D squared + J squared = Anderson

Today was our training trip to one of the local markets in Yaoundé. Unfortunately we are not permitted to take pictures in shopping areas so I will do my best to describe the various sights and the purchases that we made.

We started off toward the market and we first learned the proper place to park, assuming you are driving and not taking a taxi. Then as you walk toward the street you are first greeted by several young boys wanting to be your porter for the day and carry all of your purchases, the people showing us around, go the same time every week and they had their regular porter that was waiting for them and we hired one of his friends.

As we walked into the street there are vendors EVERYWHERE selling EVERYTHING, but our first stop we had to make was to a specific meat vendor since he will prepare your meat while you continue to walk around the market and then go back and pick up your meat, but we were having a little confusion between two men who both were holding 4 live chickens 2 in each hand as to which chicken we were going to pick. After we picked the unlucky bird of the morning he was whisked away where they made all his feathers disappear and all the other stuff that we normally don’t eat.  We then watched them cut off a slab of beef with the exact percentage of fattiness that we asked for, a little. But I’m pretty sure that the cow stopped mooing at least 3 or 4 hours earlier.

We then saw some tasty looking pineapples; they could give any of the ones grown on the Dole plantations in Hawaii a run for their money. So we purchased a few of those as well.

Next stop is vegetables. To me they all looked like the same stands. But we went further back and picked out the piles of carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans and several other vegetables. We then went to another side of the market to get some lettuce and lemons. DeAnna also found some other spices and garlic that we needed.

We then went back and picked up our meat and also some eggs, not sure where they keep those chickens but my guess is they are close because I hear the roosters at all hours. And it was all nicely packaged in a plastic bag.

We made 2 other stops at 2 different grocery stores to buy some additional staple items that we need, like soap, cheese (probably won’t be getting this too often since it was very expensive) and some other items.

Our last stop of the day was to pick up our cell phones, so if you would like to call me send me an email and I’ll give you the phone number. Not sure what the international rates are though.

Finally we made it home around lunch time and then DeAnna spent the next 4+ hours cleaning and preparing all the fruits and vegetables so they can be used for cooking when it’s time to use them. I also was able to have a very tasty fresh roasted chicken for dinner tonight, yummy!