Letters from West Africa
Day 6. Market
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The small town of Grand Popo lives by the weekly rhythm. The weekdays, from Monday to Friday, the children go to school while the adults focus on their work. On Saturday, locals go to the marketplace for weekly shopping and to catch up on the latest happenings in the village. The Sunday mornings are reserved for church. Christianity, along with Islam, are two of the minor spiritual practices of the region. The main religion here is the traditional West African Vodún. The Vodún is often practiced alongside Christianity and people move fluidly between the ceremonies of different religions.
Today is Saturday and our first chance to visit the local market. The pathway to the marketplace curves around onion and carrot plantations which are protected from hungry birds with metal pieces tied on a string, rattling in the wind. On the way, we see Vodún shrines and a small Vodún temple. Few of the houses have a leopard statue at the entrance – a king of the forest is a symbol of royal status and signifies strength, courage and justice.
The marketplace is in a large square in the north of Popo. The vendors arrive early morning and seize their selling spots at sunrise. The market runs until the late evening so that even the late arrivals have time to stock weekly food supplies. Besides fresh vegetables, the Saturday market has everything you can imagine (and a few things you probably can’t), from the neon-colored hair extensions to live chickens. Ladies with lofty buckets on their heads yell out for the customers to buy some homemade pastries and fried cassava.
The relaxed hustle of the market is compelling. I get a packet of special herbal tea and fill my stomach with oily buns and cassava. I am to regret this choice in a few hours and spend the rest of the evening in the vicinity of a toilet.
Cheers, Anna
A Vodun shrine.
Another Vodún shrine, this one for private practices.
The marketplace.
The local sugar is derived from sugarcane (right).
The banana season is just beginning.
Oranges and ripe bananas.
Goats climbing at the marketplace,
Passion flowers on the side of the road.