OT: American Tourists in Egypt

[Guest guest]

Howdy y'all,

 

> Hello again. My Thanks also to Butch!

 

My pleasure.

 

> A side note. A womans journry into any North African, Arab

> Middle eastern country will be a whole different ball game than a

> mans.

 

That is a big fer'shur .. though Turkey is not a Mid East country and

its certainly not Arabic .. I can recall in years past when the same

thing held for here. But today we have quite a large number of female

parliamentarians and even had a female prime minister .. and I'd say

maybe a third of the young doctors, lawyers and engineers today are

ladies. That has more to do with women applying themselves to studies

than to anything else. The education system here is free if you can get

past the cut off on entrance exams .. and the ladies know that the door

to independence is through education.

 

> Also , If you do plan on shopping the outdoor markets etc. be prepard

> for the " Hard Sell " . In America we can so " no,no just looking " and the

> sales person will back off (most of the time) No so over seas. Just an FYI.

 

True it is fer'shur .. and perhaps two reasons for this are because most

of the Western travelers will buy something rather than disappoint the

seller - maybe the idealist would say they are trying to be good

ambassadors, but the realist might say .. they are " afraid " to offend

people they don't understand. ;-) The other reason might be because if

one wants a discount on something .. the normal approach is to show the

seller that you're not too interested in the first place. ;-)

 

> My dance instructor spends several days haggleing over prices and

> quality of goods. That is part of the reason she goes. (If you order

> a red veil and the shop person dosen't have it they think a green one

> is just as good.)

 

Haggling is an art .. and an expectation in most places in Turkey also.

Not in the modern stores .. though there are " discounts " available there

too if one just asks. If you don't haggle in the markets they think you

are a rich or stupid fool because they are usually asking more than they

are willing to take anyway. Just tonight I went to the fish market on

my street .. they were just closing and I wanted some shrimp. A kilo

was 18 TL (around $13) .. I also wanted radishes and red onions and a

leaf veggie here .. called Roka .. not found in the USA .. but its great

as a raw veggie. Point is .. the total of the purchase would have been

close to $15 .. but we haggled a bit and it was $11. Both the seller

and I were satisfied .. so it was a good sale. ;-)

 

Funny it is that most Americans will haggle over the price of a new car

or a new home .. but they rarely do it for other items. Even the price

on white goods in Sears or where ever can be negotiated .. as can the

price of men's suits and such in specialty stores .. I did it as a

matter of routine when I lived in the USA.

 

> I hope you have a safe and wonder filled journey!!!!!!! I wish I was

> going! My teacher is going just after Thanksgiving. They have a 8 hour

> lay-over on the way.

 

Its not me that's going .. tis Michelle .. but wishing her a good one I

am fer'shur.

 

> Ravenstone

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch

 

>>Hi Butch, and thanks once again. Hope I see an Egyptian wedding.

>>

>>I LOVE the photos of YOUR wedding. What a great couple you make. And,

>>what a beautiful woman Tanya is. WOW! She's got a wonderful smile!

>>

>>Michelle