Before going to the market I have to do mental exercises to prep myself for the harrowing event. It’s not that anything horrendous happens but that this is Rwanda and people cannot handle a white person in their village, they can handle even less a white person in their village speaking Kinyarwanda, and least of all a white person in their village speaking Kinyarwanda to buy something. But it can also be entertaining sometimes.
The woman I buy my onions from wasn’t at the market today so I went to someone else to get them. I looked around for tomatoes but they were all bad. Then all of a sudden I heard my name and someone tugging at my shirt. It’s onion lady! She’s told me her name, but in Rwandan fashion it was mumbled and incoherent. I’ll have to squeeze it out of her somehow. Anyways, she asked me what I needed (carrots and tomatoes at this point) and she brought me around to find the best quality. Having her around was awesome because I not only got good quality vegetables but I didn’t have to play the “I’m going to walk away and pretend I will look for some other vender while you shout my name and the price I know is fair and reasonable” game. Tonight I’m making stir fry with good vegetables I wasn’t overcharged for and that in and of itself made my weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment