110 CultureShock! Egypt
throughout Egypt. Apartments or flats tend to be quite
different from those in the West. Among the upper-class,
flats are often larger than most single family dwellings, for
example, in the US. Family living space is generally quite
comfortable.
Sometimes a large, family-owned villa is divided into
flats in which different family groups live. This arrangement
facilitates continuation of the tradition of the extended family
living in the same quarters. However, in this case, individual
families have separate flats within the villa. For example,
the parents (or widow) may have one floor, a daughter and
her family another, and a son and his family still another.
Due to recent construction, particularly in and around Cairo,
more and more very large buildings house many luxurious
flats purchased by the occupants. In these cases, extended
family living may encompass a widowed parent living with
children and their families or vice versa.Rural and Bedouin Lifestyles
The fellahin (peasant farmers) who typically live in small
villages generally practise subsistence level farming and some
fishing, or work for wages on large farms. Others rent farms