Market Day

Every Wednesday in Galmi is market day. Traders come from all over to sell their goods. Marc and I take turns going to market whenever we need something since it is not really a great place to take the kids. It is about a 15 minute walk from our house along a busy street and is jam-packed with people and goods. Not ideal for two curious and crazy children! I think we have both been twice now and it is quite an experience. We usually travel with some of the long term missionaries or local hospital staff to help negotiate our deals and to inform us about cultural etiquette. It has been a fun thing for us to do and a nice way for us to support the local economy. There are several little shops (probably not what you are picturing when I say "shop" but the best word I could think of at the moment) along the way that sell a few basic items such as tomato paste, powdered milk, canned mixed vegetables, bleach, matches, powdered drink mixes, and spaghetti and macaroni noodles.

This is an example of a shop you would see on the way into town. This one sells lots of different grains. We bought some rice from here a few weeks ago, but it had a bit of a funny taste (I was later told by someone it was a "weevil" taste). There is also a little shop on the compound run by one of the female missionaries. She brings some non-perishable items from Niamey to sell to short term staff while they stay in Galmi. We now buy rice there and it tastes more normal to us. :)

I bought some garlic from here during one market trip.

Dried mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, dried peppers.. any takers?

 Galmi is known for its onions. This entire truck is packed with them. Lots and lots of onions!

 Bon appetit!

Marc and Dean saw this man on one of their recent trips to market. He is a traditional healer of sorts and sells a potion that he claims inhibits scorpion toxin. He keeps lots of scorpions on hand to show people that he is "immune" to their sting.

 There is no shortage of dried locusts around here. I haven't found the perfect recipe for these yet.

Let's zoom in for a better look. That's not black pepper folks, just hundreds of flies. :)

You can read the Kubacz's blog post from today to see where we buy our meat from. It is relatively fly free when it arrives. :)