Happy New Year!!!

I am just about to begin recovering from the festive season...........

Scotland for Christmas was good..... cold... and everyone around me had a cold or flu... but other than that good! Unfortunatly the visit was so short I didn't really get round everyone I had hoped to see- next time!!!!!

Then I get back to Cairo and am boiling hot from the difference in weather from there to here... that lasted all of an hour and then i was back to my normal Cairo winter shiver!!! It was lovely to come back to my busy busy flat! currently 3 girls staying... 2 of them professional dancers and one 'hobby' dancer... makes for some interesting conversations over breakfast (around 5pm usually!!!) and over late night cups of tea ( around 5am usually!!!!). Busy but fun!!!

New year was strange for me.... I had expected to be performing on the boat... but they had altered the schedule so I ended up being free until midnight... and then had 2 gigs after that. I spent the bells, sitting in a car on gamet dowal street putting on my make up as we were driving to my 1st gig of the night!- oh and we had just passed Santa Claus getting out a taxi!!!!

Both of the performances unfortunatly with CD rather than with my band- which I really dont enjoy so much at all. The 1st was on a boat and the stage was tiny and wobbly and the majority of the people in the room couldn't see from where they were sitting. I managed to get the people close to the stage on side... handing me tissues etc etc and dancing in their seats... but overall , personally it was a disappointing show. Lots of people with money- but not much class!

The next venue, a 5 star hotel in the town centre, however was very swanky... lots of both money and class... and the audience (all egyptians) were amoung the nicest I have ever danced for in Cairo! They were just lovely- danced, sang along, clapped along... just generally behaved as an audience should!! Thank you all- you made my new year just perfect and reminded me why I have chosen the life I have!

I was on a total high by the time I finished at 2.30am.... so I went with a few friends to a house party. These people had hired a villa in the middle of nowhere for the night, and had a sound system to rival any nightclub in town... and the techno music was pumping... and everyone was drinking and smoking dope.... and there were all of about 10 people there. Needless to say, we didn't hang around!!!!!!! A drive to the top of the mountian, moqattam, to see the view of Cairo within these 1st few hours of the new year... and then home around 6am.

Last night was a friends birthday- so that was another night of partying from 9pm til 5 am! oh my life is just so horrible....dont you think??? !!!

So... now you can see what I have been up to so far this year- all thats left for me to say is HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone who might be reading this... I wish you happiness and perfect shimmys for the entirety of 2009..........