Market Day

Yesterday (Tuesday) morning we took a break from our normal day and went to the market! Karen needed to go grocery shopping, Katelyn was looking for curtain material, and the rest of us just went along for the ride. The 6 of us left at about 8:30 and drove into town by way of the muddy backroads – always an adventure, one that usually produces a bruise or two.

Our first stop was the Vatican, one of the small supermarkets where we stock up on tea, top ramen, fruit juice, tuna, soap, etc – mostly packaged stuff. For brown bread, baguettes, and puff puffs (!) we go to the Imagine Bakery, a lovely-smelling place indeed. After stopping in Main Market to barter for some curtain material for Katelyn (it's hard not to buy fabric every time I go there!), we trooped back to HQ – PresCafe! There we met our friend Joy Newburn for some macchiatos and chocolate cake. :D A few weeks ago we met her husband, son, and two daughters in New Life, another supermarket, and invited them to Friday Pizza and Movie Night. Since then they've been coming and we've been getting to know their family; Jessica, Emily, and Josh, all aged 6-10. They are here for 3 years, and their dad is working as a teacher at the Catholic seminary in Bamenda.

After a look into PresCraft, the next-door store, and the two Chinese stores, we went to pick up Delphine, our house help. She had spent the morning shopping for us in the Food Market, and had a whole cartload of food to pack up in the car and bring home. With 7 people in the car as well, it was a jam-packed ride back. But that's something I've already gotten used to here – when we take taxis, there's almost always a minimum of 3 or 4 passengers inside at one time. And coming from a big family doesn't hurt.

This is all the fruits and vegetables unloaded onto the counter - for just one week! Feels like home, it does. :)