I tried posting here earlier but it didn't seem to go through so here's my second try:
I'm a USAnian writing from Alaska.
I'm going to write a story that mostly takes place in Egypt. Trouble is, I've never been. Most of what I know of North Africa is from friends who have studied there. I hear that soap operas are quite the thing in Egypt. I was thinking my story could kind of morph into the style of an Egyptian soap opera (comedically dramatic and overblown), which would be easier for me to imitate. So I have some questions for y'all:
1) First and most importantly, how could I get some Egyptian soap opera DVDs? I think the Omar Sharif one, Sympathy and Nostalgia, would be PERFECT for what I'm doing.
2) There seems to be a lot of individual choice involved in “arranged” marriages, from what I’ve read. “Salon” marriages seem to be more like a series of blind dates. Under what circumstances would a family pressure a daughter into marrying someone she didn’t want to? (That’s one possible precipitating incident for my novel, not the main source of conflict, so I can change it if it’s not very realistic.)
3) Are the Christian and Muslim groups in Egypt culturally similar? How do different religions get along?
4) If you are an expat from a western country, how did the cultural adjustment go for you?
5) Anything else I should know?
If anyone felt like answering a few of these, I'd be grateful.
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17,217 / 50,000
Oct 31, 2007 - 11 31
1) Try this:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_d/105-5373000-5677269?url=node%3D40427...
There is some stuff there that is not actually DVDs with Egyttpain movies, but plenty of them are, you just have to work your way through them.
4) I didn't have too many difficutlties with adjusting, but I had 6 years of living abroiad behind me already at the time. So I knew roughly what to expect. I think for first-time-expats Egypt is a very difficult choice. And it's harder for single women. As msulim countries go, it's fairly liberal though.
34,588 / 50,000
Oct 31, 2007 - 19 31
2) this might get as hard as it can be. families prefer guys with postitons and espicially military ones.
and this is the minor reason for divorces so far.
3) in some cases you can say no different between the two of them.
it's only in the ID religion entry.
ask whatever you want,
----------coz knowledge is everything ... left ;-)
www.riddler.co.nr
NaNoCairo...NaNoWriMo.org for Egypt, Cairo
www.nanocairo.nr
نانوريمو بالعربي
17,217 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2007 - 12 29
riddler, I work with a lot of Coptic Christians and know from talking to them, that they get discriminated because of their religion quite a bit.
34,588 / 50,000
Nov 1, 2007 - 15 34
i said in some cases. and i still know that in some other cases they both don't stand each other.
----------i'm not denying it. i even wrote about it before in my blog
coz knowledge is everything ... left ;-)
www.riddler.co.nr
NaNoCairo...NaNoWriMo.org for Egypt, Cairo
www.nanocairo.nr
نانوريمو بالعربي
50,576 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2007 - 04 34
I lived in Egypt for two years and now I am in Jordan. The same soap operas are popular over here. As for question 2, I would say that fathers would marry off the daughter because of some business or financial relationships that the father would like to strengthen. He might also feel that if a military or powerful person came asking, that they couldn't say no. #3 I found many similarities in the cultural lives of Christians and Muslims. Both are careful with their daughters, keeping them in the right groups of people, protecting them from outsiders. Most foods are the same. I knew a mixed group (CH and M) of friends at the university. They all went out together and even a mixed couple was dating. Eventually they broke it off because the girl knew her family would never accept a Muslim as a husband for her. Both sets of girls were wearing the same clothes and following the same styles. Only their jewerly would differentiate them. (The Muslims were very liberal.) The Muslims would even invite the Christian friends over for Iftar in Ramadan. It was a very interesting group of friends. 4. Culturally, foreigners will always find some difficulties living in a Muslim/Middle East society especially as non-Muslims. I think the biggest differences come in ways of thinking. Which aren't necessarily religious differences. There is much to learn on both sides. It is a big challenge. Let me know if you need more, you can email me privately. Azomama