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Adding to Mahmoud's remarks to IsisReader comment on item: Advice to Non-Muslim Women against Marrying Muslim Men Submitted by Sue (United States), Feb 14, 2014 at 00:58 Over the past five years, I have seen the resort areas evolve. When I first went there as the only American tourist booked into an all inclusive hotel with a German group, things were going quite well for the locals catering to the tourist trade. However, after the ouster of Mubarak, the local resort economies (Sharm, Marsa, Hurg., etc.) began to ever so slightly see a shift. First it was with rolling electrical shut-offs, which affected lights, a/c and heat, showers, etc. All things that the larger hotels could accommodate with back up generators; however, the smaller ones could not. Then food products that came from the larger cities such as Cairo didn't come as regularly as before. Then the democratically elected Mursi was removed by the head of the army, General Sissi, and the Muslim Brotherhood rose up against this action demanding that their democratically elected leader (and most prominent proponent of their sociopolitical agenda) be restored to his position. However, the popular opinion was that Mursi was taking the country toward Shari'a law that would not hold for the majority. Clashes took place, and the world watched. Folks who had regularly vacationed in these locations (Russians, Germans, Italians, Swedes, Norwegians and others) decided that perhaps it was not prudent to vacation in this wonderful place right now, and that hurt the locals greater than the food and electrical shortages. Additionally, the governments of these previous tourists published on their embassy websites that Egypt posed dangers, and staying in a state of alertness if visiting was strongly advised. I have seen the lovely white sandy beaches go from dense with tourists to closure of some beachfront hotels -- later to see some of those same hotels reopen and others remain closed. This situation has negatively affected the locals, whose livelihoods depended on wages and baksheesh. Well, as of one month ago, there are still beachfront hotels that are closed indefinitely, and those that are open are playing to a very small tourist audience. When one considers the limited opportunities for the providers of families to make their rents, purchase food, pay for additional educational support for their children b/c the schools are not all that great, why would it strike many as odd that the men would engage in liasons with women who come to their land with discretionary funds to spend. This situation is neither new nor is it odd -- it occurs in other places in the world with similar social conditions. Five years ago (under Mubarak), Egypt was a third world country. It hasn't had much opportunity to move along the continuum of economic progression due to the present circumstances. Its people have a desire for stability -- they want to raise their children in safety (just like the majority of us) with their children having educational opportunities so that they can raise their standards of living (just like the majority of us) and with a stable government (JLTMOU). Maybe some are creative in how they survive. I share this so that those of you who are engaging in relationships with Egyptian men can take a page from my book and arm yourselves with more knowledge than provided here about what is happening in Egypt, and then perhaps you can understand with a tad less judgement all around as to why such sad things occur relationship-wise. As has been written before, foreign currencies go further in Egypt (at the moment 7EGP = $1 = .77 euros). One month ago, 7EGP bought two plastic grocery-style bags of tomatoes, cukes, bananas, parsley, limes and potatoes at local street stands. Meat, on the other hand, is a different story. Submitting....
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