To Marissa Re Disbelief

Submitted by Melissa (United States), Mar 27, 2017 at 13:31

Hey Marissa, totally understandable. I am actually surprised people here have been as nice as they have! I mentioned in another reply (to Philip) that I came across this site by mistake, I was looking for other American women who might be in Egypt to connect with them. Google brought me here, and after reading some of the comments, I decided to post my story. I am not "looking for answers", I don't care if anyone believes it or not and the reception of it is really irrelevant to me. I just wanted to share and readers can take it as they wish.

I have enjoyed reading the replies to my story I don't mind the dialogue, but that's all it is - I'm not looking for advice and I won't continue on the site regularly once the replies to my post stop.

My husband is an anomaly among the men in Egypt, it's true. There are lots of them who just eat and use people and play games and sit in cafes and scheme ("rats" as you refer to them) and there are plenty who are surely looking for a western girl online to use for their own plots. My husband is simply not one of them. If I could advise women who meet men online in Egypt, I would tell them to proceed with extreme caution, hire someone or talk with a local who can give you a fair report on the man you are seeking, visit him more than once, tell him you want to live there (to see if he is genuine about you and not looking for a greencard), etc. I am not trying to convince anyone that Egypt is full of prince charmings waiting to sweep ladies off their feet because we all know it's not true. That's why the title of my post was that I am one of the lucky ones - so many others expect happiness and find themselves used.

I was not happy in my professional life; working overtime every week and participating in a greedy legal system was not how I wanted to spend the rest of my life. If I had a passion for it, maybe my story would have turned out much differently. As I mentioned before, I still freelance and occupy my time researching and writing, but I do it on my own time without the pressure of a full time career in the states. I am back here now to visit and I am reminded of how exhausting this lifestyle is, everyone is constantly running to work, meetings, events, stuck in traffic, stressed about bills, always looking for the next improvement to their lives. There is nothing wrong with that way of life, I just wanted something different and what I chose works well for me. If something happens in the future and I don't feel happy, I can always come back and resume my life.

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