Mzuzu Market

We have already been in Malawi for a month, and time has already gone by very quickly.  We are starting to dive into the culture a bit more, and learning what we can do, as well as what we shouldn’t be doing.  The people all seem very friendly, there is always the odd person or group that will yell at us or say something rude, just the same as at home – at times, it kind of reminds me of Yonge and Dundas.  We have made friends with two street vendors Jackson and Solomon who we have purchased a few paintings from. Whenever we need directions somewhere, we tend to ask them, and they end up taking us so we buy bracelets from them to be polite.  Other street vendors tend to run up to us and try to sell their work or other medicinal substances, but tend to leave us alone after we say no a few times, or when the vendors that we have gotten to know a little show up to claim their mazungu (white people) territory. 

The market is usually an entertaining experience.  Usually no matter where we are, people tend to talk to me and direct their questions and answers towards me, but in the market, I do not exist.  In the market, the vendors yell “Sista! Sista!” to Rachel to get her to buy their fruit or vegetables, and then it becomes a game.  We learned quickly that whenever you are bartering for anything in the market, the best way to think of it is like a game.

 

Mzuzu Market