What You Need to Know About: Living in Egypt (Part 1)

Today I'm going to talk about me living in Egypt- specifically my accommodations! Dover provides housing (free of charge) to all it's international teachers. That means I will most likely live with a roommate, from either Canada or the U.S., in a fully furnished apartment (called a flat in Egypt). The city I will be living in is called Al Rehab- Wiki information here and the city's own website here. Rehab is a completely gated community with about 200,000 residents- close to the size of Sioux Falls where I'm living now. Rehab is about 20 minutes outside of Cairo to the East and is one of the newer developments of New Cairo. When conversing with the principal of Dover, I found it interesting that each of these new gated communities are completely self-sufficient. There are actually miles of desert in between them because you can find everything you need within the city walls!

From Rehab, where I will be living, Dover is another 20-30 minutes East. (Google map here). After checking out the link above for Rehab City's website, you can see that within the gated city there is everything I could possibly need! Here is a breakdown of the highlights:

• Hospital/Health Clinic: About a 10-15 minute walk from the teacher's apartments in Rehab. Five stories tall with a fully-equipped ER. There are always 8-9 doctors on site with at least that many nurses. The school pays for full health insurance for all employees, either with the school doctor or at the hospital.
• Security: Everyone must enter through the security posts to gain access to the community. Rehab has it's own police force specifically assigned to the city. Each individual apartment building also has it's own security guard on the premises. 
• Shopping malls: Yes, that's plural! There are two large shopping malls in Rehab, with everything from Bath & Body Works to American Eagle. The two current teachers at Dover that I spoke with said they haven't needed to leave the city for any of their shopping needs. The malls also have a wide variety of restaurants and fast food shops (both indoor and outdoor). Check out the city's website listed above for pictures and more.
• Grocery stores: The largest store in Rehab is called Metro, and has a wide range of American products available. There are also Carrefour stores (exciting, right Judy??) like I shopped at in France. From my research, I've found a couple places that sell gluten free products and some that will bake fresh a day in advance!
• Fitness centers: There are male/female only fitness centers, as well as co-ed ones. They are comparable in price to gyms here in the U.S. 

panorama of the outdoor mall in Rehab

Water and electricity are continuous in Rehab; the city has it's own pumps and generators separate from the other communities. Downtown Cairo sometimes has problems with black outs, but Rehab does not. The most annoying problem I will face is the Internet dropping. Fun fact: Egypt has more people than any other country that are on Facebook! The high traffic causes the lines to go down occasionally, which can be a pain. From what I gleaned speaking with the current teachers, this is definitely the biggest problem they face while living in Rehab. 

Mail can be a little dicey to Egypt- like when I was in Spain, the best way to send or receive packages is with FedEx or DHL (3-4 days usually). It is more expensive, but that way there are tracking numbers and accountability. I promise to share my address later on for anyone who wants to send anything along :)

I can't wait until August when I can share my own photos of my new home!!!!