To Market, To Market...

Oh the markets! We love them! It always proves to be interesting and sometimes challenging experience!!

Let me paint you a picture…

You’re walking down the road. Well, on the sidewalk, really. Cars and brightly painted matatus fly by. You trip on some potholes. Many people are walking in the same direction as you, but many people are also walking in the opposite direction, making for people everywhere.

From all around, you can hear a cacophony of sounds. Horns blaring. The sounds of buses, cars, matatus driving at break-neck speeds. People speaking in Swahili. The shop vendors calling you over. “Hello sister!! Hello brother!!” “Fiiiiifty bob, fifty bob, fifty bob…” “Looking is free!!” “jeans?? Skinny jeans??” (for some reason, that one is quite popular!! And NO, I don’t want skinny jeans!! Ha!) “I give you GOOD price!!” The sounds of roosters and chickens also greet your ears. You may get lucky and hear a street preacher, yelling at an unnatural decibel. The sound of the call to prayer from the mosque in the background.

And the smells! Let’s not forget the smells. Where do I begin??? Some are pleasant…like the smell of food cooking…but other smells are not so pleasant…like exhaust fumes and sewer and chickens…

So you continue walking, looking down at the sidewalk to view the selection of clothes, sunglasses, bananas, shoes, sugarcane, and anything else you can think of to buy! The destination is a market called Toi Market…basically just a used clothes market. You walk through a small opening in between tarps and makeshift stalls. Again, people, people everywhere! In one stall you might find jeans. Jeans, upon jeans, upon jeans!! Another stall might advertise shirts. Another one dress pants. Another shoes. Another underwear! =) And in another one you can buy all your fruit and vegetables! How handy is that!?! =)

If it’s jeans you want, you duck into one of the number of stalls that sells them. The shop keeper will either ask your size, or just guess your size, oftentimes being dead on! You duck behind a makeshift fitting room…which is just a sheet draped across a corner…fun, fun! =)

You decide on a price…and of course, the price that is started with is not the set price, so skilful bartering is involved, made more interesting by the number of shop vendors that have had a bit too much to drink that afternoon…again, good times!

As you leave the stall, happy with your purchase, make sure you are careful where you step…in between the mud, sharp rocks, sticks, and any other number of random pieces of garbage, it is quite easy to trip and fall…

Many street children also frequent markets like this one…hoping for a few shillings or some food. If between all this other stuff you were able to forget where you were, seeing the street kids will never let you forget. It is sobering and disheartening, making you think about your role and purpose, and always trying to decide the right thing to do.

One experience I had with buying a pair of shoes was funny…I saw a pair that I liked and so tried one of the shoes on. (the other wasn’t there…oftentimes they are not set out together to prevent theft…) Anyway, I liked the shoe and it fit. I had begun bartering on the price, when I asked if I could try on the other shoe. The man didn’t want to let me. I insisted that I needed to try on both, or I would not be buying. He insisted that I did not need to try on both. I just stood there and looked at him….so he THREW the shoe down at my feet…where I realized that first of all, it was BROKEN! I called him on this, and he said that no, it would still be just fine. Just to show him that it wasn‘t fine, I put it on my foot…where I then realized that it wasn’t even the same size!! He was mad that I realized this, and I laughed at him, telling him I didn’t know how he could try to sell a broken shoe to me, and not just that, but a pair of shoes that were different sizes! He walked away, mad…I walked away, laughing! Good times at Toi Market…!!

So….that wraps up a typical trip to the market…we’ll never be able to buy a pair of jeans or any other piece of clothing at a set price anymore!! Look out Canadian clothing stores…Andrea and Trevor are back in December… =)