September 7, 2016
This morning, I got to go to the
pasar (or Market) for the first time. It
was just…. delightfully overwhelming.
Think of Friday afternoon Walmart trips in Collegedale, where the entire
town is out shopping! Then add the fact that it’s outside, the food is neatly
displayed on burlap or plastic sacks on the ground, there’s little air
movement, you don’t speak the language well, and you have to shoo the
occasional cockroach off your veggies.
Oh, and that you’re skin is purple or green and so everyone stares at
you and some try to get your attention.
But really everyone staring or calling out, “Hey mister!” is becoming a
normal occurrence for us here.
The food here is wonderfully
cheap. And we can get plenty of fresh
fruits and veggies at the pasar. We do
have to sift through the piles though, because it’s not uncommon to find worms
or maggots in the rice or over ripe fruit. Rest assured though, we soak all of
our food in bleach water to kill off any unwanted bugs and bacteria. So far the bleach seems to be doing the trick.
None of us have gotten too sick here *knocks on wood*. I’ve accepted my fate that it will hit me
(again) at some point while I’m here, but for now we’ve been blessed. Plus, all the Doxycycline we’re on for
malaria probably helps a little. My
biggest problem so far has been dehydration.
Ruth says we should be drinking 3-4L a day, but I barely get 1L down. So I really need to step it up!
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