Full of Hope

[BENNU]

I have met women who after one or two days in Luxor have been determined to spend months, years or even retire here. They have felt lucky to know me and with my experience hopefully be able to avoid the traps. The only advice anyone has ever wanted from me has been how to tell the good guys from the bad guys before making their choice.

What most of the women I have met have had in common was that they had been through abusive marriages and felt that it was their turn to be happy in a loving, caring relationship. If I could just take a minute to explain to them how to find true love in Luxor, where all the men are gentlemen, they would be ready to go shopping for furniture.

After telling them that the average Egyptian man is decent and God-fearing but not hanging out in tourist areas looking for lonely women, I never hear from them again. They may turn up in Facebook threads complaining that Egypt is horrible, the people are bad and the men are all the same - they do not know how to treat a woman.

[A-Four]

You are so right here Bennu, and with your vast amount of knowledge, but in my experience in such matters giving advise to such people very often would fall on deaf ears,the usual....'my Mohammid is different',.....would come flooding out, before long the European person would have informed 'her Mohammid', and your name becomes mud within your own local community.

In my experience with similar encounters, I have simple ask them on returning to their own countries to read the book on culture regarding the living and life within the Egyptian rural community, and more importantly study the Muslim Faith, as this in itself is not so much a religion, but more a way of life.

I am sure you will agree few take little notice of such advise, and that is why I was always careful, as so often most were 'here today...gone tomorrow',......or not much later.

[hatusu]

I take great exception to the above posts. I have been happily married to the same lovely Egyptian man for 17yrs and i know several other women in happy intercultural marriages but none of us go shouting it from the rooftops! You dont even ask for a discussion - you just state all interracial marriages are bad.
I feel SO angry about this i will not be posting on here any more, i wont even be opening up the website so any vitriolic replies will be totally wasted.

[HEPZIBAH]

I take great exception to the above posts. I have been happily married to the same lovely Egyptian man for 17yrs and i know several other women in happy intercultural marriages but none of us go shouting it from the rooftops! You dont even ask for a discussion - you just state all interracial marriages are bad.
I feel SO angry about this i will not be posting on here any more, i wont even be opening up the website so any vitriolic replies will be totally wasted.

hatusu, I am sorry that you feel this way, and are unlikely to read this post anyway.

I too know of quite a number of long lasting marriages between UK women and Egyptian men. I think they do appear to be the exception rather than the rule because, as you say they don't go 'shouting it from the rooftops'. They are generally busy just getting on with their new lives, adjusting to one another's way of life, integrating into new families, and forming a new life together.

Unfortunately though, we have all heard and read of, and possibly even know or have come into contact, with those women who have not been so fortunate. Many are the foolish women who leave their common sense at the airport, and end up not so much falling for the man (although they think they have at the time) but falling for the dream. Many of these women have similar characteristics and social traits which probably make them easier pray then others.

Most definitely not all interracial marriages are bad. There are certainly women who could yell 'my Mohammed is different' not for the commonly accepted version of that statement, but because he does not fit into this mould that has been portrayed of many Egyptian men and is indeed a man of good intent and loyalty.

Whether you read this or not, I wish you all the best.

[BENNU]

You dont even ask for a discussion - you just state all interracial marriages are bad.

Where in the above posts does anyone state that all interracial marriages are bad??

I don't know if they got married.
I find it worth sharing how women, full of expectations after one or two days in Luxor without even having met a man offline ask me only one question: how to choose the right guy.
I have been asked again by someone who has decided to live here with a man, she has yet to meet.

[A-Four]

I am sure you will agree few take little notice of such advise, and that is why I was always careful, as so often most were 'here today...gone tomorrow',......or not much later.

When I wrote above, I indicated as seen here, I used the term few and most, but certainly not all.

I have a few friends who met each other in Egypt, two couples still together after over ten years and are very happy, though I admit they have little contact with other expats in Luxor. A very dear friend many years ago, met a chap of similar age there in Luxor, which rather suprised me as she knew of the such reputation of the area. Within two months I had to agree, this man was certainly a 'different Mohammad'. They eventually were married at the British Embassy in Garden City. They remained living in Luxor for a number of years, then moved to the U.K. and to this day are very happy. They have been together now almost fifteen years, the lady in question was a long time member of this forum, and well respected for her advise as a no nonsense person, and I am proud to say they are both my dearest friends even today.

In saying what I have written above, I certainly do not detract anything from my initial post, and anyone who has experience of living in Luxor would certainly agree, and those couples who are happy together there have little or nothing to do with the tourist areas.