Where the locals are...

Yesterday morning, after the Medium Fat Spread incident, I went out for a walk with a number of other people. We walked for a good hour down a long straight road outside of our compound. It was baking hot (33C) and felt like we were in an oven. Most of everyone were looking burned before we'd even made it half way.

On our way, we passed by the local basic school. Apparently school was out and children started walking and running toward us. Before we knew it, at least fifty kids were following us. Again and again we heard quick little voices shouting out, "Hello, how are you? Hello, how are you? I'm fine thank you! I'm fine thank you!" It was so funny having so many of the kids following us! It felt like the quintessential African experience.

Once we got to the end of the road, we reached a bit of a town. I turned right with half the group on a mission to find the Black Market and the Green Market. From what I had understood, the Black Market was a collection of vendors that sold goods and the Green Market sold veggies. We walked for quite a long time until it was just Susie, Rachel, and myself. I kept asking, "Are we going to even recognize the markets when we see them?" because, really, Mongu isn't a town that is used to having tourists and they're not liable to have a giant sign that says 'Green Market'. The locals know where it is already!

Eventually, we found a taxi/minibus station that was bustling with activity. We saw a narrow alley with individuals coming in and out of it. Unsure of where it actually led to, we decided to duck in anyway. Before we knew it, we were there. We were among the locals! It was this dark, hot, alley with 'kiosks' built on the walls and stairs. It wasn't anything that I expected. There were vendors of electronics, shetangas (sirongs), bags, giant piles (literally piles) of shoes, men's shirts, women's dresses, underwear, pots and pans, really just anything. We tiptoed around the big muddy puddles, dodging tiny children, while greeting everyone that welcomed us. For a dark and scary place, it was incredibly friendly.

We made our way quite far down the market until we found a man with a very large ladle who was mixing this white-yellow sticky-looking substance with huge, sweeping movements. We were fixated on him for a few moments while we wondered what he was doing. Susie asked if she could take a picture (it was unlike anything we'd ever seen) but he wanted money in exchange. We didn't have very much in the way of small bills (ATMs give out K50,000 and he wanted maybe K1,000).

Sensing that we had made our way to a less public area, we backtracked and exited the alley. The three of us were so excited - it felt like such an accomplishment! We were in a new, foreign place and we had gone where the locals went! I had even left with a Nintendo bag that was a whopping $1.20CDN! Energized from our success, we set out to find the Green Market.

Each person that we asked pointed us in a different direction. Although most vendors, business people, and those that have attended school are familiar with English, there are many people who aren't. Really, we weren't sure who understood us in the end!

We did eventually find the Green Market and bought tomatoes, beans, onions, and green peppers. It was a fascinating experience. Some people had tables and counters set out in an orderly fashion and many others were sitting on blankets selling their produce. Everything was selling for fantastic prices. We tried to buy from as many vendors as possible. The only things I wish I bought were these firey mushrooms in striking yellow, oranges, and reds.

Once we had finished in the markets, we decided to find our way to Shop-Rite. S-R is quite far away from our home and from the markets. We walked to the minibuses and asked who was going to S-R. We were ushered into the minibus (K3,000) and flew out onto the road. Minibuses can go surprisingly fast. And there are no seatbelts. There are about eight seats available and we left with just under all of them filled. As we were driving, someone would tell the copilot sitting at the van-door that she wanted out. He would bang on the roof of the bus and the driver would (startlingly quickly) veer off the road and slide to a stop. The same happened as people waved the bus down. As we drove, we passed by an amazing view of the flood plains. All I can say is wow!

At Shop-Rite, we zipped around and purchased all sorts of things and food for the house including three big cans of bugspray. Did I mention we have a lot of spiders? Once we finished there, we met Jess outside in the van and drove back home.

Later, at home, we essentially fumigated the house. We initiated another massacre (as Susie would say). Nat pulled out a killer substance called Doctor Doom and we had a heyday with that, filling up all the cracks and spaces where spiders are known to come from. We also crafted a window covering with our extra mosquito nets (courtesy of Amy and Julet) which has decreased our insect load dramatically. Because of that, we all slept soundly.

Except for the massive thunderstorm during the night. Jackie said that the raindrops sounded like they were the size of her head. I totally agree. One thunderstrike sounded like it hit somewhere in our compound - it rocked our house and lit up the room.

This morning, we're enjoying eggs and listening to music. We've broken down everybody's bug-killing personalities.
Joel: Biological Weapon Expert (well-versed in biological warfare, prefers chemicals over squashing)
Nat: Sniper (one hit kill, can destroy anything with a smack from the 'Annihalator' (fly swatter))
Esther: Machine Gun (low precision, smacks with great speed)
Sylvia: Beserker (builds up a rage and kills all in sight)
Jackie: Grape Stomper (stomps around the house with her flip-flops)

As you can see, we're acclimatizing just fine.