Food and clothing for women in Egypt
 

I am traveling to Egypt next month for 1 week. What should I bring for clothing (business meetings) and what sort of food is served? I am a vegetarian (still eat chicken and fish).

Where are you going to be in Egypt? If Alexandria, a friend said the fish is wonderful. I'm sure they have vegetbles and chicken throughout the country. Thousands of tourists go there regularly.

I would think you'd wear the same type of clothing you'd wear to business meetings here -- suit, dress with jacket, etc. Conservative.

As above, same clothing you'd wear at home, but should be light-weight and loose-fitting. Indoors you'll have a/c, so a shawl or jacket a good idea. Outdoors, it'll be hot, but no sleeveless. Slacks are fine. If in Cairo, the nights can get cool, so the jacket will work during these hours also.

As to food, you shouldn't have any problem, whether strict vegetarian or as you say, chicken and fish. Just avoid fruits/veggies that are known water-holders, i.e., lettuce*, watermelon. Otherwise, we ate everything, drank their wonderful juice drinks with ice. In fact the same juices they sell here at home. Always bottled water, though most of the good hotels have central purification systems, so their water is good. If in doubt - bottled everything. Their Stella beer is very good; wine is terrible, unless it's an expensive import.

Don't forget your SPF and a hat when out in the sun.

*we never even saw a piece of lettuce in 2/weeks.

I'd add one more thing. Bring a colorful headscarf to wear. I just returned from Egypt and saw that most women on the street wear them. I'm not talking about traditional head coverings, but what we used to call (in Chicago) "babushkas" ;-) My guide said he thought it was mainly a fashion, not a religious tradition. However one woman I talked to who worked there said she felt ignored and not respected in the workplace until she started wearing a scarf at work. After that she felt she was treated with respect. I'd just have one along in case. As for food, many of their entrees and soups do have meat or meat broth in them. So you'll just need to check. They have lots of great Egyptian entrees that are vegetarian. If you're eating in hotels, you'll find mostly European food. I never put ice in any drinks, just to be on the safe side. You can easily buy bottled water. I've found hot tea and coffee fine to drink as they boil the water and it's super hot. If you ask for hot milk for coffee instead of drinking what's on the table, it will come superheated and generally scalded, and thus less risky to drink.

Hello Lizbeth,

I'd agree with what the other posters have said about clothing -- loose-fitting but tailored in relatively subdued colours seemed to be the order of the day among businesspeople when I was at the Four Season.

If you're in town before your meetings start, you could go to the Khan and buy some of the beautiful scarves and shawls on sale there -- the patterns and colours are lovely, they'll cost a fraction of what they would at home, and they'll make nice souvenirs of your trip as well.

Cheers,
Julian