To Market, to market...

On our field trip, we also stopped by markets. The largest one was Kibaigwa market, where maize, sunflower seed, sorghum, millet, peanut, and pea buyers and sellers meet. It's the largest grain market in Tanzania and we saw piles of maize, which is the staple in the local diet. In many ways they have developed a good local system, but there is room for improvement in post-harvest management and grades and standards, which would provide benefits to the farmer and the consumer.

In addition, we also stopped at a small market along the road where produce was sold, and it was fascinating to watch as the merchants swarmed our car and came towards the wazungu (foreigners), but we threw up our hands and said it was actually our driver who was the one who wanted to make some purchases. Desperately each person brought the best of their produce for him to inspect.

SWAHILI WORD OF THE DAY: soko means market

Wandering through Nairobi

Unfortunately, the majority of my time in Nairobi was spent in the hotel where the conference was held. But I decided to extend my time on Saturday so I could actually experience the city a bit. The fun actually began on Friday night, when I went with a couple of colleagues to a local restaurant with live music - a band with at least 10 members with lively trumpets, guitar, keyboard, and loud voices belting out the best of Congolese and East African music, but recent and older classics. And the dance floor reciprocated the enthusiasm.

On Saturday, I walked all over downtown Kenya and even found some local public transportation routes that made for interesting rides. A couple of highlights were the Kenya National Archives, the first picture here, which had a range of art and artifacts from Kenya and across the continent. What made it such an enjoyable visit was that I happened to arrive at the same time as a high school group, and the tour guide found excellent ways to keep it lively and engaging. Meanwhile, I was amused as students tried oh-so-slyly to snap a picture with the mobile phone that included this foreigner in the background.

I also stopped by the memorial garden for where the U.S. embassy was bombed in 1998. In the picture to the left there is a sculpture made from some of the rubble. Another part of the garden had a fountain and list of names of those who were victims. Sadly, the vast majority of those who died were Kenyans who were in or near the embassy when the bombing took place.

I could share more about the tourist market maze I found myself in, or the crowded meat market I stumbled upon, or the little agricultural shops I snooped around, or the city park I found myself in when the rainclouds burst open, but that's all I'll write about today.

SWAHILI WORD OF THE DAY: "ndege" - the word for both bird (there were huge 4' tall crane-like ones near the hotel) and airplane (which got me safely home on Saturday night)

Tingatinga

Not far from my place is the Tingatinga market. The Tingatinga art are primarily oil paintings on canvas, with a distinctive style and caricatures of animals and people. The website for the artist cooperative is: http://www.tingatinga.org/index.html . The picture here is of the street market, but there were also shops and you can walk directly into the cooperative artist studios. The vibrant colors are very eye-catching and inspiring. I've got a few Tingatinga paintings in my room. When I was downtown, I also noticed that the Tingatinga painters have left their marks on other kinds of canvases - the picture to the left is a garage door for a residence near the main market.

Kariakoo Market

On Saturday, my adventure was to explore the Kariakoo Market, which is a thriving, vibrant market, inside a two-story shopping area, but also sprawling onto the streets and shops around it. I loved just soaking it all up - the sights, sounds, and - well, maybe not all the smells. I picked up a few household goods, a pot, a wooden spoon, and a couple items of produce. Inside the market building, I smiled at the election campaign banner hanging prominently on the side. (Note that Swahili word of the day from earlier in the week - Chagua Kikwete - choose Kikwete). My nerdy little self was amused by finding the agricultural goods second on the second floor, and using context clues to figure out Dawa la Kilimo = medicine for agriculture aka fertilizers, etc.

I enjoyed the market just as much for the artistic displays that I tried to capture in a few of my photographs that I took there on the sly (not exactly the kind of place you want to be flashing a camera around - petty crime is pretty common in this city).

So the following pictures are my snapshots of analogous colors, secondary colors, and all-around lively chaos.

And the SWAHILI PHRASE OF THE DAY is "Bei gani?" How much is it? Of course, it's helpful if you know the numbers in Swahili, too. So this was my crash course in learning and understanding numbers as well. (1,2,3 = moja, mbili, tatu)