To Market, To Market...

I didn’t grow up on fresh fruit and vegetables. Well, maybe fresh fruit. Bananas, apples, pears, oranges, peaches and grapes. We also had a plum tree in our front yard that used to bear fruit in the summer (til it died…). Fresh vegetables, however? No. My mom was all about a can or bag of vegetables, which are delicious, don’t get me wrong. Who doesn’t love Glory Greens? But we all know how nutrition experts talk about how canned vegetables have lost some of their nutrients in the canning process. Frozen veggies are good but fresh ones are the best. But again, that’s not how Mom rolled. I have a close and personal relationship with Del Monte and Green Giant. Ho Ho Ho.

Moving to Ethiopia has brought me into a whole new world (a new fantastic point of view) with regards to live fruits and vegetables. A few weeks ago, my friend Lovie and I went to the vegetable market near her house. Normally, I have my cook buy my vegetables and fruit but since I changed her schedule, I knew I needed to buy some on my own. Going to the market was very intimidating for me. I don’t know what’s good and what’s not – I literally just pick up whatever’s not green (unless it’s supposed to be green, like broccoli). The prices aren’t stated anywhere and everything’s measured in kilos. I remember one of my coworkers telling me to just let my cook buy my fresh stuff because she’ll get the good prices. The problem with that is that she doesn’t know what I like so I end up with things like zucchini and eggplant, when I prefer spinach and carrots. Now, Lovie lived in Malawi for two years, deep in the village so she’s used to navigating the local markets. It was a little humbling to see her handling this like a pro and me being nervous about asking how much things were. I’m all about getting in with the people and whatnot, but I had never been to the market before. Not because I didn’t know where it was but largely because I was scared of it. Yep, me, The G…scared of the market. I rarely buy fresh fruit and vegetables in the States (though that might be because of price and my inability to eat them fast enough) and you’re talking about a MARKET with several different stands selling all you can eat freshness? Nah.

Anyway, this sunny Saturday afternoon, Lovie suggests that we go to the vegetable market instead of to the supermarket (which ironically doesn’t sell much in terms of fruits and veggies). Alright, let’s do it. I have my list of things and initially, it was a little overwhelming. But Lovie pointed out which stands usually had good prices and quality food. At the first stand, I bought some broccoli, tomatoes, peppers and something else. I thought the man told me 50 birr (about 3 dollars and some change)for everything and was happily handing over my money (YOU know how much four peppers, two heads of broccoli, and five tomatoes cost in the states). Lovie said “No, that’s not right.” She starts asking the man for the price of everything. He’s weighing the food in front of us and showing us the price. The total was 23.50. I only heard the fifty part, obviously. So I got my food for less than $2.

We moved on to another booth and bought some beets (yes, whole beets), mangos, and papaya. The man working at the booth asks when we want to eat the papaya. What? Um…before it goes bad. They pick out the papaya based on when you want to eat it, so it’ll be ready when you are. Clever. We buy some fresh eggs, onions and garlic. Now, this is where my ignorance shows. Actually, no. That was shown when I didn’t know what the papaya looked like. I asked Lovie (after telling her I wanted mangos and papaya) what that big green thing was. “Papaya”. Fool. Anyway, I’ve seen garlic cloves. I promise. I HAVE! I just…seemed to have forgotten seeing them. So there was yet another moment of “What’s that?” and Lovie responding “The garlic you want”. I’m going to get better at this.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience. There was something liberating about buying my own stuff and overcoming the fear of the market. I speak a little Amharic, enough to tell them how much of something I want and ask how much it is (and MOST of the time, I can understand what they say back). I’m in a country where I can buy mangos, bananas, papayas, and pineapples almost all the time very cheaply and I was leaving it up to someone else. Bad Shawn. My fridge is stocked with lots of fun things…now I just need to cook them. :-