Markets are interesting in a new country. You can tell what crops grow locally and I have started going to my local market to buy fruit and vegetables. Msasani market is really dirty, dark and full of flies. Usually going to a local market is fun, full of noise and activity. Sadly Msasani market is lacking any charm.
After rain you have to negotiate deep pools of black water just to get to the covered area. Inside, it is so dark that you can’t even see what’s under your feet and it’s not just cabbage leaves and mud but small animals like kittens scurrying around.
The ceiling is a simple tin construction and is so low in parts that it’s easy to hit your head. I broke my prescription sunglasses in this way. The sellers are friendly and don’t hassle me too much. I assume that’s because no foreigner in their right mind goes to Msasani market.
All foreigners send their maids or cooks on their behalf. Compared to local markets in China, it’s hot, fly-ridden, dark and dingy and if the produce wasn’t so cheap and good, I wouldn’t go.
However, the food is excellent – much better and more reliable than that in the supermarkets, so I choose as dryish day, pick up my shopping back and gird myself for the unpleasantness which is the Msasani market.
I am just waiting for the day I can afford a maid and I don’t have this chore.