Egyptian Mother's Day

This Saturday is Mother's Day in Egypt. It hasn't really been explained to me WHY its not the same day as American Mother's Day, but I do know it is on the same day every year instead of the first Sunday of the month. Egyptians, btw, do not have a father's day. I suppose in this culture, every day is Father's day.
The interesting thing about Mother's Day here is that they not only give their mother's presents, but i recieved some as well. Not that the parents of my students think I have children or anything, it just seems to be a common thing here. I got a lot of nice things, and some not so nice, but the thought was there. Its a very sweet gesture, but a very odd idea. Even when the mother's talked to me yesteday they wished me a Happy Mother's Day. I suppose the idea is that I mother them in the classrooms.
Here's what I got:
- Two plates with Egyptian drawings on them
- a nice bowl made of silver and wood
- a set of six cups
- two different perfumes
- a shirt
- a candle holder
- two candles
- a picture frame
- chocolates

I was very appreciative of these, and many of them will be coming back to the states.

Yesterday was our school Bazaar. It was a nice day off of work (kind of, we were required to be there at three) in which we just walked around to the different booths and watched our kids perform. A lot of people were there, and I spent a lot of time telling parents about how their kids are doing in class. I also received a lot of my gifts listed above here. The kids were fun, and it was nice to see them outside of their uniforms. The little booths that were set up to sell things were nice, though there were two booths with pets that were very sad. Egyptian pet store standards are significantly lower than American ones, and this booth was no exception. They had all kinds of animals, and they were all squeezed into cages. There were two very large guinea pigs in a cage meant for a hamster. They could barely move. It made my heart hurt just to see them.

I'll post pictures up soon (though some are on Facebook if you want to see)


EDIT:
I received a lot more gifts today.
- four coffee mugs
- about five assorted pictures in frames (one of which is gigantic)
- some fake flowers
- a barbie doll
- two clocks
- two sets of earrings
- two necklaces
- a set of three glasses

It was like my birthday :)