Sunday, 19 Jan 2014 (11 Tir 2006)
Got up late, after
10 very necessary hours of sleep. Just outside the hotel, we noticed a
well-patronized pastry shop (Kyriazis) with flashy waiters in brown
embroidered uniforms. Paper-wrapped packets of fresh filled cookies were
flying out the door (Timkat treats?). We bought three different
pastries and two macchiatos: 24 birr ($1.25).
We set
off on foot toward the Merkato (the largest market in Africa), not far
from our hotel neighborhood. As we walked, more and more street vendors
filled the sidewalks, spilling into the road. And more and more fruit
and vegetable bits and pieces covered the cobblestone street. Some items
for sale came from lorries, others were carried atop heads or in
baskets carried by bent backs. There were produce aggregators who
supplied some of the individual vendors. By Tashkent standards, a rather
dirty market.
What was for sale? Really ripe mangoes
held in your hand, with the skin peeled away by the vendor (throw the
skin and pit down when finished). Papayas, pineapples (we bought a slice
to nibble). Tomatoes, peppers, lettuce (not on a tourist diet, thank
you), potatoes, onion, carrots, garlic...many more. Occasional items we
could not identify.
A man carried several live chicken
by their feet. Mike offered him some change after snapping his photo,
much to his amazement and that of the other passers-by.
At
a construction site across the street, we noted a Chinese foreman
directing local laborers. China seems to be the principal funder of the
destruction-construction boom here. Hope they build to better standards
in Ethiopia than at home (fat chance).
As we pushed
onward, a gent with reasonable English engaged us in conversation. He
told us was from Los Angeles, was a cab driver there, and was getting
ready to go 400 km north to his family. He picked up on our interests,
and away we plunged into paths we might not have covered on our own.
It
was Sunday and the holiday of Timket: most of the market was closed,
but there was still enough open. A few turns took us into the spice
section. He had a merchant show us bagged 'saffron' (nothing like the
saffron in Iran, and certainly not real for the asking price). We went
past the live chickens in circular cages, and the guys sorting out the
teff grain by winnowing it with reed baskets. He brought us over to a
netele merchant. The netele is the large, sheer, white wrap shawl used
by Ethiopian Orthodox women as a part of daily wear; Carol really wasn't
interested.
Shoes, clothes, house wear, hardware.
Hundreds of sellers, hundreds of buyers. Because of the Timket holiday,
lots of kids and spontaneous soccer games in the midst of the tumult.
He kept promising the donkey market, but we never found it.
Our
guide told us that we were in luck, because the 'falasha' market was
going to be open for only a short time. He led us first to a woman
selling crafts (clay pots,etc). Was this representative of anything
from Jewish community - probably not. Charming as he was, our interests
and his were diverging minute by minute.
Mike's search
for an old watch led us to a jewelry shop. Here the full-court press
began in earnest. We were ushered into a back room, served cups of
coffee, and shown all kinds of silver. We weren't looking for any
traditional cross, curio, artwork. Tough to extricate ourselves. We
finally picked out a silver 6 pointed star, and settled on $50 US. (We
are still trying to figure out if we got a fair deal.)
Then back through much of the market, past the chickens and the
teff, to the general bus depot in Merkato. By this time we had learned
that his name was different, he had been deported, and he wasn't
visiting family. Still we gave him $7 US for his services, and said
good by. To be continued.
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