Western Wives in Egypt

The METimes has an interesting article on what life is like for a group of foriegn women married to egyptian men. The article was well rounded me thinks, ranging from the negative: Egypt's culture, in Karen's opinion, is one of manipulation, not directness. "Egyptians are obsessed with covering their back. In the West we are direct because we have a system that covers us up." As a result, she says, "The [Egyptian] husband [of a Western woman] thinks, 'My wife is not respecting me' when all what she is doing is being direct." to the positive The case is different for the Irish wife Aisha Fitzpatrick. She maintains warm ties with her in-laws, who live with her on the same building. "They are very good, kind people.... They appreciate my coming from Ireland to live with their son here in Egypt," she says. But according to them, the key word for cross- cultural marriage is.... conformity To Kris, the key to a foreign woman's success in Egypt is conformity: "I have foreign friends in Egypt fighting against what they don't like; they end up feeling lost and frustrated. If you don't conform, you will be on the outside. If you don't go with the status quo in Egypt, you will be rejected." She points out that Egyptians refuse to cope with what's foreign, what they don't know. Hmm.....