AboutJane Akshar Expertise I have extensive knowledge of tourism in Egypt, specifically Luxor, and Egyptology in general. I can answer questions on travel, hotels, restaurants as well as about the sites and dealing with the locals. I can tell recommend deserted sites where you are the only tourist, local guides who will take you walking over the hills, reliable drivers, taxis, donkey and camel men, sailing and motor boat captains.
I can answer questions on Egyptology(up to the end of the New Kingdom) as I have been involved with Egyptology for over 40 years and have contacts in the Antiquities department and with many of the Archaeological teams in Luxor.
Experience I have been coming to Egypt as a tourist since 1979 and moved to live in Luxor in 2003. I love to help people fall in love with Egypt. I guide guests around the sites in Luxor and run a small tourism business renting flats (apartments) to tourists. I am married to an Egyptian and have a bilingual teenage daughter. I write regular feature articles for Tour Egypt and run a News Blog on Luxor.
Organizations AEITB "Association of Egyptian Travel Businesses on the Internet"
Publications www.touregypt.net
www.luxornews.net
wikipedia.org/wiki/KV63
www.kv-63.com (photos)
Archaeological Diggings Magazine
The Cultured Traveller
Egyptian Cultural Heritage Organisation (ECHO)
The Undoctored Past
Education/Credentials 8 O levels, OND in Science, City and Guilds in Computing, 10 years Egyptology with the University of London Extra Mural Dept
Question He cannot get a visa to the states and I cannot move to Egypt at this time. He says he needs someone to take care of him so he wants us to get divorce and I agreed. He says that when I can live in Egypt, he will remarry me if I accept. I said no thanks. Why would he even ask that? It it normal for an Egyptian man to have a wife just for his needs?
Answer That is like asking if it is normal for an American to have 13 wives. You can not generalise about an entire nation, some Americans do. Egyptian male Muslims can have 4 wives legally and they look upon marriage from a different perspective. Love is not a common reason to get married. Generally marriage is dynastic, an arrangement betweens families for the purpose of having children. The couple might meet, might like each other, might even fall in love but that is down to luck. The most important thing is that his mother approves. Islam says you should take a wife for money, beauty, piousness or family connections. It does not mention love. So his attitudes are fairly normal for the society he lives in.
Your attitudes are fairly normal for the society you live in.
A cross cultural marriage takes a lot of work, you have to try and understand each other and not from the TV. Take a phrase like a 'good wife' you mean someone that contributes equally to the marriage, has a good job that pays into the family pot, makes joint financial decisions. He means someone who will cook endlessly complicated meals, have lots of children, always be submissive to his decisions. You used the same phrase but you meant entirely different things by it. Reading the Koran and the Hadiths will teach you a lot about Muslim attitudes but you need to add into that understanding of the traditions of Egyptian society. Read anything by Nagdi Mafouz, especially the Cairo trilogy
