Second Thanksgiving in Cairo

Happy Thanksgiving! Today's my favorite holiday, and this is the second year in a row I'm spending it without my family. Last year I went on the AUC trip out to the Red Sea monasteries, but this year's trip was to places I'd been already in the Fayoum. It's a strange feeling, being without my family on Thanksgiving. I'm not alone, though - I've received not one but two invitations to proper Thanksgiving dinners (tonight and tomorrow).

Today I've found two things to be thankful for. No, wait - actually it's three things.

I went out today to grab some fresh ingredients for my contributions to dinner(s). I knew there'd be no trouble with things being open, because Egyptians couldn't care less about Thanksgiving. Open stores on Thanksgiving - the first thing I'm grateful for today.

I decided to change it up a little and went to the souq down near Saad Zaghloul. I was there last week when I took the metro, and I was really surprised to see all the vendors around the metro stop. Today I stepped out into the brilliant sunshine and the warm air - the second thing I'm grateful for today.

I spent awhile browsing before buying. And here are my purchases:
5 beautiful peppers - red, yellow and orange ... 5 LE (overcharged)
6 fancy lemons, not the baladi ones ... 1 LE
1 bunch of dill ... 0.50 LE (overpaid without being asked)
1 bunch of cilantro ... 0.50 LE (ditto above)
6 gorgeous tiny sweet oranges ... 1.50 LE
1 bunch of mint ... 0.25 LE
1 kilo of green beans (what can I say, a whole kilo seemed like a good idea) ... 2.50 LE

And then I went to a greengrocer to round out my purchases (5.90 LE) with:
3 carrots (Egyptian carrots are great)
6 tomatoes
3 persimmons
3 spicy peppers

So all told, I paid LE 17.15 ($3.11) for all this fresh bounty:


And that's the third thing I'm grateful for - cheap, fresh food that I can walk to buy, to prepare for friends who have invited me into their homes. Brilliant.