A Market Moment

In an hour I will be heading back out to Little Flowers Primary School.  I'm there every day, teaching the Religious Education class and it's super fun.  It's a joy being with the P3 and P4 classes.  They are listening well and catching on to God's plan of salvation through the "17 Stories" curriculum.

But I wanted to share with you a market moment... to give you a glimpse of what I saw yesterday.  While waiting for a friend who went out to buy a chicken and a clay pot (to hold drinking water), I sat in the car and watched life pass me by in a variety of expressions.  Here's what I noted:

• A pregnant lady rides side-saddle on the back of a piki (motorcycle).  She asks her driver to pull over so she can bargain for jackfruit.  I was surprised to see that she was too lazy to get off, she just kept demanding the vendor to bring her the best piece of fruit from his bucket.  He finally wrapped a piece in plastic and delivered it to her and off she went.
• Beside the car were four piles of pineapples, separated by size.  Many people came and went, buying the fruit for about 75 cents.  The young men selling were also willing to hold the spikey top, cut off all the skin, slice it into wedges, drop it into a plastic bag for you before cutting off the top.  So the odor inside the car was a mixture of sweet smelling pineapple and a rotting pile of fruit cut-offs (where flies were gathered in mass agreement).
• Next there were three men rolling out chapatti and frying them over charcoal stoves.  One of the men had a puzzle patterned table cloth and it reminded me of the symbol for autism... so many other memories came flooding to my mind... of my time serving with Christian Horizons in Ontario.
• Behind the fruit and chapatti vendors is an open park.  No grass, just dust.  In the middle of the open space is a rusty pavilion.  I imagined that's maybe where they make political speeches, or a band could play, but no, my friend came back and told me that's where Indian's incinerate their dead. In the market place.  Who knew?!
• A man walks by with a winter toque on his head.  It's 95 degrees, but he looks cool. :)
• Ladies stroll past with large basins on their heads - carrying bananas, oranges - with a knife to even peel them for you, or with card board boxes filled with knock-off fake gold jewelry.

The sun was beginning to set.  The action was intense because last minute people were flocking to the market to buy their daily foods for dinner time.  When the clay pot was safely put in the back seat and the live chicken was settled on to a tarp in the boot (trunk), we took off for home.  I hope you could picture a little of what I saw last night.