You might wanna grab a snack as you listen to this episode because Dina El Gohary has her Masters in Cultural Heritage Management with a focus on Egyptian food Heritage and currently works with Egyptian food tour company Bellies en-Route. So, you already know what this episode is going to be about.

But, before we dive into the food, we're following Dina's story from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain and getting to see yet another perspective on growing up in the Gulf that's perhaps a bit unexpected.

In this episode, Monica and Dina discuss lifestyles, privilege, and navigating where and how they fit into the day-to-day poetic chaos of life in Cairo. And food, obvs.

Ahmed Najeeb has changed his relationship status with Saudi Arabia to ‘It’s Complicated.’

Living there in peak morality police era against a backdrop of negative stereotypes about Egyptians, it’s no wonder young Najeeb was dying to come back to Egypt. When he did come back, he faced two very different culture shocks: life in Mansoura and life in Cairo.

In this episode, Najeeb reflects on how his parents tried their best to minimize the damage of life in Saudi by befriending like-minded people, switching school systems, and instilling his love for photography. Then, shifting the conversation to his transition to Egypt, Najeeb shares his stunned reactions to street fights, Cairenes’ satisfaction with subpar food, and the mere ability to casually exist outside his home past 11 PM.

Naj shoots people for a living and shares it on Instagram @najpictures.

While you’re there, follow The Foreign Local (@theforeignlocal) for more stories connecting the Egyptian diaspora with everyday life in Om el Donya. 

Acceptance letter to a Belgian university in hand, Mariam Hanno was a woman with a plan. Unfortunately, a mix of travel hurdles and souring political relations between Egypt and Qatar turned her life upside down.

Finding herself on a flight to Egypt instead, Mariam’s expulsion from the diaspora was sudden, unexpected, and painful. How do you even begin to deal with that?

In this episode, Mariam gets vulnerable about grappling with social isolation, struggling to understand the local lingo, and the grief she experienced while saying goodbye not to a person but to an entire lifetime left behind.

So, yes, this episode is basically the therapy session Monica and Mariam didn't know they needed. And, despite talking about her language barrier, Mariam does it all with a flawless Egyptian accent.

Join in on this therapy session through Instagram @theforeignlocal.

Like so many Egyptian families in the late 80s and early 90s, Nada's family moved to Saudi Arabia in search of a better life. Years later, they returned to Egypt for the exact same reason.

But those years in the middle were pivotal in shaping Nada in the same way they were pivotal in shaping Egypt's social landscape.

Now on the other side of the Egyptian dream, Nada reflects on the world she knew growing up and how – at such a young age and having known nothing beyond the reality she was raised in – her soul knew that there's gotta be more to life than this.

Though Monica and Nada come from completely different worlds, they find that they have far more in common than they could've imagined, including this strange sense of longing for a home they never quite knew.

See Egypt through Nada's eyes on Instagram @nada_abdrabou.

While you’re there, follow The Foreign Local (@theforeignlocal) for more stories connecting the Egyptian diaspora with everyday life in Om el Donya.

Despite growing up in Saudi Arabia to an Egyptian father and Lebanese mother, it was always instilled in Mustafa that Egypt was home.

Now, for those of us who grow up outside of Egypt, our perception of the country is rarely shaped by Egypt itself. Instead, it ends up being shaped as we live vicariously through the stories of family that grew up there (i.e., our parents), family that's still there, and Egyptian media. We don't quite get the chance to formulate our own perceptions through firsthand encounters.

For Mustafa, hearing about Alexandria through his dad's lens left him excited to come back and visit this coastal city he'd heard so much about... except, it ended up being nothing like he'd expected.

In today's episode, we follow Mustafa's observations about growing up in Saudi Arabia, the shocks that came with his move back to Alexandria, and how and why he began his Instagram account where he documents Alexandria's changing architectural landscape. Mustafa and Monica also dive into the beauty of Egypt's architectural landscape, the importance of archiving and documentation, and how to progress without losing the beauty of what once was.

Mustafa documents the details of Alexandrian architecture on Instagram @alex.archi.

While you’re there, follow The Foreign Local (@theforeignlocal) for more stories connecting the Egyptian diaspora with everyday life in Om el Donya.

Today’s episode is a little different. 

Unlike most other episodes, this one doesn’t dive too deep into Sherin’s story of growing up in the UAE and moving back to Cairo for university. It starts that way, yes; but, in typical Sherin and Monica fashion, the conversation is basically one giant tangent that starts with a very important question: wtf is a Gulfie?

Bringing two very different perspectives to the conversation, Sherin and Monica discuss the word ‘diaspora’ – what it means, who it entails, and the very particular experience it represents – in contrast with the third culture kid experience that most Gulfies identify with.

If we’re honest, this episode is basically just shitting on the North American diaspora and its relationship with Egypt. In other words, Sherin shitting on Monica and her kind.

We’re sure you’ll have some strong opinions just like we did – we’d love to hear them via Instagram.

Sherin hides from social media like it’s a bors, but you can share your thoughts with us at The Foreign Local (@theforeignlocal) and follow us for more stories connecting the Egyptian diaspora with everyday life in Om el Donya.

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Also, esta7meloona; we’ll go back to recording with a sound engineer next season, 7ader.

Mark Hanna’s a storyteller with one hell of a story to tell. 

From Saudi to the UAE to Canada to Egypt, Mark immerses us in the narrative that leads to him unexpectedly dropping his life in Canada to pursue his filmmaking dream in Egypt.

Kicking off the second season of The Foreign Local podcast, Mark and Monica talk about… basically everything. No, seriously. As they recount the stories of Mark’s many moves, they talk about…

• how the rhetoric your parents use shapes your perception of the country
• school in Saudi vs school in the UAE
• Star Wars and Gladiator
• integrating into new spaces and getting bullied
• Coptic Orthodox church culture in North America
• McMasr
• how Egyptians in North America and the Gulf have very different relationships with Egypt
• romanticization, nationalism, and patriotism
• how seemingly small decisions can alter the course of your entire life
• crazy faith moments you couldn’t script if you tried
• how they both ended up in Cairo and working at the same agency one year apart

And, in an unprecedented turn of events, Mark flips the script and welcomes Monica as a guest on her own podcast to talk about the other side of her Egypt story that she’s never shared before.

This is one for the record books.

Mark Hanna is in the house, ladies and gentlemen; let’s GOOOO.

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Mark tells stories on Instagram @hannam6. 

While you’re there, follow The Foreign Local (@theforeignlocal) for more stories connecting the Egyptian diaspora with everyday life in Om el Donya.

Working in media gives you access, perspective, and mild workaholism. Perhaps that’s because of the adrenaline that comes with the industry’s fast-paced nature. Or perhaps the fact that Egypt truly does not sleep and there’s always a place to be and a story to tell.

Or perhaps it’s because the media industry draws impassioned storytellers who pour of themselves into their stories, carrying the responsibility of telling every tale as though it were their own.

In this bonus segment, we talk about Amira's work as a journalist and how it allowed her access to some of Egypt’s most iconic goings-on at a time when being a journalist was truly exciting.

In case you missed it, you can listen to Amira's full episode on The Foreign Local wherever you get your podcasts.

You can find Amira on Instagram @amiralx.

And if you aren't already, follow The Foreign Local on Instagram ⁠@theforeignlocal⁠ and ⁠visit our website ⁠for more content connecting the Egyptian diaspora with everyday life in Om el Donya.