Merry Christmas from Cairo. Yesterday (Friday, Dec. 12) saw a group of ex-pats heading to Cairo to take in the Maadi Women's Bazaar (not the exact name - but you get the idea). The bazaar was held outdoors at the Maadi Degla Sporting Centre - had not realized it would be out of doors - but it was a wonderful day for it - nary a cloud in the sky and certainly no snow. Only drawback was that it was held on the football pitch (soccer fields) and was quite sandy - so got sand in my Birks while wandering around. Could have spent a lot of money - lots of artisans and craftspeople had a lot of neat things for sale. Would have loved to have bought more but the following are pictures of what I 'allowed' myself to purchase. First thing was the funky 'Santa' hat - just could not resist - Sharon insisted on taking a pic to show Maurine - so she would not feel that I only embarras her - must admit I had a lot of fun with it - caused a lot of upraised eyebrows - muslim woman wearing infidel apparel - OMG - had a lot of them thar infidels commenting on it. One woman told me I was so cute she would like to rent me - should have taken her up on her offer - maybe then I could have bought more treasures.

Dont'cha just love my new mug - it was so cute - could not resist. Would have loved two of them but could only really afford one - they were 25LE each - about $5.00 CDN.

And then there are the alabaster candle holders - the look so cool with the tea lights inside showing off the 'design'. Took the pictures on my dining room table - hence the reflection off the glass top. They were really expensive - 10LE each (about $2.00 CDN) - so I splurged and bought two.

I just love the different view depending on which side you look at. Really glad that I splurged. At the same booth they had a wonderful alabaster 'plate' - rounded oblong - would have looked great as a centerpiece but could not afford it. At another booth Mr. Mohammed - he is a frequent seller at AWA - had a really great table runner for Christmas - again too rich for my blood at the moment. If I could have I would have dropped a sizable bundle - lots of things caught my eye. Will have to make plans to go next year (if I am still here) and stock up on 'treasures' - so many things that could have been taken back to Canada as unique gifts. SIGH. Isn't it always the way - when one has the money there is no time for 'shopping' and when one has time there is no money - God's little joke on us.

Must admit that it was a long day - had to be at the meeting point by 8:00 a.m. - so woke up at 5 so I could get breakfast before I headed out. Opted to take a cab as I did not want to have to try to extricate my car and then drive on a Friday night after dark. The meeting point was a popular mall in the area of Smoha - and it was jam packed when we got back - so I was very glad I had been a chicken. We arrived in Cairo and of course got lost - bus driver did not know where we were going and map reading is a definite lost art in this part of the world. We made it to the venue a bit after 12 (noon) which was not bad - and we headed back out by 4:15 p.m. Arrived back in Alex around 9 - got home around 9:30 and crashed by 10:00 - I was one tired puppy - a lot of walking and sitting on a bus. Amazing how tiring travel can be. Must admit that I do not notice being so tired when I do the driving myself - but that is just me.