Market Time

Tomorrow is Tanzania's general Election and the city of Dodoma has never been busier. In the midst of all this busy-ness, Ben and I needed to go shopping yesterday morning, braving the crowds to go and get what was needed to re-stock our cupboards.

Shopping in Dodoma is never really straightforward and yesterday was no exception. After a visit to the post office, we made our way to Dodoma market to buy the fruit, veg and the dried fish for making Moshi's cat-food (all those tins of cat food from Dar have just run out!!).

The market front:

The sellers' wares are usually neatly arranged in buckets or set out wooden tables, so that you can look at the goods and then request your choice and ask prices. However, this is just the front of the market: it extends far beyond the facade here. To enter in to see all the various stalls, we have to go into the narrow entrance seen below, under the draped tarpaulin, then proceed down narrow, dusty footpaths between the seller's tables, dodging suppliers hurrying past with large bags of flour or grain etc. carried on their shoulders and being careful to avoid collisions with other customers as you manoeuvre past each other in the limited space.
The rather dark, narrow entrance, on the right of the stationary bike:

Once inside, there are many street children who constantly surround you to offer to carry your bags for you- for a fee, of course! It is noisy and boisterous -and a frightening environment for little ones, especially a 2 year old like Ben, who was either carried or clung fiercely to my skirt (no room in the narrow pathways for a pram!). However, he did at least find some amusement in the cats and chickens strutting between the food stalls!

We proceeded easily between the stalls, and I enjoy the banter and conversation with the sellers. I had a bit of trouble finding coconuts- it is not a good season for them yet. Happily, I found some at the back of the market. I have a recipe I want to try that requires coconuts and condensed milk - for months, I had coconuts but no condensed milk- not a drop could be found in Dodoma- but a few weeks back I found condensed milk, and then the coconuts disappeared!! However, yesterday was a happy moment to finally have both ingredients to hand!

Ben and I found our avocados, garlic, carrots, dried fish, onions, potatoes, tomatoes but could not locate a pumpkin (not the orange variety, but a smaller Tanzanian green one, more like a gem squash). A helpful stallholder directed me to the back of the market, to find a seller called Samson, who would be able to help.

To get to Samson's stall, I had to pass through the butchery section and the place where fresh fish are gutted and sorted out for sale. The smell of blood, meat and fish was overpowering. There are no fridges in the market, so the meat is prepared and left out on white, tiled display areas, but in this hot weather, the odour of meat can become unpleasant- particularly when one is feeling a little sensitive at 4 months pregnant! In the stone gutters running under the wooden floorboards under my feet, it was hard to avoid the sight of red blood flowing from the butchery area and the flies were becoming more numerous.

When I finally reached Samson's stall, I found it too close for comfort to the butchery and next to a pile of mouldy, rotting fruit, literally buzzing with swarms of flies under the fierce Dodoma sun. The added smell of rotting food made me feel quite delicate! Samson found me a pumpkin and I hurriedly left, but felt guilty for abandoning him so quickly. However, at times, I can find the task of market shopping rather a challenge... and as for Ben, he can get upset by the unwilling attraction that he becomes, as the locals exclaim over the "little white boy" and want to touch his skin or his hair and try to get him to speak Swahili or even pick him up. Yesterday, he managed quite well, but if possible, most of my market visits are done when the children can stay at home.

We left the market, then headed off in the car across town as the various stalls disappeared out of sight in my rear view mirror...

Now it was time to visit the fruit stalls nearer the town centre for oranges, mangoes, pineapples and bananas:

Then to the indoor food shop, run by a friendly Asian family. We can get a wider variety of foods there at various times, but Dodoma is a long way from many places and sometimes supplies don't seem to get through. This week in Dodoma, there is no cheese, no lasagne sheets and no yoghurt for us to buy a starter for making our home-made stuff. And I am also craving Robsinson's Lemon Barley Water, bizarrely (!!), which I found 2 months ago in the other small Asian supermarket but have not been able to find since- and am really missing it since my supplies ran out!!