Life in Egypt - Clare Leader '80
- MH Global Alum Alliance
- 8 hours ago
- 4 min read
We are delighted to share a new addition to our Global Lives feature, for a light and fun exploration of living and working in different cultures and countries. This time we are heading to northern Africa!
Let's visit Cairo, Egypt with Clare Leader class of 1980 as our guide:
Mount Holyoke alum Clare Leader shares her experience living in Cairo, where is works as a freelance copyeditor and has becoem passionate about rowing
Tell us a bit about yourself
I’m a “third culture kid,” born in Rome, where I spent my first three years. I moved to Madras (now Chennai), India at the age of seven, where I spent four formative years that I remember rather idyllically. Those years fueled my determination thereafter to recapture an expat life. In 1982, two years after graduating from MHC, I realized that dream when I moved to Egypt to teach fifth grade at the Schutz American School in Alexandria.
I lived in Alexandria for four years; I loved it, and spent my holidays alternately traveling in Europe and touching base with my family back in Maryland. Then I moved to Cairo to experience another side of Egypt and loved that too. The following year I took a position as a fourth-grade teacher at the American School of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. It was 34 years before I’d come back to live in Egypt.
What first brought you to Egypt. — and what made you stay?
I moved back to Egypt in 2021, after almost 23 years living in Beirut, when my husband took an administrative position at the American University in Cairo. Egypt had changed a lot in the intervening period, and I’ve had to look hard for glimpses of the “Egypt” I used to know. Yet, in these last five years, I’ve had opportunities to see new and just-as-wonderful aspects of the country. I’ve taken up rowing on a weekly basis on the Nile and have spent as much time as possible exploring the desert and the oases west of the Nile Valley while working as a freelance copyeditor.
How did your MHC experience help shape your life or dreams?
For me, MHC represents a “crucible” in which I began to learn to appreciate independence and
feminism.
What’s something surprising or special about living in Egypt that people might not expect?
Cairo is a surprisingly walkable and safe city, and wandering through its streets is one of my favorite things to do, either alone or with friends, marveling at how Egyptians inhabit the (roughly 4000 years of) layers of history surrounding them.
Favorite local tradition, food, or custom you love?
My favorite Egyptian food is koshary ("traditional food for poor folk")—a combination of rice, pasta, vermicelli, and lentils topped with chickpeas, fried onions, garlicky tomato sauce, garlic vinegar, hot sauce, and crispy fried onions- and I’m always on the look-out for the very best fresh lemonade. In fact, all the citrus fruit here is amazing and includes the best grapefruit I’ve ever tasted.
What’s a “typical day” like for you — and what part of it feels extra local?
A typical day for me is spent working at home, although once or twice a week I’ll rise early enough to catch an uber to the Maadi Yacht Club (Maadi is a southern suburb) to row with friends from 7-8am. Sometimes I’ll hang out there for coffee and run a few errands before returning home to New Cairo, located about a forty-minute drive east of the downtown. On Fridays I frequently spend the better part of the day exploring the city with friends.
What’s one small thing about daily life there that you truly appreciate?
What I appreciate most about living here is being a part of an international community in a country whose people are, in general, incredibly warm and kind and friendly. Those things usually make it possible to overlook any sources of complaint.
What are your top 3 reasons for staying in Egypt?
To be honest, we stay in Egypt because of my husband’s job, and we plan to leave this summer, when he retires. It’s possible that, after time spent in the US near family and old friends, we’ll feel the urge to return to an expat life. Many friends have chosen to retire in Egypt for its affordability and ease of life. For now, I don’t know what we’ll do.
Do you miss anything from your home country?
I only miss family and friends in the US. The idea of returning to live there is daunting. A lot has changed since we left in 1998. We have a lot to learn and adapt to, I think.
Do you have a special tip for alums who wish to visit Egypt?
Make time for more than Pharaonic Egypt. Yes, the wealth of Ancient Egyptian cultural heritage is mind-boggling, but also wonderful are its Coptic and Islamic historical remains. And Alexandria is a Mediterranean city with ties that cross that sea as strong as its ties to the rest of Egypt.
Go beyond the usual tour company itineraries. Aside from its amazingly rich history and culture, Egypt possesses much natural beauty. The Western Desert is largely an ancient seabed containing an abundance of fossils and revealing a broad array of landscapes. Each oasis (Kharga, Dakhla, Farafra, Bahariya, and Siwa as well as the Fayoum) is distinctive. The coastlines are lovely too and the further south you go along the east coast, the better the snorkeling and diving. There’s great windsurfing as well.
The timeless beauty of the Nile is best viewed from a boat. I never rowed before moving to Cairo; now I hope I can find a way to continue no matter where I’m living.
A felucca ride early in the morning or at sunset is a pleasure offering great bird sightings (the Nile Valley is an important bird migration route). A Nile cruise is magical, particularly on a dahabiyya with a limited number of passengers.
Be flexible and patient and hold on tight to your sense of humor.
Answers collated and edited by Silvia Maulini '80
Please get in touch if you would like to share your country, or would like to suggest a feature!
