Dahab Hotels
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Economics of the average Egptian
Entry 15 of 53 | show all | print this entry |
I continue to be fascinated by the way of life here in Dahab and how different it is from say, Cairo. I was interested to know about Anwar's life and how he ended up here and I found that his story is the same as much of the male population here in Dahab. It's all just basic economics with some culture thrown in. I'm talking about the 'average' Egyptian man who I guess you could categorize as what we know as 'middle class' in America. The young men come here to Dahab for the money--plain and simple.
In this culture, the men generally marry in their 30s. This is because they must save up enough money to afford having a wife and all that comes with that duty of family. They are usually married with a very young girl...anywhere from 18-23 with women above this age being considered 'shelved.' Again, this does not pertain to perhaps the class of Egyptians who go on to university and live a more 'western' way of life. Here in Dahab, the men are able to make a considerable amount of money.
For example, after completing his obligatory 2 year military service, Anwar went to university and completed his diploma as an architect. He worked for some time in Taba as a type of civil engineer and made about 1000 pounds/month--a decent enough wage. After the second intifada began in Palestine...Israelis stopped going to Dahab and Taba for tourism and this especially stopped after the terrorist boming at the Taba Hilton in which scores of tourists were killed. Anwar then dropped down to only making 300 pounds/month. He abandoned his professional career to come to Dahab to work in a restaurant where he can make in the area of 100 pounds/day...you do the math and it'll make sense.
Many of the men here have wives from their hometowns who live here part time and back home the rest of the time. I've met men who are schooled as lawyers, archaeologists, and professors. But many work here now in restaurants and the like with the ability to make much more money. Anwar's brother-in-law is an accountant and his government job only pays him 400 pounds/month...definitely not enough to support a family in Cairo. Thus, the duty falls on Anwar to support not only himself and save for his marriage, but also to support his sister's family and his mother. When we left Cairo, he left behind copious amounts of money for his family and reguarly sends money home from Dahab. This is just the way it works here.
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| 15. | Economics of the average Egptian - Dahab, Egypt May 26, 2005 |
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