Writing the second part of my text about Bazaari class in Iran coincided with the first Bazaaris protest against a recent government law after 30 years.

According to Reuters, “This is the first time the bazaar is doing this, protesting against a government law, after the victory of the Islamic revolution”.

The fall of Shah and rise of Bazaar

For understanding what is happening in Iran now, one should look at the main reason of the rise of Islamists in Iran 30 years ago: It all started when Shah decided to invest the Iran’s oil windfall profit in some industrial development projects.

The Bazaaris, mostly traditional conservatives under the guidance of clergy in “holy” cities of Qom (Iran) and Najaf (Iraq), felt threatened, because the industrialization was about to create competition for them, and in addition, they received no share of the magnificent oil revenue.

Therefore, threatened by growth in industrial sector and intellectual social movements like liberalism and Marxism –which they detest more than anything else, because they rival Islamic ideology- they raised like a disciplined political party. Powered by populist slogans like promise of endowment of oil revenue to everyone, with the help and endless historical ignorance and technical similarity of two main rivals, Islamic liberals and Islamic Marxists, they overthrew the Shah’s regime.

Just by the birth of the Islamic republic, bazaar became the central nervous system of Iran, Bazaaris became the most influential class in society and revolutionaries generously handed over them unimaginable amount of cash, factories, properties and resources they took away by force from the old money, Shah’s institutions and relatives as well as national resources.

The emergence of rivals: Technocrats

The Bazaar honeymoon with Iran’s rulers threatened first by the birth of a rising nouvo riche class called “technocrats”. They were the people –mostly in government and the younger generation of the Bazaaris- who had more education than Bazaaris who just import goods and negotiate deals using translators. With the help of the government and their own academic background, they found the intellectual capacity to import technologies and industries to Iran, namely the renovation of Iran’s telecom and car industries. It may sound over simplistic, but it is true. The shining stars of the technocrats’ era were minister of IT&T with who introduced internet and mobile phone networks to Iran for the first time, MD of Iran’s car industry giant “Iran khodro” (who imported the technology for making new cars in Iran from France after almost two decades of embargo) and Tehran’s mayor who transformed Tehran’s infrastructure to a large extent). I can also add the head and founder of the Islamic Azad University, the first and only non-governmental for-profit university in Iran who could absorb a mass of young people who were seeking a way to enter university to avoid Iran’s inhuman mandatory military service by going to university.

However, the real problem for Bazaaris began by the [s]election of Mahmood Ahmedinejad as the president.

When generals return home from war

Ahmedinejad and his team are veterans of Iran-Iraq 8 year war and are top officers of Guardians of Islamic Revolution Army, the Iran “alternative” to the national armed force or “Artesh”. Now a little about this notorious militia that is so dear to U.S that named it a terrorist organization:

As usual to Irans paradoxical power structure, there are always at least two organizations for each singe task or duty in Iran, one the national, traditional, weak one, and the other the “Islamic”, “mission-critical” one. For example, there is a union for doctors and an “Islamic union of Muslim doctors”. There is a union for construction engineers and architects and there is an “Islamic” counterpart. There are standard student unions and several “Islamic” student unions that get the real budget and support and state media coverage. (Indeed these government puppet organizations act as the union-busters in times of calamity and mask the real voices of dissent)

Military at the core of the government operating system managed not by the Iranian traditional armed forces, but by the “alternative” paramilitary force that is very interested to unconventional weapons like ballistic missiles and electronic warfare etc.

The militia is a massive economic, defense and intelligence system that virtually is a country inside a country. People who are running it are the younger, more radical elements of revolution and war that used to be supported by the same Bazaaris that they are confronting now.

During the revolution, Iran witnessed the classical rise-of-fascists-to-power scenario; clergy and conservatives supported radical elements to overthrow the Shah, the radicals went on war with Iraq and returned to Tehran more powerful, experienced, and brutal. Then, with the [s]election of Ahmedinejad as president, they took the control of the government and begin to suppress the rivals, including technocrats and the same conservative Bazaaris that helped them rise to power and closed their eyes to their brutalities.

The revolution eats his parents

Here is the situation, the Shiaa clergy and Bazaaris, the traditional, right wing, conservative, profiteer class, which was afraid of liberalist and Marxist intellectual movements of 70’s from one side and witnessed its eroding share of power, capital, and oil revenue from the other side, released and supported their radical elements to bring down the Shah’s regime. The radicals succeeded and later the 8-year Iran-Iraq war helped them “cleanse” the society and power structure from unwanted people. During the recent years and especially after the rise of Iranian moderate[ly]-president Khatami, the conservative class (clergy and Bazaaris) gave increasingly more power to radicals in revolutionary guards to overcome the stream of changes, however, after the end of Khatami presidency, their jinni preferred not to return to it’s bottle and instead took over the power.

Now with Ahmedinejad engage in them head to head with the new VAT law, the Bazaaris are facing a serious threat to their business (goods trafficking) model and hegemony for the first time after the revolution. It seems their sons took the ideological nonsense that they carefully taught them for years more seriously than they could ever imagine.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

7:00 PM to 11:00 PM

Where:
3 RD AVE & LYON - Glebe Community Centre, Ottawa, Ontario.   Google Map

EAT-DANCE-PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and raise funds for:
"KIDS HELP PHONE"
"BEREAVED FAMILIES" & "DISTRESS CENTRE"

You are cordially invited to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the rich culture of Bellydance in the Ottawa Region
7 pm, Saturday October 18th, 2008
Glebe Community Centre (corner of 3rd ave. & Lyon)

* Wonderful performances by your favourite teachers
* Surprise Guest performers
* Great FOOD !!! by Corner Cafe/Mona's
* AMAZING PRIZES * 
Two Weekend Get-aways courtesy of STARWOOD Hotels
Authentic Dance Belt from Egypt courtesy of OASIS Dance
Beautiful Handmade Silk Veil courtesy of Shibori Borealis

Tickets: $25

You pre-purchase yours in advance from me at Tracey@tav-creations.com with Paypal [$1 nominal fee will apply to cover Paypal fees].

AND.....

TAV CREATIONS PRESENTS the Dancer's Bazaar

Sunday, October 19, 2008

12:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Where:
260 McArthur (Knights of Columbus Hall), Ottawa, Ontario.   Google Map

A Dancer's Bazaar
The largest gathering of Ottawa area dancers with the best selection of new and used costumes, fabrics, music, accessories and more to buy, sell, swap and trade!

Open to all - free admission

Meet teachers, check out class schedules, get costume information, and much more!

Something for everyone - young and old - men and women! Come on out and enjoy the afternoon!

The Dancer's Bazaar now hosts approximately 45 tables of goods and services to appeal to the shopper in us all!

Looking for zills? Sticks? Veils? Skirts? Music? Anything you can think of, and many things you might not have thought would come in handy - tote bags and cover-ups, baladi dresses, and accessories to complete any outfit! Whew! There will be new stock from Egypt, Turkey and of course from our local artisans and designers. And be sure to check out the many deals for used costumes as well.

There are many vendors who are connected to the belly dance community who are offering products and services that might not automatically seem like a bellydance purchase, so come with an open mind! Remember this is a cash and carry event - credit cards are not likely to be accepted by most vendors. And as in the past, many new vendors will be coming out, so there will be a huge selection of products available!

Contact me for any more information at (613) 241-3397 or tracey@tav-creations.com

Get the bilingual Miniposter (403 KB PDF) with all the details!

I've been attempting to paint more than a portrait for the last few months but there is something special about this lady that has had me breaking that self imposed rule.   She's been the subject of my paintings four times already in the last 3 months.   And I know that I'm not done yet! You can see the others versions here, here and here.   

She is the Tea Lady with a low open stall outside the entrance to a disused railway track.  She was selling tea and some eats and had one customer at the time the photographs were taken.   I like the fact that she is looking down and away as I find it easier to let my imagination run free when I'm painting.

The track later took us past a few shops and then a line of shanties on either side of the track leading to a dried fish market which is a popular addition to local dishes in Bangladesh.   Further ahead was Karwan Bazaar, one of the biggest wet markets in the city.  

Photograph copyright Anil Advani.  Used with permission.

Well . . .

Oct. 17-18:   Gone to St. Louis (celebrating Jas's birthday)

Oct. 25: Church Chili Supper/Fall Festival (Big carnival at church)

Oct. 31: Halloween party/trick-or-treating at Jas's aunt's

Nov. 1: Baby Shower for girl from church

Nov. 2: Baby Shower for another girl from church

Nov. 3-7:  Getting ready for the church bazaar

Nov. 8:  Church bazaar all day, followed by benefit auction and dance that evening for my brother (Can anyone say CRAZY day??)

Nov. 17:  Anna's birthday (and her party)

All in all, there's a lot going on in the next month, not to mention getting preparations ready for Thanksgiving Dinner at our house, buying Christmas presents before the rush, and trying to grow my home business.  But I love the holiday season, and I especially love the onset of autumn, so it's all good . . .

Off to finish some more crafts for the bazaar.  Have a great weekend, everyone!

;) Sabrina

Although the implemented 3% sales tax only applied to gold and jewellery shops in the bazaars,  other shopkeepers closed down their stalls in solidarity.  Bazaaris are worried that being forced to pass on the sales tax to consumers will hurt their businesses, in the context of a reported 29% inflation rate in September according to Iran's Central Bank. Some retailers didn't mind paying the sales tax, but worried that there would be an arbitrary implementation, ultimately benefiting only larger competitors with government connections. In the words of a carpet salesman quoted in a Washington Post article, "In Iran, if you have connections, you don't have to pay any taxes...but we don't have those connections. So we probably have to pay double."

Fearing that the protests would turn political, President Ahmadinejad decided to postpone the implementation of the sales tax following an emergency meeting between tax authorities and merchant associations. Different reports quote a period of 2-6 months before the implementation of the sales tax, and claim that the tax will be implemented to large enterprises only, thus having less of an impact on small-businessmen.

The powerful bazaari merchant class played an incremental role in bringing about the Islamic Revolution, as it funded the paralyzing strikes in other sectors of the Iranian economy and allied with activist clerics. Bazaari-led protests are thus particularly worrisome for Tehran, due to the contemporary, and historically, powerful role of the merchants in Iranian politics.

Τώρα, παρακαλώ κι εσάς, να τα αγαπήσετε, να τα στολίσετε στα Blog σας και στα site σας και να μας βοηθήσετε να βρούμε εθελοντές και κοινό για το bazaar μας. Πέρσυ, το μπαζάρ των Δρόμων Ζωής, ήταν το αγαπημένο της μπλογκόσφαιρας. Ελπίζω σε σας για να γίνει και φέτος.

Κάτω από κάθε μπανεράκι, θα βρείτε το κείμενο που πρέπει να αντιγράψετε στο μπλογκ σας για να το ανεβάσετε. Για οποιοδήποτε πρόβλημα, παρακαλώ σχολιάστε.

Εκ μέρους των Δρόμων Ζωής, σας ευχαριστώ από καρδιάς όλων μας.

<a href="http://www.dromoi-zois.gr/bazaar/" title="Bazaar Δρόμων Ζωής 2008" target="_blank">< img src="http://www.dromoi-zois.gr/images/bazaar/banner120.jpg" alt="Χριστουγεννιάτικο Bazaar Δρόμων Ζωής 2008, 6 και 7 Δεκεμβρίου - Μπορείτε να βοηθήσετε;" width="120" height="233" border="0" /></a>

<a href="http://www.dromoi-zois.gr/bazaar/" title="Bazaar Δρόμων Ζωής 2008" target="_blank">< img src="http://www.dromoi-zois.gr/images/bazaar/banner170.jpg" alt="Χριστουγεννιάτικο Bazaar Δρόμων Ζωής 2008, 6 και 7 Δεκεμβρίου - Μπορείτε να βοηθήσετε;" width="170" height="330" border="0" /></a>

<a href="http://www.dromoi-zois.gr/bazaar/" title="Bazaar Δρόμων Ζωής 2008" target="_blank">< img src="http://www.dromoi-zois.gr/images/bazaar/banner500.jpg" alt="Χριστουγεννιάτικο Bazaar Δρόμων Ζωής 2008, 6 και 7 Δεκεμβρίου - Μπορείτε να βοηθήσετε;" width="500" height="971" border="0" /></a>

And because it was the 1st day I decided to take the subway after Zoom's launch, I wanted to see what is all about this new newtwork. I was expecting all monitors in Unirii station to be working, to broadcast different content...all in all, to work in force, as any new launched thing that wants to prove something.

But, in the "sweet" Romanian style, I counted exactly six monitors that were working - well they were broadcasting a promo, on three plasma screens on the right side and three plasma screens on the left side of the station. The rest of the screens - closed, probably because they were using too much power. So at the time I transited the station, the impact on the consumer was nul.

Also in Unirii station, on the line that liks University station with Romana, because only there can be done promotions (no comments here...), an XXL version of that new sensor Glade product. So people can see it. I'm wondering though, why there isn't a replica of that product that actually works...I think it would generate more results.

There's also the new Pate Ardealul there, talking in a commercial about a metro train 1,5 times longer…After Skol that tried to remember people that take the subway the elementary rules of walking in the stations and of getting inside the trains, with no visible results though, Ardealul is waving the idea of a 1,5 times longer train. An option that would be very nice to be real, especially when nobody seems to see the trains should get into stations more often, considering for the number of people present in the stations during the entire day.

The cherry on top was something else: free newspapers recovered from thrash cans. And not by homeless people, but by people that, if you look at you wouldn't say they will do that. My conclusion is that both Compact and Ring should supplement the copies they distribute in subway stations or, at least, to save some copies for later hours also. Guess what? People aren't taking the subway only very early in the morning, but also later in the day.

From first impression, I like Bazaar, here's why:

• It's written in Python.
• Furthermore, because it is written in Python, installation is a breeze: `easy_install bzr`
• It has similar terminology to SVN. That means lower learning curve.
• Bazaar has really good storage compression. See the comparisons that others have done below.

Bit of History:

Martin Pool started Bazaar when he was just hired by Canonical, ltd.

List of Projects using Bazaar[link]:

Below is not the complete list, see link above for more.

• Bugzilla@Mozilla
• GNU Mailman
• MySQL
• Squid - Caching Proxy project. It caches frequently visited web pages.

Others have attempted to compare Bazaar vs Git:

• http://blog.jozilla.net/2006/03/03/bzr-versus-git/
• http://laserjock.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/git-and-bzr-historical-performance-comparison/

References:

• Bazaar Main Page
• John Arbash Meinel (Bazaar's developer) blog
• Wikipedia - Bazaar
• Wikipedia - Git
• Wikipedia - Mercurial

Crossing the river - the stagnant effluent trickling between beaches of rubbish that passes for a river - and passing the Pul-e Khishti mosque, we were finally able to peel ourselves out of the crowd down a narrow shadowed lane, filled with the musty smell of chicken shit and grain and a strange sense of calm.

This is the bird market. A short stretch of cloistered alleyway that feels like a relic of Kabul's past, some pigeon-fancying uncle lost on his rooftop. Cages line the twisting walls and fill the cage-like shops. Pigeons, finches, canaries and the prized partridges in their doomed bamboo coops, released for fighting. A medley of chirruping and singing. Old men sitting inside their dens, looking out as impassively as their wares. An avian sense of bored waiting. Intrigued, but not wanting to linger for too long.

Back to the mayhem of the street and back across the bridge past the Murad Khane: a small maze of houses and shops being rebuilt by a foreign organisation that trains local craftsman, trying to revive a relic of the past from meters high sediment of mud and rubbish, for whom I'm not sure.

Past that to the Bush bazaar, named after George W. in honour of the things that have fallen of the back of his truck and found their way here for sale. Concrete lanes covered by tarps, filled with old clothes and shoes and tubs of protein substitute and packs of MREs - meals ready to eat, and BP5 biscuits for the malnourished, Operation Enduring Freedom stationary and, one suspects, much else beside if one cared to linger and root around.

It's an interesting corner of Kabul, a bizarre mix in the anarchic maelstrom of the old city centre. I'd like to explore it more thoroughly, to be able to wonder and get lost and look. To carry out an archaeological study of the layers of waste: bird's shit and Bush's shit and Kabul's shit. But I do not find it relaxing to walk there; do not find it comfortable to do so. Some would think me stupid for going there at all, taking unnecessary risks. Maybe, but while I didn't particularly enjoy it, it felt like a small victory of sorts, this walk. A petty defiance against the international communities' tendency towards extreme isolation and disconnect from the city we live in.

Many foreigners here are not allowed to step foot outside their compounds, have lists of places they can and (more often) cannot go to, and strict rules about how high the walls, how thick the barbed wire, how many armed guards surround them. It is not a situation most want or enjoy. It drives many to distraction. I am lucky to be able to walk a little further, though it gives me no greater feel for the place when I'm too nervous to stop and look around me.

It's hard to describe the causes of that nervousness. There's the obvious but unlikely risk of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then there's that disconnect; the sense of us and them it breeds, of being so very out of place and watched by an unknown crowd. A bird-like suspicion, to stretch the point.

Somewhere down that main drag, one of our company spotted some old work colleagues. My disquiet disappeared as we greeted. With strangers' faces coming into sudden focus as individuals, with the contact of a handshake and a smile, I was fleetingly emplaced in the crowd: connected to it and briefly at ease. We parted and moved on, eyes scanning the crowd but no longer seeing.

If it's hard to look around at the time, at least one can think about it afterwards.

Just like cabbies, the rickshaw wallahs stop right by you along the pavement, to check if you want a ride.  You will also find them parked in a line along lanes, like taxi stands.   Unlike other cities, the rickshaws of Dhaka are brightly coloured and decorated with a lot of care by their owners.   The men too dress in brightly coloured clothes as though the better they look the better their chances of attracting a fare. 

10" X 12" acrylic on canvas.

There will be :

• Cultural performances
• Henna Tattoos
• Live Entertainment
• Shopping
• Childrens Activities
• and most importantly food catered by CurryUp

You can get more information at http://www.iamn.org

CU there!

Most of them (51%) think, in 30 years from now on, Romania will turn into a retirement home, after all young people would migrate to richer foreign countries, while 42% are of opposite opinion and the rest say they don’t know. On the other hand, also half of the respondents (51%) believe that Romanians that migrated to foreign countries will come back home.

76% of Romanians don’t think, in 30 years, everybody will live in overcrowded cities and neither that the countryside will disappear. Also, the majority (60%) think that not even in 30 years the food won’t be replaced by nutritive supplements.

Romanians think that, even in 30 years from now on, the political corruption will still be around, as 73% of them are saying, while an equal number of respondents think / don’t think that, in the future, there will be only private pensions and medical insurrances.

43% believe that the transportation will use alternative combustibles in the future, while 33% are of opposite opinion and 24% don’t know.

Despite the continuous development of the internet, 56% say that they won’t work from home in 30 years, although 27% say that will happen. More than half of the respondents (51%) aren’t very optimistic when is about working in modern offices, although 33% are keeping their faith that the future will bring them open space offices in big corporations.

No matter what happens, 51% of the survey’s respondents are saying that Romanians will continue going to the Church, 39% being on opposite opinion.

When is about kids, 30% say that many Romanians will become parents after 40’s, while 48% say that will happen earlier. About children’s education, 63% don’t think in 30 years the kids will learn at home, online, but 21% think that.

Although they don’t think kids would stay home to learn online, 55% of Romanians think their kids will know to read and use the computer starting the age of three.

The relations between people will change, according to survey’s respondents, 54% saying that couples won’t get marries anymore, preferring a free partnership, 45% thinking that, at that time, people will find their soul mates over internet.

Also in 30 years from now on, 44% think that most of Romanians will be too preoccupied to have friends, 50% being convinced that, till than, there will be cures for all types of cancer.

Smoking forbidden by law is the option 42% of the respondents think is possible by then, while 46% have an opposite opinion.

56% think that not even in 30 years Romanians won’t be active once they turn 70 and an equal number think people will continue not to care about others or help them.

The study, initiated by Reader’s Digest, was made by IMAS, during June, on an echantion of 1,246 respondents. The study will be published in October’s edition of Reader’s Digest.

I would argue that an "open source" methodology takes place in the cities of Brazzaville and Kinshasa. They are separated by a the Congo river and are national capitals of their countries, Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo.  Although the Congo river is a national border there is virtually no barrier between the countries. Individuals travel between the cities and carve out their own space as they see fit.  This is certainly not a trophy case of open source planning, but an interesting on nonetheless. A group of Jan van Eyck researchers studied the city and complied their work in a book called "Brakin" a mashup of the two cities names. The book includes several photo-essays and writings breaking down the city using unconventional methods that are often more telling what a census or other "standard" system could. But a census is out of the question because the city/cities are in constant flux many places have no official roads and hence no addresses. The majority of the population lives in "in between" spaces they appropriate on either a temporary or permanent basis.

For open sourcing to work on any scale, that of the city or that of the computer program, there must be some driving logic that solidifies the common goal.

http://www.janvaneyck.nl/0_4_3_publications_info/brakin.html

It has grown to become just about usable now, providing a shell interface to any Windows Console application (e.g. cmd, PowerShell), though not yet programs such as edit. The protocol library SSH.NET has been written from scratch and is probably about 90% complete (minus extra features such as TCP port forwarding) and all the necessary cryptographic algorithms have been implemented/integrated in full. The main task in order to make it fully usable is finishing the Windows Console scanner (also very nearly usable) and then create a proper user-interface for authentication, which is currently hard-coded.  Of course, there are other aspects to the project such as the Windows Service (which is already working) and the admin interface, though they are not so important for the first release. I am also considering splitting the development into two seperate projects, one of them being the SSH server and the other an xterm shell for Windows Console applications (which would be utilised by the server). The main purpose of this is so that the xterm shell can be completed (or at least made stable) much sooner than the SSH server and can serve as a useful program by itself.

Unfortunately, although the project has come along very well I likely won't be able to find the time to work much on such a large project in the near future. (A one-man team was never going to finish the job!) I am nonetheless keen to maintain the project and see it become mature with the help of other experienced coders. If you're interested in contributing to Windows SSH Server (or the Windows Console xterm shell) in any way, please contact me via Launchpad and I'll be glad to answer any questions and possibly set you up as a developer.

Want a preview of some of the fabulous works that will be on display?  Check out the following etsy stores:

thebeadedlily.etsy.com

takenbyrobinlynne.etsy.com

theinspiredelements.etsy.com

FLYoungStudio.etsy.com

theinklab.etsy.com

So mark your calendars and come out to support local artists!  Oh and did I mention, I'll be having my first ever SALE on the Foodie Prints! This is an event you surely do not want to miss!

****NOTE TO OTHER ARTISTS****

If you'd like in on all the Bazaar fun, be sure to visit www.newmoonofsavannah.com/smb for info on how you too can showcase your works....(I'm pretty sure that even though today is the deadline, there's a space or two left for ya!)

Be sure to get there early! The doors open at 8 a.m., but people usually line up outside the building beforehand. Some people drive all the way from Ohio to the Bazaar. Yes, it's that big of a deal.

If you haven't already, mark your calendars for the Bazaar: Saturday, October 11. 8-11 a.m. at Cowan Christian Church. Two weeks after the Bazaar, we're hosting our second-ever Trunk or Treat. Then, two weeks after that is Homecoming. Our church will be celebrating 115 years!

Yesterday I got also a seal with my name, eleonora: it is composed by three ideograms, the first one (from the left) meaning nice, the secon (top right) lotus, the last one elegant (at least this the explanation the craftsman provided!). The animal represented is a dragon, according with the year of my birth.

I'm starting a category called "bazaar" since everything is so attractive to me as female kitch "inutilia"...

The Honorable people papers

"There are honorable people to help you wherever you are. For example, if you quarrel with someone, another person may come and help you. This is what an honorable person is. People want to have as many as they can, and each person's honorable people ar distinct and special to him alone" (Lee Scott J., For Gods, Ghosts and Ancenstors. The chinese tradition of paper offering, HK University press, 2007).

Honorable people papers are made of thin red and green paper, rectangular or circular, and are punched-out with the figures of 80 or 100 small individual faces, representing fhese helpful persons. I'm thankfull to my ones.

Looks like I'll have to try and squeeezzeee in some time for Fash Bash, because Bianca, Swirl, Baylene and Hansel are going to be there!

Go go go! Looks like the last month's pay cheque will be gone in a day.

I'm starting a collection of plastic shoes. Western people, and moreover italians where a strong tradition and skill in making leather shoes is rooted, cannot understand how is possible to wear shoes made in pure plastic. Here is the explanation. September in HK is a rainy and stormfull month. Climate and weather can change unexpectedly and immediately. Wearing Manolo Blahnik shoes (or eventually expensive shoes) is not reccommanded in that situations. Plastic shoes, that are almost possible to buy everywhere, seemed to me the easiest solution...

I found in some markets aroung shoes in plastic that are sort of design masterpieces: confortable and beautiful. For only about 40 HD$, lets say 4 euros. They are really beutifully designed. Look at the pair on the right: don't you think that Campana brothers could have give them an adivice?

It's pretty simple to navigate around here, so go ahead and click on the categories that interest you!