'Happy Valenteim Day!'

That exact phrase was printed on a balloon I saw the other day (actually, it was at the front desk of the fateful hair salon...maybe I should have taken it as an omen.....). 

 It would appear that Valentine's day here is a pretty big deal- all the restaurants and hotels have special menus, and are having galas and parties and the whole city is pink and red  (My Egyptian colleagues were telling me that they have another similar day in November too, but it's less commercial).  I am actually attending one of these galas tomorrow- our GM was invited by one of our high-end travel industry partners to a dinner at one of the hotels near ours, so when he found the only plans I had for tomorrow night was a date with the treadmill, he invited me to join him (out of pity mostly I think!). Apparently we will be there with the "upper echelon of  high society in Cairo" and all the women will be preened and manicured and wearing waaaay too much makeup and perfume (which is actually not much different from usual) so Frank wanted to make sure I had something appropriate to wear...I brought a couple of dresses with me and I got a mani/pedi at the hotel salon tonight (for less than that $20 including tip!), but I still don't think I'll be fancy enough.   I'll give you a report tomorrow though...we'll see!

oh btw, Thank you all for your support about my hair...your kind words have been very comforting to me during this difficult time ;) 

Bye for now everyone, and I hope you all have a wonderful Valenteim Day!  :)

Hugs and kisses! 

C