The end

I herewith break the silence that has been the consequence of extensive moving preparations, travel, work and social events on top of my regular general life in Belgium. It is but for a brief moment though, that I come back, and it is to say good bye: on Tuesday the 21st of August 2007 we; the boys, the Husband & I, left Leuven, Belgium and moved to Cairo, Egypt. It's a new chapter beginning in our lives, and the end of An American Swede in Belgium.

Thank you all for your patience, time and interest. I has been my pleasure entirely, I'm sure. In shallah Allah. God's speed.

By Lovain

PS. Should you be interested in the sequel, then you are welcome to visit my new blog "The Fugates in Cairo".

Finding out about living in Cairo, Egypt

As part of my research for our upcoming relocation to Cairo, I bought a couple of travel guides, but however well they describe the city from a visiting point of view, they don't give you much of an idea of what it would be like to live there. I found this blog however, written by an Australian diplomat wife, that beautifully, with a humorous twist, paints a picture of her life in Egypt.

By Lovain

Relocating to Cairo, Egypt in 4 months; no reason to stress?

Seeing that 1 September really isn’t that far off, and seeing that I haven’t seen one single entire chapter of the husband’s thesis yet, I was getting ‘a bit’ worked up about our forthcoming relocation the other day; how’s the husband going to finish his thesis all the while I work full time, the kids are home during their summer break, and we have to arrange everything for the transfer; vaccinations, dentist visits, VISAs, passport renewals, packing and moving house, insurance, bank account transfers, etc.?! (OK, I was getting really worked up, almost to a level of hysteria.) “Honey, just calm down” the husband said with a cool voice “No matter what happens between now and then, on 1 September we’ll still be in Cairo. I’ve accepted the offer, and we’re going to Cairo.” Of course he’s right; everything will be taken care of, I know we simply have to do what it takes, and there’s no reason to stress, however knowing that I’ll have to plan and execute most of the practical arrangements (and think of everything from canceling our grocery store card to buying myself a hijab), all the while working full time, I’m still a bit worked up - but just a little.

By Lovain

We're moving to Cairo!

Who would have thought that we would ever live in Cairo, Egypt? But it's official; the Husband has accepted the offer from the American University there, and we're moving after the summer. My head is spinning.

By Lovain

Are we moving to Cairo? What do you think?

For as long as we have been together, the reason for our stay here in Belgium and our focus has been to finish the husband's doctorate so that he could get a good academic job in the U.S. We've never intended on staying in Belgium. The husband's career has been the director of our life, and along with it we have, all this time, been expecting and anticipating the final move and our settling down; buy a house, a car, enroll the boys in a school in a middle-sized town in America, and finally build our American life.

In a shockful state I now find myself trying to decide whether or not we really want to move; leave the safe Belgian social security system, leave my new fantastic and well-paid job, leave our nice rented house in the quiet suburd of Leuven, leave friends and familiar places, the children's school and our life as we know it, and move to Cairo, Egypt; not the U.S. but yes, to a muslim country in northern Africa.

The offer is nice, the community seems nice, and the experience would be nice; yet I keep thinking "what are we doing?!" Any ideas or reflections you might have in relation to an important decision like this are more than welcome!

By Lovain