Why I'm thinking to move back to Egypt
This is a copied note from my Facebook profile.
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A couple people have asked me why (on Earth) am I considering moving back to Egypt after being in the US comfortably for the past 18 months or so.
First, I have to point out- I call both places home. We have two nests. I could never make the decision to ONLY live in ONE place the rest of my life while giving up the other totally. I just can't do that, and I don't want to anyway and I don't want my kids to have to do that, either. We really have pieces of our hearts in both places.
Maybe the most pressing reason for me to consider moving back right now is going to sound ironic to my friends from Egypt. I think I need to move back to Cairo for the sake of my health. Ok, have you stopped laughing yet? Tayyib. Honestly, for whatever reason, my blood pressure has been very high here in the US (and that is while I'm on medication). When I was in Egypt in the summer, it was low, and that was without medication. Yah, a summertime vacation lifestyle has something to do with it. Maybe here in the US, I am eating too many processed foods (and consuming too much sodium in the process, I don't know). And I know that stress plays a large part. I have tried to reduce the stress in my life here but there are some things I can't change, and can't look at differently, and just simply need to separate myself from. In other words, I believe my blood pressure here will only go up (my health will only get worse), but in Egypt I believe I have a good chance that it will go down (my health will be better). On top of that, my prescription in Egypt costs $4 a month. Here it is $60 a month. That's a huge difference. I hit a turning point last Sunday night when I had bad chest pains and sat wondering at 10:30pm if I can afford to go to the ER or not. In Egypt, we can afford healthcare. I also had another tooth extracted this week because we don't feel like we can afford another root canal, crown and bridge, and an extraction and partial denture (wahhhh sniff sniff) is cheaper so we went with that. I don't want to have to make health decisions based on what we can or can't afford. In Egypt, our money goes much further. I'm not decrepit but alas, sadly I am aging. The decaying process has started. (holding back the tears)
On top of that, as some of you might have noticed... the economy sucks right now. Really sucks. My husband's income is based solely on commission. If people don't buy cars, we don't buy groceries. Or go to the doctor. Or buy other things we would like to buy. It's a lot cheaper for my husband to support us while we are living in Egypt.
Then there is also the concern about religion and heritage. I oftentimes feel very alone here in reinforcing our culture and philosophy to the kids. We don't have a large community of friends here that shares our traditions or even our beliefs. In Egypt, I have a network of people, friends and family, that I really truly love and admire (and miss!) and I can't help but think if my kids spend more time there in their childhoods, they will absorb more of that cultural and religious heritage to pass on to their own kids in the future.
I laugh more in Egypt.
So *if* I could have an ideal situation it would be that my kids could still be in a safe, supportive, friendly environment with friends who share similar beliefs and morals, and at the same time, I could be leading a safe, happy, satisfying life there where I contribute to society in my own little ways. Ideally, my plan is still to get a full time teaching position at a school in Egypt that will pay for my own two kids' tuition, plus extra money on top of that as a cushion to my husband's income. That's my ideal situation. And it's not a permanent commitment. I'm talking a one year trial run again. Most of my unhappiness the last year I was in Egypt was actually due to our school situation (both as a parent and as an employee/teacher). We just need a new school to be part of that won't stress us all out as much.
So those are my reasons. You can comment if you want.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A couple people have asked me why (on Earth) am I considering moving back to Egypt after being in the US comfortably for the past 18 months or so.
First, I have to point out- I call both places home. We have two nests. I could never make the decision to ONLY live in ONE place the rest of my life while giving up the other totally. I just can't do that, and I don't want to anyway and I don't want my kids to have to do that, either. We really have pieces of our hearts in both places.
Maybe the most pressing reason for me to consider moving back right now is going to sound ironic to my friends from Egypt. I think I need to move back to Cairo for the sake of my health. Ok, have you stopped laughing yet? Tayyib. Honestly, for whatever reason, my blood pressure has been very high here in the US (and that is while I'm on medication). When I was in Egypt in the summer, it was low, and that was without medication. Yah, a summertime vacation lifestyle has something to do with it. Maybe here in the US, I am eating too many processed foods (and consuming too much sodium in the process, I don't know). And I know that stress plays a large part. I have tried to reduce the stress in my life here but there are some things I can't change, and can't look at differently, and just simply need to separate myself from. In other words, I believe my blood pressure here will only go up (my health will only get worse), but in Egypt I believe I have a good chance that it will go down (my health will be better). On top of that, my prescription in Egypt costs $4 a month. Here it is $60 a month. That's a huge difference. I hit a turning point last Sunday night when I had bad chest pains and sat wondering at 10:30pm if I can afford to go to the ER or not. In Egypt, we can afford healthcare. I also had another tooth extracted this week because we don't feel like we can afford another root canal, crown and bridge, and an extraction and partial denture (wahhhh sniff sniff) is cheaper so we went with that. I don't want to have to make health decisions based on what we can or can't afford. In Egypt, our money goes much further. I'm not decrepit but alas, sadly I am aging. The decaying process has started. (holding back the tears)
On top of that, as some of you might have noticed... the economy sucks right now. Really sucks. My husband's income is based solely on commission. If people don't buy cars, we don't buy groceries. Or go to the doctor. Or buy other things we would like to buy. It's a lot cheaper for my husband to support us while we are living in Egypt.
Then there is also the concern about religion and heritage. I oftentimes feel very alone here in reinforcing our culture and philosophy to the kids. We don't have a large community of friends here that shares our traditions or even our beliefs. In Egypt, I have a network of people, friends and family, that I really truly love and admire (and miss!) and I can't help but think if my kids spend more time there in their childhoods, they will absorb more of that cultural and religious heritage to pass on to their own kids in the future.
I laugh more in Egypt.
So *if* I could have an ideal situation it would be that my kids could still be in a safe, supportive, friendly environment with friends who share similar beliefs and morals, and at the same time, I could be leading a safe, happy, satisfying life there where I contribute to society in my own little ways. Ideally, my plan is still to get a full time teaching position at a school in Egypt that will pay for my own two kids' tuition, plus extra money on top of that as a cushion to my husband's income. That's my ideal situation. And it's not a permanent commitment. I'm talking a one year trial run again. Most of my unhappiness the last year I was in Egypt was actually due to our school situation (both as a parent and as an employee/teacher). We just need a new school to be part of that won't stress us all out as much.
So those are my reasons. You can comment if you want.
posted by Just Ruthie at 3:03 PM
1 comments
