General Chat

Goodmorning all,

Well I should be doing the chores :-( but seem to have sat down with a coffee to drop a line or two here before I make a start on the dreaded HW....as .someone mentioned earlier on this thread - no matter where you are in the world, there's still the same old chores to do.

Hubby and I are expats, but in a slightly different way to most of you. We live overseas, but haven't left the UK lock, stock and barrel. We keep a house in the UK and I travel back there several times per year, hubby gets home once or twice per year. We live overseas because hubby's job, in International hotels, takes us there. He works on contracts of 2 or 3 years, so we move frequently, and usually to another country rather than a new town. This has it's pro's and con's.

It's a lifestyle which suits us, though we have to take the rough with the smooth - ie we've lived in some great places with fabulous accommodation and we've lived in some strange, not so nice places too.
Our accommodation comes with hubby's job. We are either given a Company owned place (which could be 'on site' at the hotel, or in town/out of town) or we might be allocated an allowance where we have to go and find our own! Both have their pro's and con's.
Here in Cairo we live in an apartment in a quiet suburb, close to a park and an international supermarket (very important), and fairly close to hubby's work. We have been here 2 years and hubby's just renewed his contract.

As for living in Cairo, well it's an eye-opener, that's for sure. Rules are SO made to be broken, especially traffic laws, as in red lights, stop signs, traffic police, parking bays, no parking areas, in fact No anything, they are an extremely impatient race and really don't like waiting for anything, when it's for themselves. Egypt is the one country we've lived in where we haven't bought a car and don't drive - apart from Saudi where I wasn't allowed to drive :-( . But in Egypt, especially Cairo, the driving and the traffic is undeniably terrible, so we take taxis and let them have the hassle and the constant scrapes and bumps. And the taxis are dirt cheap, so no big deal. And in case you are wondering about buses...just don't go there!

Cairo itself - well the people are real characters, every one of them, especially the old guys on the street stalls, and I could spend all day people watching.
The pollution is horrendous, the traffic is horrendous, the noise level is high as is dust and dirt level....I could spend all day dusting the house and still have to go around again! A lot of that is due to the poor standard of building, ie many gaps where window frames don't fit properly, that kind of thing.

Sounds awful, doesn't it, but there are good points too.....if I go down to the spice souq and wander through the narrow pedestrian alleys where the overhanging awnings keep it cool, I am in another world - beautiful colours of the spices, their aromas wafting in the air mixed with burning frankincense, the traders shouting out their prices etc, well that's quite a different type of Cairo, and one which takes you out of the modern world completely. That's the Cairo I like.

I noticed a question about politics and do we get involved.......have to admit that whilst I am interested in the politics of the region, it's from a purely selfish point of view, ie how safe am I , and is anything about to kick off! I certainly don't get involved, the rule of thumb here, and for any foreigner in the Middle East, is to be sensible and keep a low profile.
So ,you won't see me on the BBC news waving to you from my tent in the middle of Tahrir Square!!!

Oh and as for the locals seeming to shout at each other when they're just talking - ye Gods, you should hear this lot!!!

Have I really waffled on for this long???
Catch you later...........

K x

Nicety hear from you Gina,

My father was offered an excellent job in SA when I was about ten years old, sadly my mother persuaded him not to go.
Will be back tomorrow, as on my way to bed!

Bridget
00.20 hrs Spain

I was brought out to South Africa aged 14. My mum's family had settled there some years before. They were Army People.
Married an Irishman and came to live in Ireland.
What I miss about Manchester - Eccles Cakes and Custard Tarts
-do- South Africa - Sunshine, their quisine
Politicians - same anywhere - they talk alot - deliver very little
Bacon and Cabbage - local irish dish , yummy
Health Service - good.
Home is here now - four children and eight grandchildren

Rita,

I am to tired to comply to your request but promise to do so tomorrow. I will tell how we took the decision, what we did before we left the UK and how we found our home, etc.
I will also mention the other places we thought about but dismissed as we discussed and visited.

Good night everyone

Bridget
22.15 hrs Spain

I saw the news about that subject about parents and their children. what is the world coming too when these people tell you how to bring up your children and give you instruction about the times you should speak to them, play with them etc.. I know in Italy children are part of the family and dont need to be told how to bring their children up.

so I am waiting now to see who comes on the thread and tells us about their new country.

Rita

Bridget I got you PM I answered it and sent it to draft instead of to you and I dont know how to retreive it now. sorry about that.
Yes the tittle is much better it opens it up more and will be interesting to see how people have coped in emigrating to another country

Rita

AnninGlos

You have once more helped, thank you!
Having been asked to start the original thread we thought it would only be of interest to those in Spain or mainland Europe. However we have been asked to rename the thread and guess who helped me...yes once more Ann came to the rescue.

I am shocked as I write this, on UK news children are telling their parents how their parents could talk to them and keep their attention!!!

I never had a problem talking to mine. The fact that families in Spain generally go out together, Grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles plus the children appeals to me.
what do you all think?

Bridget

19.18 hrs Spain :-)

Bridget to change the title go to your fist post and click on edit. You can then edit both post and title.

Strange, re saying thank you. We have found that Tenerifians are extremely polite on the whole and always say thank you but mainland Spaniards visiting tenerife are not so polite. Tenerifians when in family groups are as loud as those from mainland Spain. Spanish children seem to us to be both loud and undisciplined. (when in Tenerife).

Cypriot people don't say thank you.

Well Wisechild, if a wise person as you obviously are you must know more than me! On a serious note I have only one idea, do they use fold down beds settes, and is that what is making the noise,?

Oh just read your thread again and you said "all their furniture". Muon no idea. We are fortunate enough to have our own detached house on two floors and an elderly German Lady,who is very pleasant lives in her large detached house and on the other side is the largest house I have seen in Spain and it is only used a few weeks of the year and not every year.

Have you chatted to them about it or invited them to your place when the noise is happening. ?

Bridget

17.05 hrs Spain.

Bridget.
On the subject of noisy Spaniards, have you any idea what motivates them to drag every stick of furniture across the tiled floor above your head starting at 11 pm every night?
It´s been puzzling me ever since I moved here.

I am so delighted that people are begining to post on here.
Our first intention was to see what expectations people had when deciding to leave the UK and live in Spain. However after i had written the first entry i di think it should have a world wide option as i am sure that anyone leaving to move away on a permanent or long time stay will have had many experiencies.
So Karen, you are very welcome to be in our thread and I certainly look forward to hearing how you cope with moving around the world so frequently.

Does anyone know how to change the heading? I could the expand the name of the thread.

We went shopping this morning and bought more food than we first intended. OH just cannot pass by three for two offers etc, I think it is a hangover from all (6) children were living at home along with two sets of parents. I have only seen this happen in Spain and sometimes in Ireland.

My health is very good except when I had a breakdown in the UK last year when I was working. Coming back to the Spain was the best thing I have done in a long time, and so many Spanish people commented how pleased they were to see me back, yet we do not know them as friends we saw them as aquatints.

There are downsides. The dust gets everywhere no matter how much cleaning takes place. The Spanish generally speak very loudly and when there is a group of them it is SO NOISY.
They rarely say Thank You,they cannot understand why we feel that we should thank someone because they have done something that they wanted to do.
The Spanish do also tend to get to the front of a queue faster than I have seen anywhere else.

Well wherever you are there is something to do, so I must go and bring the washing in and put away anything that does not need ironing.

See, some things never change wherever you live.

Bye for now

Bridget

16.29 hrs Spain
:-D :-D

Wonderful, better than a hotel.

Luxury here Ann
I was given a choice of about 6 alternatives & the nurse apologised because they only had de caff coffee. It was all brought to me on a covered tray with proper metal cutlery & china cup & saucer. None of your plastic beakers out of a machine.
I was astounded.

And when I had an overnight stay in hospital for an op a couple of years ago breakfast was a slice of toast. This may have been because I was kept overnight (As were several others) on the day ward.

Hi Rita.
As members of the EU anyone over retirement age in Spain is entitled to exactly the same concessions as Spanish pensioners as far as health care is concerned. We have to pay for opticians & anything above the basic level of care, but we also get cheap travel & subsidised holidays. Haven´t tried the hols yet, but have lots of friends who have & they appear to be excellent value for money, although naturally you can only take them outside the main tourist season. It helps to keep the hotels open during the off season & keeps people in work, so it has double advantages.
So far I have been incredibly impressed with the health care provision here & several times when I have enquired about paying for things, have been assured there is no need.
I was amazed a couple of weeks ago when I had to go as a day patient for a minor procedure & when I came round from the anaesthetic, the nurse came & asked me what I would like for breakfast while I was waiting for the doctor to come & bring me the test results. (Which I would almost certainly have had to wait at least a couple of weeks for in England)
So far, can´t fault the system here, although I know it´s expensive pre retirement unless you have paid into the system.

I am pleased you explained that to me I thought you meant it was dearer there than here. so you get benifits when you pensionable age then ? what type do you get. and do you get the same in Cario too K.
isnt this interesting.

Rita

Hi Karen.
Feel free to join in. It´s always good to hear other peoples experiences & I don´t think the thread is intended just for Brits in Spain. Perhaps it would be better to change the title.

Eringobragh.
The people of Catalonia are fiercely defending their right to speak their native language, even though the official language of Spain is Castilian. The problem dates back to the civil war when Franco banned all things Catalan.
While I am all in favour of keeping the language & traditions alive, most people agree that things are being taken too far. For example, you can´t take a job with any of the local authorities unless you can speak Catalan & the tourist trade is suffering because not only foreigners, but Spaniards from other parts of Spain can´t understand a word.
As you can imagine, it causes endless problems.

Rita.
Yes I know NHS dentistry in England is expensive. I was just saying that private dentistry here costs about the same as NHS dentistry in England.
It is possible to get dental insurance here too & once you are over pension age, certain treatments are free.

Marion

Karen, do tell us about life in Cairo. I really can't imagine what it is like.

I think if I could go back 20 years and decided to move I would move to the North of Tenerife. For me it has a pleasant climate and the people are lovely. It is not as touristy as the South. It still has the beurocracy though, many forms to be filled in for everything. But their health service seems to be excellent too.

Re Fireworks Bridget, when we were in Tenerife in April there were not nearly so many firworks as the towns were stopping them to save money because of the recession.

Yoo hoo....from someone who isn't living in Spain, but in Egypt. Hubby and I have lived in various parts of the Middle East (we move with his job every couple of years) and we are currently in Cairo.

I just wanted to say I am really enjoying this thread, it's great to see others' views on life as an expat.

K x