The preparation for the Family Day started sometime in early February. I was roped in because I was also a committee member for Petronita's Sports and Culture. At first I was a bit apprehensive because I'm definitely not a 'committee member' type of person, preferring my own company most of the time...hehehe
It was also my first time ever being inside the Petronas Country Office (PCO). I didn't even know how to open the door, okay?!! Even though I had my husband's security pass with me. It was definitely funny, well really embarrassing, actually...hehehe
Anyway, being me, I couldn't be quiet for long. I jumped right into the meeting with lots of comments and opinions...hehehe. As I said in earlier post, I was supposed to help as part of the events bureau. But since I felt that I could help in the gifts bureau, I did just that! I helped in going to the souks and other shops to buy gifts for the Family Day.
My favourite was going to Victorinox shop and buying the kitchenware in souk Jumaa'. My worst experience would be buying carpets for the event. At first, we went to a carpet shop near souk Bahri and we got a great bargain there. We bought 5 beautiful rugs there, but unfortunately they didn't have big size rugs. So, we went to the next shop (infront of a cemetary).
We were so lucky because they agreed to sell the big rug for sdg 100. The ladies and I decided to buy at least 5 rugs and we were about to pay when the owner (an egyptian man) rushed to the shop and said that we would have to pay sdg 130 for each rug. We were startled to say the least! We just decided to just let it go and walked out of the shop. The worst thing was that man siad that if we go, 1000 will come. To that I replied, "Insyaallah'. Well, if he's lucky he'll get 1000 customers but all must come from the grace of Allah!
It totally ruin my day, I tell you. It seemed that the egyptian man also owned the previous shop that we went to, as well as the one near sappco in Amarat. No wonder he was furious because his workers gave us a huge discount! Hehehe, serve him right! Anyway, I would give his shops a miss for at least a few months, at least!
As the day got nearer, I started panicking! Being in Sudan, there were a few problems, here and there. At first, we couldn't do a proper rehearsal on Wednesday as the hall was being used. After being directed first to the greens, then to the room next to the cafe, we finally got a little bit of space in the hall to do our rehearsal, which finished quite late, nearly maghrib!
On Thursday, we had a proper rehearsal on the stage. Though the stage looked terrible with old carpets and the promised 500 balloons did not materialise! Anyway, at night I went to cut the clothe for one of the games the next day. Almost everything's ready. I only worried about the lack of boxes for the family game! Some were already with Faatih and some were still in my house! I smsed Faatih saying that I'll let the door to my storeroom open for him to get the boxes whenever he's free.
The sudanese staff finished decorating the stage at nearly midnight. Good job, guys! The promised tents which was supposed to be erected on Wednesday finally arrived around 12 am, can you believe it?!! But by then, I was already trying to force myself to sleep, to get ready for the events early in the morning the next day...
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