Matt- Is it a market or an auction?

     In the life of a privileged American, we tend to hit up Walmart, Meijer, Publix, Kroger, Winn-Dixie, etc. for our weekly groceries. Families designate 1 to 2 days out of their week for this endeavor and every once in a while there is the quick trip for milk or bread. We have grown to know this way of life for so long that we seem to forget how things are in most parts of the world. I say all of this to provide the comparison for what I'm about to speak on.....the Malagasy market.

     

     If you were to walk about 10 minutes from Kai's and my house, (F. Norbertine aka The Lion's Den aka Nklo Ya Mesume!!) you would run right into the heart of Manakara....the market. Between the times of 7am and 6pm you'll find most of the town's people bartering for their food and running between different sellers for better prices. Each day is chaotic as cars, pouce pouce drivers, and sellers crowd the few roads making it up. The smells are interesting, the food is fresh (I mean FRESH), and the people are many. Entering the market for the first time is overwhelming and it is hard to maintain composure in such small spaces. But once you get use to the way things work...you become accustomed to the chaos and call it home.

     Today was the first day Kai and I were able to venture into the market with a plan to buy groceries. As of yesterday our house was furnished with all the amenities needed to call it a home (furniture, appliances, etc.) So in a mood of excitement he and I decided to head straight for the market after language training. Within seconds of entering the place people had already spotted us and called us vazha's or 'foreigners'. With this specific title comes the tendency to overcharge us. Also, since most tourists who visit Madagascar are French, we were bombarded with "Bonjour", "Merci", etc. (French....the language we AREN'T studying). After getting past the language barrier we were able to meet with our vegetable sellers whom we befriended in the beginning. We try to purchase all of our vegetables in one area so that the sellers may give us the proper change without the hassle of searching for the right bills. In doing this, we were able to talk them down on certain items, since they received all our business (ex: we bought a pineapple today for 1000 Ariary or 45 cents, but it started out around 1500 or 2000). From there we had to travel between different vendors to find beef (killed and cut daily) and refrigerated items such as cheese or butter. When we didn't like one vendor or price or if they didn't have what we needed, we just went to the next one and talked them down or agreed on a price. After about 30 minutes in the chaos we got out with all the ingredients and cooked a home cooked meal of burgers and potato chips!!

     I would like to apologize for my long windedness (haha), but this is actually a daily task of our team as the food is never pre-mixed or made and ready to go. It truly has given each and every one of us an appreciation for the way in which our markets run in the U.S. and it has humbled many of us to see how the Malagasy people function. Keep a close eye on our blog as we continue to post throughout our week on our daily activities here in Manakara!