In search of vanilla

We roamed the isles, up & down, for two whole days. We bought chests of drawers, bedding, towels; detergents & cleaning utensils, we bought hangers, hanging shelves, pots & pans, plates & cutlery. We soon moved on to buying groceries & ... at first glance we couldn’t find it. We looked at the shelves neatly stacked with row upon row of ready mix cakes, brownies, muffins ... everything out there was available, but no vanilla extract!
‘Have faith’ we thought, ‘we shall succeed!’ Surely, with over 80 million people, surely some bake & use vanilla extract. But still no; we still couldn’t find it. Rows & rows of imported Asian & Mexican food products lined the shelves, expensive stuff... we looked at each other & both uttered simultaneously “But no vanilla!” We finally gave up & brought our own from back home along with our clothes & shoes & the children’s toys & all sorts of junk that we just can’t live without; I’m a serious baker!
We moved on. We made peace with the fact that they just don’t seem to use it, dismissing with disdain the meaningless packs of the powdered stuff, along with the seemingly unreliable packets of baking powder & baking Soda, we brought some of that along with us as well. And then we started to settle in, started doing things a l’egyptian! I bought shoes -mandatory in any new country... ok so I cheated they were Nine West, but still, I was trying. I got a pedicure; I even tipped the guy bagging my groceries & felt so local afterwards!
We started making friends. This couple took us out for an Egyptian experience, grilled chicken at a restaurant that is completely unknown to foreigners (or anyone who hasn’t watched Abbassyat on Fatafeet!). We ate, the kids played & then we looked at each other & asked the all important question: “Where’s the vanilla?” “What do you mean?” came the answer (or rather the question); “didn’t you see the packets of vanilla powder?”, “Oh so that stuff is good?”, “Of course,” the lady said, “One pack is good for two eggs”, she very simply explained.
We felt small; here we were with our stereotypes, thinking vanilla comes only in a bottle, dismissing the poor packets of powder, sitting there all along waiting for us to take home. We realised that things aren’t always as they seem & we should really open our minds & embrace this new culture, it has been around for a while!
PS I have to confess though, that even after this discover, I still haven’t tried the powdered stuff, I have a big stash of liquid vanilla extract that ... err... will spoil if I don’t use it?!