Egypt - Culture Smart! The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture by Jailan Zayan

Author:Jailan Zayan [Zayan, Jailan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kuperard
Published: 2013-05-27T16:00:00+00:00

ATTITUDES TOWARD FOREIGNERS

Most foreigners visiting Egypt are tourists, and Egyptians are used to the idea of them coming and going without making any long-term friendships locally. Egyptians are gracious and hospitable, however, and a foreigner who shows respect for their culture is warmly embraced.

Wealthy, urban Egyptians are the most likely to be well traveled or educated abroad. They relate to foreigners easily and can quickly make friends with them. The less educated Egyptians often have misguided perceptions of foreigners. Their main window into the lifestyle and behavior of foreigners is via the mass media, particularly television and more specifically soap operas and music videos. To them, life abroad resembles Universal Studios and is deeply coveted by many youngsters, frustrated by their lives at home.

Television series such as “Dallas” and “Falcon Crest” have shaped the image of Western women and their relations with the opposite sex in the minds of many Egyptian males. And therefore the sometimes provocative dress and open behavior of some foreign women can be misinterpreted by Egyptian men as a sign of sexual availability.

Egyptians call Western foreigners khawagas. While many traditional Egyptians see khawagas as materially and perhaps intellectually advanced, they also regard them as morally inferior. Egyptians are often appalled by the fact that, in the West, children move out of their homes before getting married, or parents can be sent to nursing homes. To them, this represents a lack of family values. This does not mean that Egyptians are not open to relationships with khawagas. But the key is respect for the culture. Egyptians will cherish a foreigner who does not flaunt his, or her, own ways or try to “educate” them but rather appreciates Egyptian attitudes and customs.

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