. And I always recommend our house guests to do their Dinner Cruise with Nile Pharoahs, because she is the best Belly Dancer on the boats as of now and the Boat also serves Indian Food if you book in advance.
So yes, I am a fan of Lorna's dancing and her blog. I'd recommend the blog, it makes really interesting reading.
Here's another older video
I visited her blog and found it very interesting. We always see the performance side of a dancer and don't really have an insight into the dancers point of view. Lorna's blog http://bellylorna.blogspot.com/ gives the reader that insight. She is a Scottish lady who now performs in Cairo.
I enjoyed reading her blog posts and then found a link to a video of her performance:
I realised I have watched her perform on the Nile Pharoahs Boat at least 4 times. And I always recommend our house guests to do their Dinner Cruise with Nile Pharoahs, because she is the best Belly Dancer on the boats as of now and the Boat also serves Indian Food if you book in advance.
So yes, I am a fan of Lorna's dancing and her blog. I'd recommend the blog, it makes really interesting reading.
Here's another older video
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Egyptian marriage fatwa causes stir
As you can see, I have a little time to catch up on some newspaper reading for about 24 hours and I am sharing the most interesting of the lot.
From The National Newspaper:
Dar al Iftaa, an authoritative Islamic research institute in Cairo headed by Egypt’s grand mufti, just passed a fatwa condoning a controversial form of marriage called “Misyar”, in which a bride forgoes typical premarital financial commitments from her would-be husband.
There are two sides to this argument. One being that this is a way to legalise prostitution, the other saying that this will allow some of the poorer sections of society who cannot afford the shabka and other financial requirements thrust upon them during a wedding (not living expenses) to still get married (. . . and maybe reduce some of the sexual frustration, which sometimes manifests on the roads)
Read the entire article here:
A friend also forwarded an interesting link that relates to this fatwa.
Misyaar Marriage in Saudi Arabia – What is it and Who would Want It?
From The National Newspaper:
Dar al Iftaa, an authoritative Islamic research institute in Cairo headed by Egypt’s grand mufti, just passed a fatwa condoning a controversial form of marriage called “Misyar”, in which a bride forgoes typical premarital financial commitments from her would-be husband.
There are two sides to this argument. One being that this is a way to legalise prostitution, the other saying that this will allow some of the poorer sections of society who cannot afford the shabka and other financial requirements thrust upon them during a wedding (not living expenses) to still get married (. . . and maybe reduce some of the sexual frustration, which sometimes manifests on the roads)
Read the entire article here:
A friend also forwarded an interesting link that relates to this fatwa.
Misyaar Marriage in Saudi Arabia – What is it and Who would Want It?
Egyptian court 'bans porn sites'
From The BBC
How they are going to implement it. . . . . . . . . . . . . is something I would love to see.
How they are going to implement it. . . . . . . . . . . . . is something I would love to see.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Baladi Bars / Downtown Dives in Cairo
Melanie pointed me to this quirky yet informational site for watering holes in the downtown area.
Innovatively designed, it takes a little while to get used to its non-traditional browsing method, but it contains a wealth of information. Use the menu window at the bottom right corner for slightly easier browsing.
http://www.baladibar.com/main_broadband.html
Check it out, if you want to grab a stella, in a local downtown setting.
Innovatively designed, it takes a little while to get used to its non-traditional browsing method, but it contains a wealth of information. Use the menu window at the bottom right corner for slightly easier browsing.
http://www.baladibar.com/main_broadband.html
Check it out, if you want to grab a stella, in a local downtown setting.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Cairo Opera House Schedule
Its been almost impossible to buy the annual opera house schedule this year. This schedule costs about 50-100LE and is a boon when you are trying to plan your evenings and book tickets in advance.
The ticket booking desk does not carry a schedule. They will redirect you to the information desk. the information desk only has the monthly schedule. Some person in the office of the Cairo Opera house is the sole person who is allowed to sell this schedule and HE IS NEVER AROUND!.
I have tried almost every hour between 9am to 7pm to meet him and he is never around. After 7pm, the guards at the inner gate of the Opera House, will not let you pass unless you are completely dressed up for the opera!
The past 2 years, we picked up our schedule when attending a performance early in the year. With our hectic travel schedule this year, we have not been able to attend an evening performance yet.
If you go before 7pm, the security guard inside the office will tell you to wait for this person (Mr Sameh?) to arrive. He also will not let you use a washroom on the premises while you wait.
Its just so bloody inconvenient! Why can't they just have some copies for sale at the information desk or at the ticket desk? Its not like it is some super secret information!
The only good thing this year, is that they FINALLY have a website with information in English, Arabic & French, which I discovered after protesting at the shoddy treatment and run-around that we were being given AGAIN last evening. All these years, it was only available in Arabic. The website is pretty decent.
Check out http://cairoopera.org/
The ticket booking desk does not carry a schedule. They will redirect you to the information desk. the information desk only has the monthly schedule. Some person in the office of the Cairo Opera house is the sole person who is allowed to sell this schedule and HE IS NEVER AROUND!.
I have tried almost every hour between 9am to 7pm to meet him and he is never around. After 7pm, the guards at the inner gate of the Opera House, will not let you pass unless you are completely dressed up for the opera!
The past 2 years, we picked up our schedule when attending a performance early in the year. With our hectic travel schedule this year, we have not been able to attend an evening performance yet.
If you go before 7pm, the security guard inside the office will tell you to wait for this person (Mr Sameh?) to arrive. He also will not let you use a washroom on the premises while you wait.
Its just so bloody inconvenient! Why can't they just have some copies for sale at the information desk or at the ticket desk? Its not like it is some super secret information!
The only good thing this year, is that they FINALLY have a website with information in English, Arabic & French, which I discovered after protesting at the shoddy treatment and run-around that we were being given AGAIN last evening. All these years, it was only available in Arabic. The website is pretty decent.
Check out http://cairoopera.org/
Thursday, November 13, 2008
What to look out for when renting in Cairo
EgyptianSanks: Renting in Cairo
Sankalita, a friend of mine has an awesome blog too.
This particular post of hers talks about what the prospective renter needs to consider before signing the lease in Cairo.
Its quite a comprehensive list and highly recommended reading for those coming in to Cairo and who need to rent a place.
Sankalita, a friend of mine has an awesome blog too.
This particular post of hers talks about what the prospective renter needs to consider before signing the lease in Cairo.
Its quite a comprehensive list and highly recommended reading for those coming in to Cairo and who need to rent a place.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Quirky News from Egypt
Today was a day for strange news out of Egypt.
1. The Daily Star reported that a fatwa had been passed by Al Azhar which allowed women to hit their husbands.
2. The BBC reported that a primary school teacher in Alexandria beat a 11 year old pupil to death. - Did he misunderstand the news in point no 1?
3. Also from the BBC Egyptian police arrested a "wife swap" (also known as swingers) couple.
I'm still shaking my head in disbelief......
1. The Daily Star reported that a fatwa had been passed by Al Azhar which allowed women to hit their husbands.
2. The BBC reported that a primary school teacher in Alexandria beat a 11 year old pupil to death. - Did he misunderstand the news in point no 1?
3. Also from the BBC Egyptian police arrested a "wife swap" (also known as swingers) couple.
I'm still shaking my head in disbelief......
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
What's on in Cairo - Staying Informed
My Editor at the Oasis (CSA's monthly magazine) asked me to write this article as I run whazzupcairo@yahoogroups.com and whazzupcairo@googlegroups.com, 2 groups that inform its subscribers of events in Cairo well in advance, so you may book your tickets when they are still available.
The scan of the published article is here - on my blog of my published articles.
The article would be of interest to the readers of this blog & I post it here.
Having moved to Egypt and settled into Daily Life, you would now like to explore the Cultural Scene in Cairo. But how do you know ‘What’ is taking place in town and ‘Where’?
Some English newspapers like Daily Star Egypt or Al Ahram Weekly give you a daily listing of events, but often by the time the paper arrives, it is too late to buy tickets to an event.
Your other option is the monthly magazines: Egypt Today, Community Times and the Croc. These magazines are a little more comprehensive than the daily newspaper and give you a little advance warning. You can subscribe to these magazines and newspapers by calling their offices or online.
A better option is to figure out which places you like to attend programs at and sign yourself up for their mailing list. Places like Makaan, el Genaina Theatre, Villa Grey, Institute Cervantes, Aliiance Francais, Diwan bookstore and others.
Places like the el Sawy Cultural Center bring out a monthly program in the last week of the preceding month in English, Arabic and French. You may need to visit their location to pick up the schedule.
The Opera House brings out its annual program at the beginning of the New Year in September. Since most acts are international, the programs are planned well in advance. You can buy the annual schedule at the Opera House in the evenings before a program starts. (It is not normally available at the Ticket Office)
www.yallabina.com does post movie listings and concert schedules, but they seem to have moved onto a more Middle East regional perspective, publicizing events in Dubai more than those in Cairo. Plus their information isn’t always 100% accurate as I found out the hard way, when trying to book tickets for the Disney Ice show which led me on a wild goose chase across Link Dot net offices. Friends have reported that the movie timings mentioned are mixed up pretty often. So the best way to use this site is, as a very general guideline and then call the location and verify details.
If you use Facebook, there are a number of online groups like Cairo Gigs and local bands whose groups you can join and then you will get a mail when they have a new concert planned in the city.
If you listen to 104.2 NileFM, you will get to hear of the major concerts and events happening in Cairo.
Expat Women’s clubs and The American Research Center in Egypt, have their own mailing lists and you automatically get sent mailers, once you are a paid up member.
Some special smaller scale events like the American Independence Day Party, the Green and Gold gala etc are advertised in the Oasis, so make sure you pick up your copy every month.
The www.livinginegypt.org site has an online calendar for CSA specific events with a feature that lets you automatically save an event in your Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express calendar.
A simple alternative to signing up for multiple lists is to subscribe to whazzupcairo on googlegroups or yahoogroups. It is a completely free service where you receive notifications on events occurring across the city straight into your mailbox. You can save the events you are interested in, in your online calendar. Signing up is simple. Just send a blank mail to whazzupcairo-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or whazzupcairo-subscribe@googlegroups.com and when you receive a mail to confirm that you requested the service, mail back with your approval. All you need is an email id.
If you find that the service brings too many emails into your inbox, you can switch to the digest version (25 emails together or one for all the emails in a day, whichever comes first) or no mail version, where you can continue to view the posts on the web.
If you check on even a few of these options, I am sure you will find a lot of events to fill up your time, especially your evenings and weekends.
Helpful Websites and Blogs:
http://egypttoday.com/
http://whazzupegypt.blogspot.com/
http://www.livinginegypt.org
http://www.ct-egypt.com/
http://lulusbay.blogspot.com/
http://www.culturewheel.com
http://www.thetownhousegallery.com/
http://dailystaregypt.com/
http://www.yallabina.com/
http://www.saharasafaris.org/
http://www.cairochronicles.com/jack
http://www.fugatesincairo.blogspot.com
http://miloflamingo.blogspot.com
http://oldbagofcairo.blogspot.com
http://egypt4.wordpress.com
http://www.living-in-egypt-manisha.blogspot.com
Karishma Pais (Kim) is an expat trailing wife in Cairo. She has a Masters Degree in Human Resources and Behavior. She consults on HR projects, delivers intercultural training at the CSA, counsels new and experienced expats, writes for several magazines – online and offline, she runs whazzupcairo@yahoogroups.com and whazzupcairo@googlegroups.com among other activities.
Her Social Commentary and blog about life in Egypt can be read at http://whazzupegypt.blogspot.com
The scan of the published article is here - on my blog of my published articles.
The article would be of interest to the readers of this blog & I post it here.
Stay Informed
Having moved to Egypt and settled into Daily Life, you would now like to explore the Cultural Scene in Cairo. But how do you know ‘What’ is taking place in town and ‘Where’?
Some English newspapers like Daily Star Egypt or Al Ahram Weekly give you a daily listing of events, but often by the time the paper arrives, it is too late to buy tickets to an event.
Your other option is the monthly magazines: Egypt Today, Community Times and the Croc. These magazines are a little more comprehensive than the daily newspaper and give you a little advance warning. You can subscribe to these magazines and newspapers by calling their offices or online.
A better option is to figure out which places you like to attend programs at and sign yourself up for their mailing list. Places like Makaan, el Genaina Theatre, Villa Grey, Institute Cervantes, Aliiance Francais, Diwan bookstore and others.
Places like the el Sawy Cultural Center bring out a monthly program in the last week of the preceding month in English, Arabic and French. You may need to visit their location to pick up the schedule.
The Opera House brings out its annual program at the beginning of the New Year in September. Since most acts are international, the programs are planned well in advance. You can buy the annual schedule at the Opera House in the evenings before a program starts. (It is not normally available at the Ticket Office)
www.yallabina.com does post movie listings and concert schedules, but they seem to have moved onto a more Middle East regional perspective, publicizing events in Dubai more than those in Cairo. Plus their information isn’t always 100% accurate as I found out the hard way, when trying to book tickets for the Disney Ice show which led me on a wild goose chase across Link Dot net offices. Friends have reported that the movie timings mentioned are mixed up pretty often. So the best way to use this site is, as a very general guideline and then call the location and verify details.
If you use Facebook, there are a number of online groups like Cairo Gigs and local bands whose groups you can join and then you will get a mail when they have a new concert planned in the city.
If you listen to 104.2 NileFM, you will get to hear of the major concerts and events happening in Cairo.
Expat Women’s clubs and The American Research Center in Egypt, have their own mailing lists and you automatically get sent mailers, once you are a paid up member.
Some special smaller scale events like the American Independence Day Party, the Green and Gold gala etc are advertised in the Oasis, so make sure you pick up your copy every month.
The www.livinginegypt.org site has an online calendar for CSA specific events with a feature that lets you automatically save an event in your Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express calendar.
A simple alternative to signing up for multiple lists is to subscribe to whazzupcairo on googlegroups or yahoogroups. It is a completely free service where you receive notifications on events occurring across the city straight into your mailbox. You can save the events you are interested in, in your online calendar. Signing up is simple. Just send a blank mail to whazzupcairo-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or whazzupcairo-subscribe@googlegroups.com and when you receive a mail to confirm that you requested the service, mail back with your approval. All you need is an email id.
If you find that the service brings too many emails into your inbox, you can switch to the digest version (25 emails together or one for all the emails in a day, whichever comes first) or no mail version, where you can continue to view the posts on the web.
If you check on even a few of these options, I am sure you will find a lot of events to fill up your time, especially your evenings and weekends.
Helpful Websites and Blogs:
http://egypttoday.com/
http://whazzupegypt.blogspot.com/
http://www.livinginegypt.org
http://www.ct-egypt.com/
http://lulusbay.blogspot.com/
http://www.culturewheel.com
http://www.thetownhousegallery.com/
http://dailystaregypt.com/
http://www.yallabina.com/
http://www.saharasafaris.org/
http://www.cairochronicles.com/jack
http://www.fugatesincairo.blogspot.com
http://miloflamingo.blogspot.com
http://oldbagofcairo.blogspot.com
http://egypt4.wordpress.com
http://www.living-in-egypt-manisha.blogspot.com
Karishma Pais (Kim) is an expat trailing wife in Cairo. She has a Masters Degree in Human Resources and Behavior. She consults on HR projects, delivers intercultural training at the CSA, counsels new and experienced expats, writes for several magazines – online and offline, she runs whazzupcairo@yahoogroups.com and whazzupcairo@googlegroups.com among other activities.
Her Social Commentary and blog about life in Egypt can be read at http://whazzupegypt.blogspot.com
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Flawed Jewel - The Jewel of Medina, a fictionalized version of the life of Lady Aisha
From Egypt Today
Join me in a harsh, exotic world of saffron and sword fights, of desert nomads living in camel’s-hair tents, of caravans laden with Persian carpets and frankincense, of flowing colorful robes and kohl-darkened eyes and perfumed arms filigreed with henna.” . . .
A very well written critique with valid debate points. Do read the original review here on Egypt Today
| October 2008 Flawed Jewel The Jewel of Medina, a fictionalized version of the life of Lady Aisha, has reopened the debate on portraying Islam’s sacred figures By Ethar El-Katatney |
A very well written critique with valid debate points. Do read the original review here on Egypt Today
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Ramadan around the world in Pictures
Mandy sent me this link from boston.com and it does have the most beautiful pictures of people around the world observing Ramadan.
Take a look, it will be worth it.
Take a look, it will be worth it.
The Hijablog - a blog on Hijab fashion
Just saw this blog sometime back. The latest post today has some outlandish fashions from an Iranian fashion show, but the previous posts showcase some innovative ways to wear the headscarf and some very wearable hijabi fashion.
Take a look:
http://thehijablog.wordpress.com/
Take a look:
http://thehijablog.wordpress.com/
Monday, June 02, 2008
Arab women push boundaries gently
From LA Times
Read the rest of the article at LA Times
Many have become opinion makers and talk openly about sex, politics and other topics.
BEIRUT -- The censors didn't quite know what to do with Lina Khoury's play about sex, rape, menopause and a visit to the gynecologist, but Islamic hard-liners were pretty specific: One wanted to stone the 32-year-old writer; others accused her of being an Israeli agent planting immoral ideas in the Arab world.Read the rest of the article at LA Times
Monday, May 19, 2008
Fustat Wadi el Gamal
1. hiring local bedouin experts
2. disposing sewage responsibly
3. selling camel dung to nearby farms and villages for eco friendly fertiliser.
4. they feed the camels corn and fuul from Cairo and pre-crack them so that they do not accidentally germinate and take root in the desert (not indigenous to the area)
5. they use simple camel drawn wagons for visitors who aren't comfortable sitting ON a camel.
The place is 850 kms away from Cairo, which means needing at least a 3 day holiday to even get a flavour of the place. 4-5 days would be better. Organising that leave is the problem :(
Read el Moro's article on the Fustat in Al Ahram, here. Its a bit outdated, but covers the basics.
For further details and pictures visit http://www.wadielgemal.com
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Shuttle to AUC's New Campus
Pursuant to my article on AUC's New Campus here is the link to AUC's shuttle service schedule to the new campus.
http://www1.aucegypt.edu/NCD/onthemove/schedule.htm
http://www1.aucegypt.edu/NCD/onthemove/schedule.htm
Monday, March 31, 2008
Egypt Railways Timetables + Abela Sleeping Train
There is an extremely accurate site run by the Egyptian Railways with timings and classes and fares information for the Egyptian rail, train & Metro System.
It also has maps :)
&. its available in ENGLISH too!
It also has maps :)
&. its available in ENGLISH too!
http://www.egyptrail.gov.eg/docs/index.html
Although this site does cover the sleeping trains (Cairo-Luxor-Aswan), those trains as I understand are run by a different company called Abela.
You can access that site directly at
http://www.sleepingtrains.com/
Advice on the Sleeping train : The one from Cairo is good. Very comfortable. The journey back to Cairo from either Luxor or Aswan is not the best. The train tends to jerk quite badly and you feel you are being thrown off your bunk. This is not just personal experience but from
the experience of over 20 friends.
Otherwise its a great experience. Expats/ tourists need a copy of their passports and 60$ in cash per journey to book tickets at Ramses station. The train takes off and arrives at Giza station - note this is very different and far away from Ramses station.
There are little coupes for 2 with bunk beds. A sink in your coupe. 4 common loos for the bogey. You get served dinner and breakfast on the train. While booking you can request a vegetarian meal too. There is a club car which serves alcohol and parties the whole night. How rocking it will be depends on the crowd on board the train with you.
Although this site does cover the sleeping trains (Cairo-Luxor-Aswan), those trains as I understand are run by a different company called Abela.
You can access that site directly at
http://www.sleepingtrains.com/
Advice on the Sleeping train : The one from Cairo is good. Very comfortable. The journey back to Cairo from either Luxor or Aswan is not the best. The train tends to jerk quite badly and you feel you are being thrown off your bunk. This is not just personal experience but from
the experience of over 20 friends.
Otherwise its a great experience. Expats/ tourists need a copy of their passports and 60$ in cash per journey to book tickets at Ramses station. The train takes off and arrives at Giza station - note this is very different and far away from Ramses station.
There are little coupes for 2 with bunk beds. A sink in your coupe. 4 common loos for the bogey. You get served dinner and breakfast on the train. While booking you can request a vegetarian meal too. There is a club car which serves alcohol and parties the whole night. How rocking it will be depends on the crowd on board the train with you.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Membership Registration for ICAE
The ICAE is the Indian Community Association in Egypt.
Dear Community Members:
Thank you to members who have already registered on our web site. Please make sure that you go back after registration and update your family and personal details by clicking "Membership" link again. (ICAE web site address: http://dev.me.com.eg/icae)
For community members who have not registered, kindly do so before October 5, 2007 as we would like to print the directory and be available prior to Dussera function. Existing community members also need to re-register on the site and input their personal details.
Thank you very much for your cooperation,
Best regards,
ICAE Committee
Friday, August 31, 2007
Shout out to Indians in Egypt
Hi,
I've been receiving tons of requests for help and information about life & living in Egypt. There are a lot of groups around that can help you with that, but there wasn't a particular group focussing on Indians & their special (read spicy) needs.
I've created a group called desisinEgypt on yahoogroups. To sign up please send a blank mail to desisinEgypt-subscribe[at]yahoogroups[dot]com. You can subscribe even if you aren't Indian, but do be warned that the discussions will have a strong Indian slant.
Membership is moderated on that group because of the nature of the group and subscribers have to fill up a small questionnaire before their membership is approved.
You are allowed to ask all kinds of questions and feel free to reply to peoples questions. We will keep the discussions civil & polite.
I've been receiving tons of requests for help and information about life & living in Egypt. There are a lot of groups around that can help you with that, but there wasn't a particular group focussing on Indians & their special (read spicy) needs.
I've created a group called desisinEgypt on yahoogroups. To sign up please send a blank mail to desisinEgypt-subscribe[at]yahoogroups[dot]com. You can subscribe even if you aren't Indian, but do be warned that the discussions will have a strong Indian slant.
Membership is moderated on that group because of the nature of the group and subscribers have to fill up a small questionnaire before their membership is approved.
You are allowed to ask all kinds of questions and feel free to reply to peoples questions. We will keep the discussions civil & polite.
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