CAIRO - The New Year is a special time, best spent with those we love, and the celebrations require a lot of preparation. Egyptian families and foreigners living here, who celebrate this occasion, usually gather at home for a large dinner, consisting of turkey, roast beef, gravy, potatoes, sweet potatoes, lots of other vegetables and salad, followed by chocolate biscuits and sweets. "Some foreigners rent a chalet or stay in a hotel on the Red Sea for a couple of weeks over Christmas and the New Year, although it depends how much holiday they get," says Joseph, 38, an Englishman, who has been working in Egypt for several years. Hotels compete with each other in offering a wealth of culinary delights, fun and festivities, presenting different fun programmes for families, friends and children. "To make this occasion special, we have held two cooking classes for children aged three to eight from 3pm to 5pm. Children made their own gingerbread houses and took them home to put under the Christmas tree," Lamia Qassem, the marketing manager at a five-star hotel in New Cairo, told The Egyptian Gazette. "We also offered our guests afternoon tea from 3pm to 6pm on the days leading up to the New Year's Eve for LE80 per person. "We've also got a choir performing throughout the last week of December from 6pm to 7pm. Santa sang long with them on Christmas Eve! They also sang for our guests at 1pm on Christmas Day," added Lamia. "I love being here at this time of the year, away from all the hassle and stress associated with Christmas in England. In Cairo, I have the freedom to celebrate this festival or even ignore it," said Peter Johnson, 45, an English teacher, working in Cairo. "I remember my first Christmas in Egypt. It was a particularly cold winter. I was curled up in bed, feeling homesick and with tears streaming down my face, clutching my tiny radio and listening to carols onthe BBC. No more homesickness for me, I'm happy where I am. I love Christmas in Cairo," he told this newspaper. As for dinner on the New Year's eve in the big hotels, the price per individual ranged from LE245 to LE600, depending on whether drinks were included, according to Chef Mohamed Mahmoud Mohamed, who works at a well-known five-star hotel in downtown Cairo. "Popular Lebanese singers like Elissa, Haifa, Wael Kafoury and Nancy Agram often perform on the New Year's Eve, something both foreigners and Egyptians love," he added. Most hotels erect Christmas trees in their foyers early in December, covered in baubles, tinsel and fancy lights, and decorated with brightly coloured toys. You also find such trees outside upmarket restaurants, cafés, clothes shops and jewellery stores in Egypt. Christmas trees have ancient origins; indeed the Ancient Egyptians and many other cultures once worshipped evergreens. When the winter solstice arrived, they brought green date palm leaves into their homes to symbolise life's triumph over death. Nowadays, imported fir trees are one of the main features of celebrating Christmas and the New Year in Egypt, although many shops buy artificial trees, which can be reused year after year. Artificial, decorated Christmas trees costbetween LE350 and LE1,200 at Cairo's big supermarkets, which also sell a wide range of food, candles, toys and other presents to mark the occasion. "Real Christmas trees are imported mainly from Belgium and Holland, but they are terribly expensive, starting at LE800 for a 2m-tall tree, while a 3m-tall tree costs LE1,200. "Banat el-Qonsol [poinsettias], cultivated here in Egypt, are also very popular at the Christmas and the New Year season, with one poinsettia costing between LE35 andLE45, which means they compete very well with Christmas trees," according to Hala Shelby, the owner of a shop called ‘Flowers Talk'. "Catholics like trees with candles. Their celebrations, after their fasting, start on Christmas Eve. Of course, Coptic Orthodox Christians are still fasting, as they don't celebrate Christmas till January 7," she added.
