Little India in Nairobi Part 2

I don't do much (any) traditional shopping here. Streetwear type stores do exist - Two British chains you can find in most of the shopping malls -  Woolworths and Truworths - but the prices are so sky high for wal-mart quality stuff that it is just not appealing.  Anyways, for some reason I just don't have the urge to shop that sort of stuff here anyways - When you aren't bombarded by shopping centers and billboards all over the place and people dressed to impress constantly reminding you that you need to compete, you find that the desire to buy buy buy more cute tops and jeans and little cutesy dresses and 12 pairs of tennis shoes and 7 pairs of leather boots, etc begins to diminish. I've really enjoyed being away from all that - as much as I LOVE my trips to Marshalls and TJ Maxx in the US. (I'm exclusively a bargain shopper - even at home).

BUT! That does not mean I don't shop here - I go nuts with the cool hand made African and India creations - the stuff that is hard to get in the US or just tons more expensive - I have a small addiction to that stuff. In fact, I think at this point someone needs to declare a moratorium on my handicraft and ethnic clothing buying. Am I really going to be able to wear and use all this stuff when I move back?? Will it be okay to have a house (sorry, I mean apartment - for a second I forgot I'll be moving back to DC where buying a house costs you  half a mill) full of african masks, rugs, paintings, tapestries, statues everywhere you turn?? I'll have to stamp passports at the door - it's that bad.  Anyways, this is about India and stuff from India.

A huge expo of vendors from India was in Nairobi for 10 days and somehow I found myself waiting at the doors for the place to open on opening day. It was like black Friday at Target for me! I was literally one of like 6 people like standing there staring at the gate watching the clock.  Finally they let us in and it was a STAMPEDE..of 6 people...I'm trying to make it more dramatic.  The vendors weren't all set up yet but I still managed to buy a couple of tops in the 15 minutes I had during my lunch break. I decided to just leave after that and come back once everyone was set up. I was a bit nervous about this since I had to take a three day trip to Uganda for work and I was unsure if people were going to come and buy all the good stuff before I got back - but it was all still there and I scored some great finds – there are a few things I’m actually annoyed at myself that I did not buy – ugh. Here's all the awesome stuff I saw (much of which I ended up buying):

I ended up buying the orange on on the left side of the photo

Beautiful saris

They had these beautiful lambs skin purses - so I got one. So cheap!

These are the ones that i wish i would have bought but didn't. He wanted $20 for these HUGE saris. They were gorgeous so detailed and awesome colors. I could have done something super cool with these - curtains or something. Damn. They are much more expensive at Diamond Plaza for nice ones like these.

Love the colors - didn't buy.

Loved but didn't buy.

Loving this top - just need to find the right fancy pants

For most proper Indian women, pants are worn under this - but not for hoochie American lady!!

I just had this one tailored to be a bit shorter so that it's not such a gown.

I go back and forth on loving this and hating it. But it's mine that's all that matters.

I bought this really cheap beautiful sari material. I figured I can make a table cloth for xmas or something cool like that with it.

Yes, I do have worker man hands. And it looks like arthritis or something..but it's not. I'm trying to show you the jewelry here!

        
LOVE ALL MY NEW International Flair!  And so cheap – that’s the best part.  Cost me way less than a trip to Marshalls or TJ Maxx normally would for all  that I bought. What do you think?