I love the market!

I went with a friend to a different market this afternoon. We had a great time - I love the market! This market, for whatever reason, is a lot quieter than the market near my house, and there are a few different sorts of things in it. Since there's a big party tonight (which I'm not going to because it doesn't even START until 11pm!), my friend needed to find a costume. From some bits of wire, some beautifully tacky fake flowers and a bright pink mosquito net, she created some lovely fairy wings, and will be going to the USAID Halloween lock-in party as a fairy princess. I'm not really into staying up all night and drinking with a bunch of UN folks that I don't know... so I didn't need to come up with a creative costume! But I sure had fun helping my friend get hers together!

I have never spent much time in this particular market, since it's on the other side of town. But it was great exploring the place together. I was also really encouraged because I could use a lot of the Arabic that I've been learning. People in the market were so surprised, first, to find two white girls wandering around in the bowels of that market, and second, to find that one of them could bargain, and even ask for directions and where to find things, in their language :)

Because of our combined charm, beauty and language ability, we managed to get free halwa sweets, a free roll of wire, a deep discount on the fake flowers, and a lot of laughs from all sorts of people! So my 5 Arabic lessons have really paid off so far!

I had a bit of a confused moment, though, when I heard someone calling out to me in the middle of the market in Tigrinya! For a few moments, I felt like I was in a completely different country (though I was sweating a lot more than I ever sweated in that other place!). Turns out, it was the guy that I buy my bread from at the Red Oven bakery here in town. So we had a little chit chat there in the market, as well! Such fun!

All in all, it was a great day - we got everything that we needed, and I got some practice at the language, and I got to talk to someone for most of the day who has absolutely nothing to do with the work that I do :) So I had a real holiday from work, which is a rare treat around here.

The market is always filled with interesting people. There seemed to be a lot more people in this market from the rural areas who were wearing their more 'traditional' clothes. I love seeing that, and they're always so curious and interested in us funny looking white people, too! Many of the tribes in this area do a lot of scarification on their faces, to mark various rites of passage in their lives. I find them quite beautiful, but also quite fierce looking sometimes! Their colorful clothes and beads, and big smiles really make up for their fierceness, though!