It’s market day. Come with me! You might feel overwhelmed by all the noise and activity of hundreds of people talking and haggling. Don’t worry, all newcomers feel that way. It takes a while to learn to tune out the hubbub and focus on one thing at a time.

As we walk to the market, we see many ladies heading there with plastic baskets and empty sacks. Others are carrying bowls of charcoal or greens to sell. As we get closer, we see other people arriving at the market on motorcycle taxis called zemijons.

Walking into the market, we pass a table of used children’s clothes. They’re in good shape, so this must be one of the expensive shops. On our left is a lady selling rice with sauce and some other food items. Past more clothing stalls is a lady selling clay jars for making medicinal tea. Next to her a seller of okra and hot peppers—six okras for ten cents, and six peppers for five cents. Ahead, there are several men selling ingnam, a large potato-like tuber. It is the season for sweet potatoes and yams, so there are lots of them for sale. Piles of six to eight yams cost 20 cents.

Over there, a lady is selling little piles of dried leaves. These leaves contain a very strong thickening agent. They are popular for making sauce because a little goes a long way. Oh look! There are some flowers used to make an acidic sauce people neutralize with potash.

Ahead, we see a lady selling grass brooms for 10 cents. Here are some ladies selling cabbages and cucumbers. Those brown stick-like things are koudie-koudie—fried peanut pulp left over after the oil is extracted. They are tasty broken up in cornmeal mush. Another lady is selling some grey-black chunks of traditional soap made from the ashes of sorghum stocks.

Over there is a lady selling cotton fabric in bright African colors. Six meters cost about nine dollars. Two ladies sitting on a dirt platform under some umbrellas are all selling onions brought in from Burkina Faso. They are quite expensive. Across from the onion vendors is a lady selling plastic children’s shoes and a man selling purses and scarves.

There are some ladies selling tofu in one-pound chunks, dyed a reddish color and dry on the outside. It is good tofu. Another lady is selling deep-fried tofu chunks with a dab of hot pepper wrapped in pieces of paper torn from cement bags. Over here is gari, fiber left over from making tapioca, mixed with water and a bit of sugar. Mixed with koudie-koudie, it is a popular fast food. School children call it, “my parents are far away.” This is what they eat when they don’t have other food or don’t have time to cook.

Many tables are dotted with little piles of dried fish. Hey, are you thirsty? Here is a girl selling water in plastic bags. She also has plastic-bag popsicles colored orange, green, yellow, white and red.

In the next part of the market are ladies selling beauty products, sewing items, string, flashlights, batteries, combs, razor blades and an assortment of other things. There are also plastic sellers with their bowls, cups, basins and buckets. Here is a man selling shoes. See those black balls in piles of four? Those are called moutard—French for mustard. Actually, they are made from fermented nere seeds or soy beans pressed into balls and used for sauce flavoring. The white balls are shea butter for cooking. Poor people also use it as a body cream and to treat inflammations.

I have taken you through only a small part of the market, but I hope you have enjoyed our walk.

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