A previous shopping trip ended in near disaster as my car sank in to the mud on the farm road home as night began to fall ! We’re off to the ‘Big City’ for the day tomorrow. If you could call it that. Because by ‘Big City’ I do not mean a city like London. Or New York. Or even Johannesburg. Oh no ! This is an African city, complete with potholes, people carrying chickens and pulling wooden carts laden with bananas and small herds of cattle wandering in amongst the traffic. Oh, and potholes on the roads filled with water during the rains which usually make a convenient ‘bath’ for scruffy city ducks. (No smart chicks here !)
The city is a vibrant, noisy and busy place with local women wearing their bright kitenge cloths which brighten up the dusty, brown streets. The sizzle of roadside maize cobs being cooked on open fires alerts your senses - the smell of charred goat’s meat fills the air.
I cannot go to just one shop in the city to buy all my groceries. Instead, I must go to one shop for bread, another for meat, another for medicines, yet another for dry goods and to my fruit and vegetable “Mama” who sells produce from an open stand on the roadside.
We will break our day with a nice lunch out at one of our favourite “haunts”. Should we go to the Chinese restaurant in part of the main Post Office ? Or should we go to our favourite Indian restaurant in a ‘dodgy’ part of the city near the central market ? Or maybe, we will settle for the one with a shady outside seating area that boasts “Thai and Inter Continental Cuisine”. (I will probably opt for the latter, as it has the better toilet facilities of all three !)
As my husband has to collect farm supplies, we are going in his Landcruiser Pick-Up. It will be a bumpy ride. Justin is coming with us for the day as he is on annual leave and we need someone to ‘guard’ our goods on the back of the vehicle. (The city is dangerous place, you know !)
We will arrive back on the farm just after sunset tomorrow …. tired, weary, elated. My daughter will feel nauseous from all the “town treats” she has eaten …. sweets, chocolate and ice cream. Even though I will be exhausted, I will then have to quickly unpack all the meat and dairy products and portion out items for the fridge or freezer, as they will have been kept in cooler boxes on the back of the pick-up all day. Then the perishable vegetables will have to be quickly put away. Dry goods will be left to unpack the following day.
Supper will be a quick snack and my husband and I will delight in having the latest local newspapers to read, mail to open and perhaps a special treat of an imported “Snickers” or “Mars” bar to enjoy with tea afterwards.
Yes - these days in the city are exciting but also very exhausting. So I suppose I’d better be off to bed now …………..
The city is a vibrant, noisy and busy place with local women wearing their bright kitenge cloths which brighten up the dusty, brown streets. The sizzle of roadside maize cobs being cooked on open fires alerts your senses - the smell of charred goat’s meat fills the air.
I cannot go to just one shop in the city to buy all my groceries. Instead, I must go to one shop for bread, another for meat, another for medicines, yet another for dry goods and to my fruit and vegetable “Mama” who sells produce from an open stand on the roadside.
We will break our day with a nice lunch out at one of our favourite “haunts”. Should we go to the Chinese restaurant in part of the main Post Office ? Or should we go to our favourite Indian restaurant in a ‘dodgy’ part of the city near the central market ? Or maybe, we will settle for the one with a shady outside seating area that boasts “Thai and Inter Continental Cuisine”. (I will probably opt for the latter, as it has the better toilet facilities of all three !)
As my husband has to collect farm supplies, we are going in his Landcruiser Pick-Up. It will be a bumpy ride. Justin is coming with us for the day as he is on annual leave and we need someone to ‘guard’ our goods on the back of the vehicle. (The city is dangerous place, you know !)
We will arrive back on the farm just after sunset tomorrow …. tired, weary, elated. My daughter will feel nauseous from all the “town treats” she has eaten …. sweets, chocolate and ice cream. Even though I will be exhausted, I will then have to quickly unpack all the meat and dairy products and portion out items for the fridge or freezer, as they will have been kept in cooler boxes on the back of the pick-up all day. Then the perishable vegetables will have to be quickly put away. Dry goods will be left to unpack the following day.
Supper will be a quick snack and my husband and I will delight in having the latest local newspapers to read, mail to open and perhaps a special treat of an imported “Snickers” or “Mars” bar to enjoy with tea afterwards.
Yes - these days in the city are exciting but also very exhausting. So I suppose I’d better be off to bed now …………..
