I’m reaching the market-o!

Driving into Pleebo from Harper the first day at site, we drove past a rather lively market just before reaching our house.  I immediately grew excited, thinking how lucky we were to have what looked to be an awesome market in our community and so close to our house.  During our walkabout with Bessie, the PTA chairlady, I learned that there is another market that sits about 20 minutes from our house, aptly called the small market.  There are not as many items there, but it has all of the necessities.  So look at that – the big market and the small market, making lives for Peace Corps Volunteers easier since the 1960s. 

We have not taken much time to check out the small market, however.  One day, I’m sure we will, but we are rather spoiled with the big market so near our house.  The first few weeks traversing the aisles of the market were rather overwhelming and, frankly, miserable.  We did not have a good grasp of fair prices of goods, no one could understand us very well, and we were still the shiny new toys of Pleebo. 

Thankfully, everyone is used to us these days and almost every market experience is a pleasant one.  We have learned who to buy from and who to avoid, and our regular vendors know us and what types of things we typically want to buy.  One Ole Ma, in particular, is our favorite.  She sells the typical assortment of “small-small things,” and she is always so friendly when we visit her.  There, we are able to buy onions, garlic, tomato paste, spaghetti, salt, baking soda, and powdered pepper that we use almost every day to cook with.

Further back in the market lays the meat market portion, and this is a veritable cornucopia of animal parts for sale.  My personal favorites include chicken feet, turkey necks, pig feet, plenty of bony (smoked fish), and if we’re lucky, a chicken thigh or two.  On Saturdays, there is also a lively fresh fish portion of the market, and Sarah and I are working towards tackling that one day soon. 

Along the walk to the back of the market, we are always passing women selling plenty of other things, including sugar, oil, rice, beans, lentils (!), pot scrubbers, iron soap (lye soap we use for washing dishes), and most importantly, rubber to catch the fire.  Additionally, there are guys selling all sorts of goods out of their wheelbarrows; for us that means we are always able to find our washing soap for laundry days!  (Look for another post on wheelbarrows to come.)

Walking into another part of the market, you are quick to come across women selling many different types of things.  Here, you can find sandals, jewelry, underwear, towels, lappa (African printed fabric that everyone wears here), bed sheets, buckets, bowls, silverware, stationary, and the most common item – plenty of used clothes (most often, it’s children’s clothing).  While this all sounds like a lot, the most exciting part of the market is yet to come.

Walking down the road small, you will come across the produce area of the market.  Here, you can find almost any type of fruit or vegetable that grows in Liberia.  We are so fortunate to have a great produce section, and we are slowly working on tackling all of the options available to us.  Included in that bounty is bananas, plantains, oranges, mangoes (locally called plums), apples, coconuts, pineapples (when they’re in season), cabbage, greens, green beans, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes (locally called Irish potatoes), eggplant, okra, squash (locally called pumpkin), and avocado (locally called butter pear).  I’m sure the list is longer, but that is all I can remember now. 

Something that Pleebo has plenty of, and that some sites don’t see at all, is bread.  There are always people selling bread in the market, and we even have a bakery in town that makes great bread.  The bread from the bakery is a little more expensive, but every now and then, it’s a nice change of pace :)  Eggs are also an almost-constant in our lives, and for that we’re always grateful.  The trucks come from Monrovia pretty often, bringing boxes and boxes of eggs, all of which are shipped here from the Ukraine.  Interesting, I think.  Sometimes there will be a gap of a few days during which all the eggs have sold out and the entire town is waiting on the truck to make it from Monrovia.  That has happened twice while we’re here, and though it can be inconvenient, it’s definitely not the end of the world.

The final boost to our market is the row of amazing shops that sits across the street from it.  Here in Pleebo, you can find almost everything in the shops.  We are continually surprising ourselves by looking in the shops we walk by every day.  Don’t get me wrong, we have our favorites, but it’s always fun to explore new territory :)

The shop we frequent multiple times a week is our favorite for a few reasons.  We were introduced to the owners on our walkabout with Bessie, and from that day, we just kept going back.  Three brothers from Lebanon run this shop – Saad, Amadou, and Bailo – and they are always happy to see Sarah and I.  Here, we buy canned kidney beans (a staple for us), canned vegetables, oats for breakfast, flour, butter (for baking), biscuits (cookies) if we’re treating ourselves, and most importantly our 50kg bag of rice.  We buy other small things from here now and then – matches, paper, bleach, tea, etc. – but it is more of a staple place for us. 

The shops across from the big market

A "gas station" typical of Pleebo

Bananas by the bunch!

Our first pineapple! 

Yep - cucumbers are huge here.
Great in tuna salad sandwiches...  One of our favorite meals.

From other shops, we buy things like oil, toilet paper, Rexoguard (something we add to our bath water to insure any creatures in the water are dead), powdered milk, paint, rat poison, ketchup, a hot water thermos, and one of our most fancy finds – olive oil!  There are plenty of shops in Pleebo, and who knows what else we might be able to find during the next two years or so.  Needless to say, we’re definitely not wanting for anything here.  And for that I’m grateful.