We were given a tour of Mancheya market in Alexandria. It was arranged and led by the headmaster of the school where Richard works and his wife. I've been told you need a guide for your first time to the market, and I'm glad I had one. It's all a bit of a blur. There were sight and sounds all around us. And people! So many people. My mind mushed the colours, textures, patterns and sounds together and catalogued it as "chaos" so that I could absorb without processing. My head moved in bird-like motions as my eyes darted from sight to sight, trying to take everything in. I managed very few photos, but I will be back, for sure!

Today we went into the market district to stock up our kitchen. The first stop was arranging the delivery of a couple of cases of water. It was supposed to arrive 30 minutes ago but hasn’t yet, so the jury is still out on that purchase. Then we shopped for fruits, vegetable and freshly cooked bread from crates stacked up on the side of the road. There was a lot of yelling going on between various vendors and customers, all part of the experience I guess. We just payed and moved on without attempting to bargain, possibly getting royally ripped off, but maybe not. In any case, it was not very expensive. The bread was the cheapest, six Egyptian pounds (about 60 pence or 1 CAD) for three croissants and four bread rolls.