TO MARKET, TO MARKET

Saturday is becoming my favourite day of the week in Suva. There are a number of reasons for this. The first one is that I get to sleep in or enjoy the sunrise that I can see from my bedroom window. I don’t have to rush out to be at work at eight. Another reason is that there is significantly less traffic on the weekend and so there’s less pollution from the diesel engines of the noisy Suva bus service. And although I do miss work on the weekend in Melbourne, it’s nice to have the weekend to unwind and recover from the school week. The best part though, is that the fridge is bare. This means that we get to go shopping!

Supermarkets are depressing in Suva. Cadbury chocolate costs $11 and everything you can buy at home cheaply (e.g. pasta, chips, lollies, peanut butter, cheese, yoghurt and juice in particular) is expensive as most western things are imported.

Don’t worry mum, I am eating well because during our in-country orientation, we were shown:

THE MARKET!



The market is open all days of the week except Sunday. The indoor section is always open. From Thursday to Saturday, the village ladies are also there to sell their produce. The village ladies will arrive late on Wednesday night and set up camp along the roads and footpath outside the main market. The money they earn will goes directly to them, unlike the stores in the undercover market where the money goes to a “middle man” who gets a cut of what is sold. Therefore, it is cheaper to buy it from the outdoor village sellers and it helps the villagers earn an honest buck.



Fruit and vegetables are sold in “heaps” or “piles” rather than by the kilo. The size of a “pile” depends on which fruit or vegetable you are buying. For example, paw paws are sold five in a pile, pineapple has six to a pile, cucumber has three to a pile and sweet potato has way too much in a pile. You can buy coconuts, taro, cassava, carrots, cabbage, bananas, green mandarins, Chinese vegetables, eggs, imported applies, beans, tomatoes, chilli, watermelon and the list goes on. Food is abundant and piles range from 50cents to $3 a pile depending on what’s in season.

Today’s lunch menu was fresh from the market: fruit salad with fresh pineapple, paw paw, watermelon, banana and a tablespoon of yoghurt. We still have some left over if you want any!