Middle East - Anthony Ham [542]
There are other ways to avoid unwelcome attention. Eat in a restaurant’s family section, where one exists, or at places more used to tourists. If you’re not married, invent or borrow a husband, wear a wedding ring, even carry a photo of your ‘kids’. While this may cause some consternation – what sort of mother/wife are you to have left your family to travel alone? – it will deter many suitors, especially if you assure them that you’re on your way to meet them right now. Most women travellers also find that avoiding direct eye contact with local men – dark sunglasses help – works wonders, although a cold glare can also be an effective riposte if deployed at the right moment.
Maximising your interaction with local women can also help you avoid uncomfortable situations. In taxis, avoid sitting in the front seat unless the driver is female and, on all forms of public transport, sit next to another woman whenever possible. You’re lost? Try asking a local woman for directions.
If none of this works and you can’t shake off a hanger-on, going to the nearest public place, such as the lobby of a hotel, usually works well. If they still persist, asking the receptionist to call the police usually frightens them off.
WORK
It’s possible to pick up work in the Middle East in order to extend your stay and eke out your savings – but you have to know where to look and what you’re looking for. Forget Syria; realistically, your best options are in Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and Turkey, in the places where other foreigners gather in numbers.
For information about working on a kibbutz or a moshav, Click here.
Teaching English
Teaching centres – both the respectable kind and the ‘cowboy’ outfits – can be found throughout the Middle East. The cowboys are often desperate for teachers, and they’ll take on people whose only qualification is that their mother tongue is English. In general, the pay is minimal and you’ll probably have to stay on a tourist visa, which it will be up to you to renew. However, numerous long-term travellers finance their stays this way, particularly in Cairo and İstanbul.
Your chances of getting a better job are greatly improved if you have a certificate in CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults). This is what used to be known as TEFL, and basically it’s your passport to work abroad. To get the qualification, you’ll need to attend a one-month intensive course, which you can do in your home country via an English-language training centre. In the UK, contact International House (IH; 020-7611 2400; www.ihlondon.com; 16 Stukeley Street, London WC2B 5LQ), which runs more than a dozen courses a year and has 110 affiliated schools in 30 countries worldwide, including Egypt (Cairo) and Turkey (İstanbul). Once you’ve completed the course, you can apply for any advertised positions.
Alternatively, you could fly out to Cairo and do the CELTA course at Cairo’s International Language Institute (www.arabicegypt.com), which is affiliated to International House. Depending on the price of your flight, this may be a cheaper way to do it than at IH in London, as the cost of the course is generally around half the equivalent of doing it in the UK.
The other major employer of English-language teachers is the British Council (www.britishcouncil.org). Its overseas teaching centres very rarely take on people who just turn up at the door, as most recruiting is done in the UK. Well in advance of your departure date, check its website, which has a list of upcoming vacancies and British Council addresses