Would you still be with your SO if ...

[Kenza 1]

Yes, plan to in the future but with money like everyone has said and to raise the children

[Henia 11]

Thanks everyone for the replys. I know I did not plan on living here but I am here, making the most of it! I see many foregin women coming here with some illusion - that they will have better life with raising their children in a much more modest and family oriented envorment; and those who are v ery religious come thinking living in a Muslim country is something we must do ... like it is one step below the Paradise. Many figure out that after moving here, reality is not the image they got from the short visits at a all. Family stop being nice, actually stop giving a hoot, religion here is out the door (unless you really push yourselves) and like many stated without money (and lots of it) you will suffer.

I know for myself, I did not come with bags of money - I was not rich before and I am sure not now! But for this reason, I have suffered - health care, lack of a decent home, lack of car ... and overcoming all my ILs and neighbours thinking I am loaded and have too much money, so I better give handouts to them! (Yea right!)

Anyway, this thread was just was me being curious ...

[MrsAmera 41]

We talked about the what-ifs a lot and if for some reason we had to move back I definetely would. I think I am more excited by moving back there than my husband. Like others have said - money and jobs would be the biggest issue. But were that to find us in a moderate income range I would be happy to live there with our children. I have always been a bit of a wanderlust and living there would be a great experience for us and our children. I would love them to be able to spend more time with their grandma and aunties. I spent quite a bit of time in Maroc and also lived in Germany so I don't think being away from the US would be an issue - as long as I have MBC4 and my internet I will be happy Oh and another note. When we moved away from DC and back to WI I was a SAHM/SAHW for about 5 months and although I thought I would hate it I ended up really enjoying it. I would love to be able to work part time in Maroc but spend time at home with my kids and my kitchen lol!

[AlHayatZween 2]

i'm afraid if we move back to Morocco, there will be no excuse... i'll HAVE to cook every day.

here, i get away with "i'm really busy with school/work/insert-excuse-here"

[Muh and me 18]

We talked about the what-ifs a lot and if for some reason we had to move back I definetely would. I think I am more excited by moving back there than my husband. Like others have said - money and jobs would be the biggest issue. But were that to find us in a moderate income range I would be happy to live there with our children. I have always been a bit of a wanderlust and living there would be a great experience for us and our children. I would love them to be able to spend more time with their grandma and aunties. I spent quite a bit of time in Maroc and also lived in Germany so I don't think being away from the US would be an issue - as long as I have MBC4 and my internet I will be happy Oh and another note. When we moved away from DC and back to WI I was a SAHM/SAHW for about 5 months and although I thought I would hate it I ended up really enjoying it. I would love to be able to work part time in Maroc but spend time at home with my kids and my kitchen lol!

There is always a possiblity. If I knew I could get my meds there. We have talked about retirement there

[sara535 15]

I agree with Jenn, there are circumstances under which it would be less than ideal to live there but I wouldnt end my marriage over it. We' ve talked a lot about buying a vacation/retirement home there in the future so who knows....

I'd probably be alright if I could take my Kitchen Aid. and a case of brownie mixes.

[morocco4ever 63]

We were denied back in 2005. My husband wanted to abandon the visa and for me to move there, but I have my children here (full grown however), and my parents were in need of assistance that it seems only I was able or willing to provide. I told him to hold out through the denial process, and if there was no hope I would move there. I knew all along that he would get it, but it would take time and patience.

He did get the visa, and has been here now 3 years. We have discussed that after retirement we will move there as long as there is enough money. As many have said, money is a main factor to living there. He did get home sick and wanted to move back, which I told him that the door was open, and that he could go, but I can't just pack up and move without solid financial plans. Needless to say he is still here. So yes, I would move there, providing we had enough financially to survive. I do like my luxuries here....lol

[Mandy P 3]

I would consider it. Neither of us wants to live there but if it was necessary for us to be together then I would do what I had to do. I have no illusions of Algeria being a wonderful, safe, happy, easy place to live. He has told me many times that Algeria is very nice to visit for holiday but not somewhere nice to live (unless you are rich).

[Darnell 8,478]

Would you still be with your SO if ..., they asked you to live in their country? Absolutely !

[Henia 11]

I would just like to mention, that all those who said they would not move to medical reasons. I beg to defer. I had gotten very bad care with my first pregnancy and birth here ... but cos my husband listened to his family who kept saying I was a spoiled foreigner and I was not really ill. But for my second pregnancy here, I went to a private clinic and to me got better care then I did in the US. Not to mention that it was alot cheaper then care in the US.

I have since gotten lasik eye surgery which I could never afford in the US. Actually any medical care, I could not afford since even with insurance the payments were more then I could handle! Here, the clinics I went to were modern and the staff's bedside manner 1000x better then in the US!

But again for this type of care, you do need money! The free hospitals are of course understaffed and not well equipped at all!

AlHayat; LOL yes it is true - no excuse here!

MrsAmera: how are ya? Here, I do have the possiblity to work but not until my 2 boys are little older - not BFing will I seek work outside!

Living here, it gets boring even with internet - TV I do not watch - no patience for it! I miss having places to go, like the mall -not to shop but just to have a place to walk around, look and esp the kid's playground malls have,during the colder months. I miss playgrounds outside too! The movies (there is one here but they never play anything worth seeing) I miss shopping in the US also - I miss the convience and the quality! I miss my car and going out very late at night just for a drive! I miss going out to eat - there are not ANY good resturants here! And finally I miss having a modern decent home! So I guess my comforts - my luxuries as Morocco4ever put it!

I miss many thing but on the other hand, many things here I love too!

[momof1 205]

Personally, I cannot compare lasik and child birth to open heart surgery which my son has undergone. Even here in MN there is an Algerian family that had to seek treatment for spina bifida at Mayo Clinic bc the level care he needed was not available in Algeria. The Algerian community in the US and Europe paid $50k for him to be airlifted out of Algeria and for his familly's living expenses in the US while the medical treatment was done as charity by the hospital.

My husband believes wholeheartedely that if our son were born in Algeria that he would not have survived past infancy. I guess because I have very good health insurance in the US I can make that comparison.

I will say that my husband got very good very afforable dental work in Algeria that would have cost 3-4x more in the US.

Henia, it's funny that you mention the childbirth because even the Algerians know that the public clinics treat women like ####### during childbirth. He said some friends would prefer their wives to deliver at home rather than be treated so badly.

[zahra 11]

My husband has been upfront about wanting to move back to Morocco from the start - I don't think he would have ever married an American if I wasn't open to the possibility. It will be a few years down the road, when we finish school and become more financially secure, but it is definitely always on my mind when I plan my education and career - I want to be able to work there and be somewhat independent. I also have my own conditions - e.g. we would have to make enough money for me to travel back here to visit my family every year. And about the cooking - I am hoping there it will be easy/cheap to have someone else cook!

We will see what happens... Maybe if we get good jobs here, especially on the east coast, and he could visit home a few times a year, that would work. But we also worry about raising kids here. On the other hand, I have friends here whose kids have a much better Islamic education than kids I know in Morocco.

I think it is nice to have it as an option, and who knows what the future holds!

[Beauty for Ashes 257]

I would just like to mention, that all those who said they would not move to medical reasons. I beg to defer. I had gotten very bad care with my first pregnancy and birth here ... but cos my husband listened to his family who kept saying I was a spoiled foreigner and I was not really ill. But for my second pregnancy here, I went to a private clinic and to me got better care then I did in the US. Not to mention that it was alot cheaper then care in the US.

I have since gotten lasik eye surgery which I could never afford in the US. Actually any medical care, I could not afford since even with insurance the payments were more then I could handle! Here, the clinics I went to were modern and the staff's bedside manner 1000x better then in the US!

But again for this type of care, you do need money! The free hospitals are of course understaffed and not well equipped at all!

AlHayat; LOL yes it is true - no excuse here!

MrsAmera: how are ya? Here, I do have the possiblity to work but not until my 2 boys are little older - not BFing will I seek work outside!

Living here, it gets boring even with internet - TV I do not watch - no patience for it! I miss having places to go, like the mall -not to shop but just to have a place to walk around, look and esp the kid's playground malls have,during the colder months. I miss playgrounds outside too! The movies (there is one here but they never play anything worth seeing) I miss shopping in the US also - I miss the convience and the quality! I miss my car and going out very late at night just for a drive! I miss going out to eat - there are not ANY good resturants here! And finally I miss having a modern decent home! So I guess my comforts - my luxuries as Morocco4ever put it!

I miss many thing but on the other hand, many things here I love too!

They have one mall thats pretty nice in Algiers called the Monument of the Martyrs Mall. It seemed to have alot of vendors and the bank exchange cracked me up. There was nothing in the computers on the desks and when you needed to do a money exchange, they take out a big ledger and write in it. I remember so many really funny things about Algiers ( I spent alot more time in Oran) But the one thing I loved about Algiers is how it looked at night. Algeria is a magical mystical place and even when you have been taken for a ride and everything was in vain as you well know and we discussed, it was an amazing ride...

By the way Algiers has an amazing restaurant called CHICKEN ROYALE in old Kouba. You must eat that chicken. Its better than yours I bet...And poutine? Ooh lalalalallala...

Tipaza was one of the first places I saw in Algeria about 4 years ago. I remember it being so lush and green but I remember as we tracked back to Algiers that someone told me that much of the worst massacres happened in that triangle and that the people there have many memories of the dark years there. There were alot of bogus road blocks there and hundreds massacred on the roads around there. That has got to lead to people having alot to get over. Hameur El Ain comes to mind

Have you been to MEDEA and seen the monkeys hanging from the trees and crossing the streets?

[Courtney08 0]

Interesting question,

I actually wanted to live in Jordan. Husband insisted that it is to hard to find work and it would not be worth the amount of money made for me to move. After a few visits I do see how it is, to expensive and would be highly impractical for us to live the same life that we can in the states. I have thought about this a lot and I would move if he ever asked but we would have to have the children from my first relationship there also. I honestly do not see me moving permanently overseas, I could do it for a few years but I am very much attached to my family and I think I communicated that prior to us ever getting serious in our relationship. After this entire process the only think I know for sure is that you never know what you will do for someone that you love.

[AlHayatZween 2]

and a case of brownie mixes.

omg... you are so right!