Expat Community > Egypt

leonela
Joined 2010
Posts: 1

Is there such thing as dating in Egypt?

14 years ago

I (american 22 year old woman, never had a boyfriend, virgin) was on a Nile cruise. There, a 24 year old egyptian male employee told me he "liked me very very much" (romantically). For about 4-5 days, we had conversed and eventually exchanged emails, and he gave me his phone numbers as well. I have been told I am a good judge of character, to me he seems to be a hard-working, honest, shy, soft-spoken, true-to-his-word, very sweet person, very respectful. He is from Luxor, Egypt, and has worked with tourists for about seven years, so well aware of how tourists act in his country. He didn't ask about my class status, immigration status, or for any physical interaction besides "a kiss and cuddle" (which did not occur). {Which also surprised me, seeing that, assuming that no opposite-sex physical touching is allowed, he even asked me that}
I told him it is very difficult to sustain any sort of long-distance relationship in general, even IF Anything romantic forms between us. That I was not even sure I will come back to Egypt again. I said At The Very Least, I would like to get to know each other better if that happens. He told me in response, that we could email each other for a while, then when i come visit egypt again, he would pay for everything but my airfare, then would stay in his family's home for 3 weeks.

I am well-aware of the horror stories related to foreign women falling in love with Egyptian men. I am also aware that men can often only be looking for a visa, money, or easy sex/physical interaction with a western woman. I have been warily talking with this man, both in person while on the cruise, with all of these things in mind. Now, 2 email messages later, he has 'declared his love to me' in the form of a love poem through email. I am trying not to be naive about this whole thing, and being cautious about this, but I want to understand what is happening here, and understand what are some romantic relationship equivalences, expectations, or differences to expect...

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