Wow! I almost forgot about this blog. I read over some of my old posts, and feel so grateful for having written this blog! What a beautiful and honest account of my time here.
It's really interesting to read the old posts about how happy I was, and how much I was enjoying living in Cairo. I actually loved it here at some point. I had met some interesting people, made some close friends, and everything was new and exciting. I fell in love here!
I chose to come and live in Cairo. On July 28, 2012, I sent in my resignation letter at my last job in NYC. I packed everything up, and 2 weeks later, on August 12, 2012, I arrived in Cairo. And it was so cool to have had the guts to do that- just up and leave. Cairo was so new, having just emerged from a revolution, and with my cousins all grown up, it was the first time I was experiencing it as an adult with them.
Now looking back, so much has changed over those 2 years. I stayed, I got a job- literally the most stressful job I've ever had- ever, I got engaged, and then I got married! And now we are going through yet even more changes, moving out of Zamalek, going back to Agouza, and hopefully returning to NYC soon. Because sadly, I can't wait to get the heck out of Cairo!
Which is why I find it so interesting to re-read old posts about how much I loved this city. What went wrong? When did the switch happen? When did I start to feel like one foot was already on a plane back to NYC?
It's the job.
I wanted the job badly. Once I made the decision to stay long term, I knew that I had to work again... I mean, the vacation was technically over if I was staying put-- I couldn't keep living off of savings. And I always did want to work in Interior Design, technically it is very different from Construction, so I wasn't exactly going back to my old job. But I had all these ideas that working in Egypt would be easy. Cairo is no NYC, so anything compared to NYC would be easy, right? I mean, let's face it, Egypt is no leader in anything in the world. It's not like Cairo is known for hard work, productivity, or wealth. People don't flock to Cairo to come build a career. Plus, I always heard about short work days, having half days in Ramadan, lots of days off, and flexibility when it came to taking vacations. So when I took the job, I knew I wasn't going to get paid a lot, but I was expecting that I wasn't going to have to work very hard either.
Boy was I wrong.
I don't want to rant and complain like a spoiled brat about how much my job sucked, but let's just say that it literally sucked all the joie de vivre and excitement out of me. For the stress and the hard work, I kept saying that I might as well go back to NYC, live in a nicer city, and make a respectable income, and i STILL wouldn't be working as hard. I really think that I betrayed Cairo by learning to hate it, because of the job.
One of my closest friends in Cairo just left the company, and she tells me that leaving is like lifting a huge weight off her shoulders. She says I'll start to enjoy Cairo again, and feel happy to be here. So I'm really looking forward to that. I don't know when we'll be going back to NYC, but at least not working at my job will allow me to love Cairo again, and enjoy it for the last few weeks/months that we're here.
Wow, 2 years. I met my soul sister, aka sister wife, here in Cairo, and we still email each other every week since she went back to DC. I used to have so much fun exploring this country... with her, with my hubby... Now I go home so tired and stressed out from work that I need to just stay home and unwind. Such a shame. I really hope that I get to snap out of it and learn to love Cairo again, even for just a short while, before leaving.
Let that be a lesson that I should have stayed true to myself and what my year off was supposed to be about.
It's really interesting to read the old posts about how happy I was, and how much I was enjoying living in Cairo. I actually loved it here at some point. I had met some interesting people, made some close friends, and everything was new and exciting. I fell in love here!
I chose to come and live in Cairo. On July 28, 2012, I sent in my resignation letter at my last job in NYC. I packed everything up, and 2 weeks later, on August 12, 2012, I arrived in Cairo. And it was so cool to have had the guts to do that- just up and leave. Cairo was so new, having just emerged from a revolution, and with my cousins all grown up, it was the first time I was experiencing it as an adult with them.
Now looking back, so much has changed over those 2 years. I stayed, I got a job- literally the most stressful job I've ever had- ever, I got engaged, and then I got married! And now we are going through yet even more changes, moving out of Zamalek, going back to Agouza, and hopefully returning to NYC soon. Because sadly, I can't wait to get the heck out of Cairo!
Which is why I find it so interesting to re-read old posts about how much I loved this city. What went wrong? When did the switch happen? When did I start to feel like one foot was already on a plane back to NYC?
It's the job.
I wanted the job badly. Once I made the decision to stay long term, I knew that I had to work again... I mean, the vacation was technically over if I was staying put-- I couldn't keep living off of savings. And I always did want to work in Interior Design, technically it is very different from Construction, so I wasn't exactly going back to my old job. But I had all these ideas that working in Egypt would be easy. Cairo is no NYC, so anything compared to NYC would be easy, right? I mean, let's face it, Egypt is no leader in anything in the world. It's not like Cairo is known for hard work, productivity, or wealth. People don't flock to Cairo to come build a career. Plus, I always heard about short work days, having half days in Ramadan, lots of days off, and flexibility when it came to taking vacations. So when I took the job, I knew I wasn't going to get paid a lot, but I was expecting that I wasn't going to have to work very hard either.
Boy was I wrong.
I don't want to rant and complain like a spoiled brat about how much my job sucked, but let's just say that it literally sucked all the joie de vivre and excitement out of me. For the stress and the hard work, I kept saying that I might as well go back to NYC, live in a nicer city, and make a respectable income, and i STILL wouldn't be working as hard. I really think that I betrayed Cairo by learning to hate it, because of the job.
One of my closest friends in Cairo just left the company, and she tells me that leaving is like lifting a huge weight off her shoulders. She says I'll start to enjoy Cairo again, and feel happy to be here. So I'm really looking forward to that. I don't know when we'll be going back to NYC, but at least not working at my job will allow me to love Cairo again, and enjoy it for the last few weeks/months that we're here.
Wow, 2 years. I met my soul sister, aka sister wife, here in Cairo, and we still email each other every week since she went back to DC. I used to have so much fun exploring this country... with her, with my hubby... Now I go home so tired and stressed out from work that I need to just stay home and unwind. Such a shame. I really hope that I get to snap out of it and learn to love Cairo again, even for just a short while, before leaving.
Let that be a lesson that I should have stayed true to myself and what my year off was supposed to be about.
hang in there, sw!!! so proud of you and all you've accomplished / survived and your attitude. you're a star and love / miss you tons! come HOME. i mean motherland...err, fatherland... no, wait, that's egypt... ok, motherland (but not france). hahaha, you know what i mean ;) xx
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the two years (bar one day). I've been in Egypt since January 2013, and in Cairo since July 2013, I still love being here, but I totally understand how working here can suck the soul out of you. I hope that you can fall in love again with this beautiful city and country! Please do share the next part of the marriage process! I will have to go through the government things myself soon, too. So far I have only had an islamic wedding without papers.
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