Priceless

The economy is on everyone’s mind. And I’ve been wanting to write about the cost of living and economy here for a long time. But, it’s pretty complex and I don’t pretend to even understand half of it. But here we go anyway.

First the cost of absolutely everything here is negotiable. And the price you pay depends on: (1) your race, (2) gender, (3) Arabic language skills, and (4) negotiation skills. There are at least two starting prices for everything, an Egyptian price and a tourist/foreigner price.

So you can see where I stand and that I pay a premium for absolutely everything. Although the shopkeepers get a good laugh when I try to tell them in Arabic “anna Masree” – I’m Egyptian give me an Egyptian price. Somehow they don’t believe it.

Further, within this pricing structure the Egyptians themselves are divided between the very wealthy and very poor classes. There is virtually no middle class in Egypt. These two groups live very different lives and shop in very different areas and essentially function in two different economies.

By American standards, Cairo is a very cheap place to live. You can get a 3 bedroom furnished apartment with balcony, marble floors throughout, in a nice neighborhood for about $600 USD per month. You can get a full-time maid for about $150 a month. You can get absolutely anything delivered to your house – groceries, beer, laundry, take-out food, anything for a very small price. My weekly trip to the grocery costs less then $20; unless of course I splurge on western delicacies. Like instant oatmeal for example costs $8 USD.

Dry cleaning costs about $1 per item, pressed shirts only 30 cents. A local Egyptian beer (20 oz) – which is totally fine – costs about $2 – 3 in an expat club; in a hotel bar it can cost $5 – 10. Imported beers, you’ll pay imported prices.

My 30-minute taxi ride across town to my Arabic class costs about $5-6 USD. I know the brunette Filipino teachers that live near me, one of whom is Muslim and speaks Arabic pay less for the same trip about $3-4 USD. The subway, bus and mini bus cost about 30 – 50 cents each.

Western things carry imported western prices. And cars are quite expensive. The cheapest new car available starts at $10,000 USD. And used cars aren’t much better, I’m told that you can actually make money selling a used car for more then the original purchase price. Further as a non-Egyptian you must pay duty-tax on a car which can be as high as the price of the car to begin with.

For Egyptians the prices are very different. That same apartment above rented to a fellow Egyptian could be as low as $25 – 50 USD per month. Seriously. In many cases, Egyptians have lifetime leases on property which essentially amounts to rent control as they pass property down through generations. Taxi rides, I have rarely seen an Egyptian pay more than 5 LE ($1 USD) for a taxi ride anywhere.

But before you get too excited or outraged at the obvious injustices, you need to know that salaries also vary by race, gender and negotiation skills. In the schools that I am familiar with, a foreign passport demands a premium salary; and there’s even a hierarchy among origins. Americans and native English speakers garner the highest salaries (for teaching any class not just English). Foreign-born teachers working in an international school here can expect to get salaries similar to those of starting salaries in the US - $35,000 tax-free, plus a housing allowance. Egyptian teachers working in that same school can expect to make about $1,000 USD per month. And, I have learned of some Egyptian teachers making less than $100 USD per month.

It’s shameful. That is more than some Egyptians spend in a night out in a club that can have a $40 cover charge. There are some very wealthy people here (about 5% of the population) but the vast majority is very poor.

The average annual income for an Egyptian is $1,390. Unemployment is rife, as high as 20-25%. On the way to and from work each day I see men sitting in the streets with their tools waiting and hoping for someone to drive by and pick up workers. The same men are there at the morning and evening commutes. So, I guess $100 is better then nothing. Many Egyptians live on less then $2 a day. And government assistance is rare – there is no welfare or housing assistance. The government does subsidize food, however not enough. See article about bread lines.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/world/africa/17bread.html"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/2787714/Egyptians-riot-over-bread-crisis.html

So although it can be frustrating to constantly haggle over prices and know that I am paying more than others for many things, I feel like it’s part of my responsibility and duty-tax as a “wealthy expat” living in Cairo. And the experience living here is truly priceless.