www.luntacunt.fora.pl

Luntacunt project

www.luntacunt.fora.pl Forum Index -> Genre -> A Long Way from Loblaws Nike Blazer yyah
Post new topic  Reply to topic View previous topic :: View next topic 
A Long Way from Loblaws Nike Blazer yyah
PostPosted: Mon 1:48, 19 Aug 2013
cheapbag214s

 
Joined: 27 Jun 2013
Posts: 20570
Read: 0 topics

Warns: 0/5
Location: England





A Long Way from Loblaws
If you have the money,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], shopping in Uganda is done at western-style shopping malls. Garden City and Nakumatt Oasis are popular with expats. Most Ugandans,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], however, shop as they always have -- from roadside vendors. Many vendors sell their wares from rudimentary stalls or just spread out on blankets. On Kira Road, by the Engen Gas Station, you can buy jeans, shoes, pineapples and dish soap. Bukoto Market usually has a healthy supply of chickens squawking indignantly from makeshift cages.
But the great mother of all markets is Owino, home to over 50,000 vendors. Some claim the real number is maybe as high as half a million. Owino Market is a sprawling mass of stalls jammed with second hand clothes dumped from North American charity shops, live chickens, dead chickens,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], and all manner of food hidden under haphazardly placed tarp ceilings.
Getting to Owino is an adventure in itself; it is downtown, behind the taxi park where all the matatus (the mini-buses) congregate. The park is a mass of honking white vans and there are no sidewalks or pedestrian walkways. We thread our way -- very slowly -- often putting our hands on the side of vans to make sure they don't drive too close. In the midst of this are the men selling products to passengers in the buses. They sell the most random assortment of stuff: dish scrubbies, toothpaste,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], mosquito nets, and chewing gum.
Ducking into the narrow entranceway of Owino, the rudimentary nature of the market is striking. The ground is muddy and uneven; there is no electricity. The only light comes from the sun peeking through the holes in the tarp roof. The air smells of sweetly rotten fruit,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], musty clothes and something completely indiscernible. Although I can't distinguish any sort of order or logic to the market, my Ugandan friend manages to lead us through without any problem. Sellers must compete with thousands of others, so they shout, pull you into their tiny stalls,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], offer marriage proposals,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], anything to get your attention.
"Mzungu! Mzungu! Jeans? You want jeans? I have jeans,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]. Come see my jeans."
Owino is the backbone of commerce in Kampala. It bypasses national chain stores and regional supermarkets. Everything is based on bartering and the intense push and shove of needy sellers and reluctant buyers,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych].
Owino has burnt down several times, but each time, it has sprung up again. It's not so much the phoenix rising from the ashes, but rather an intense desperation to make a living, that brings the ramshackle stalls back to life. After a 2009 fire that leveled the market, vendors took out loans to cover the loss of their merchandise and money.
In 2011, the vendors lost everything again after a fire decimated the market; unfortunately, most of those vendors were still paying back the loans from the first fire. One group of vendors, the Twezimbe Parkyard Disabled Association, lost all records of their savings, loans and merchandise. For an already vulnerable population, these disasters are devastating.
It is not surprising,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], however, that Owino has burnt down so often. The rickety wooden stalls,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], overcrowded alleyways, and cheap products means that getting out alive would require a miracle. The further you go into the market, the more crowded and haphazard it becomes. Shoes are jumbled in a massive pile: finding a matching pair can be a Sisyphean task. Stall owners scrub away at the shoes,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], hoping to make them look new and clean. Jeans are stacked up in massive piles, often spilling over into the narrow pathway.
At the very back of Owino is the food. The stench of dead fish, complemented by the incessant buzzing of flies, is overwhelming. Silvery fish heads are stacked upon a decrepit wooden table. It's dark and confusing, and I have to dodge to the right to avoid the boiling pot of meat. Fresh mangos,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], pineapples and avocados are piled upon blankets on the ground, going for 500 Ugandan Shillings. Matooke (green bananas) are everywhere, the staple of the Ugandan diet.
The market is a place of sensory overload. Turn right and you will see overflowing bags of rice,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], flour, beans and spices. I smell cardamom, peppercorn, cumin and cinnamon. My housemate barters with the vendor for some spices. I see another friend arguing over the prices of mangos. 3000 USX for one mango? Crazy!
I try not to get flustered with all the vendors grabbing my arm and pulling me towards their merchandise; with the fires, loans and poverty,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], these people need to make a living. And if they can get a few extra dollars out of a muzungu, then all the better. It's chaos. It's overwhelming. But it is also a compelling expression of community and life.相关的主题文章:


http://www.guardiansofgrail.fora.pl/computer,20/caucasian-share-your-originate-spot-light-nike-bla,3332.html#3500

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

http://www.philosophiaupjp2.fora.pl/miedzywydzialowe-studium-jezykow-obcych,19/what-to-avoid-right-before-your-wedding-nike-blaze,2340.html#2514

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

http://www.xanaxnoprescription.fora.pl/forum-testowe,1/paris-france-appears-to-be-to-be-arctic-winterti,2527.html#2553

http://www.ephedraonline.fora.pl/forum-testowe,1/top-rated-walking-shoes-nike-blazer-arcw,3746.html#3784

http://www.semper.fora.pl/public-questions-to-our-ally,1/charity-turns-cane-toad-into-footwear-nike-blazer,2208.html#3880

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

http://www.nortriptylinepztbm.fora.pl/jason-clutched-featuring-brand-hand-coming-you-seduced-shoulders-tightened-politics,1/hauptsache-hummeldumm-nike-blazer-kfqn,2258.html#2260

http://www.antabusemrlnh.fora.pl/asher-slipped-werewolf-but-some-sound-pure-human-fooled,1/march-madness-2013-12-nike-blazer-zwpa,2031.html#2053

http://www.aceon.fora.pl/buy-aceon-cheap-aceon-buy-aceon-online,1/andrea-s-agency-takes-over-for-diva-next-door-spun,2361.html#2383

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

http://www.darknessevolution.fora.pl/download,4/encore-un-globe-nike-blazer-kznb,59012.html#67576


The post has been approved 0 times
View user's profile
A Long Way from Loblaws Nike Blazer yyah
www.luntacunt.fora.pl Forum Index -> Genre
You can post new topics in this forum
You can reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
All times are GMT + 2 Hours  
Page 1 of 1  

  
  
 Post new topic  Reply to topic  


fora.pl - załóż własne forum dyskusyjne za darmo
Powered by phpBB © 2001-2003 phpBB Group
Theme created by Vjacheslav Trushkin
Regulamin