Grocery Shopping

Here, you can find many things our on the streets. It may be under an umbrella, at a stand, or be carried on some one's head. However, when it is time to shop for food items that are not fresh (translation: everything that gets shipped here from France or the Middle East) there are limited choices. Pavilion Verte (green garden) is the local grocer a 10 minute walk from where we live. it can be pricey and the tiems are limited, but is is the only shop that stays open past 1 on Sundays and the closest. Score has many European items, but it is very expensive. I only go there when I really need sour cream (1,800 cfa= over $3 US for the small size). There are a few others on the other side of town, but I have never ventured that far as saving a few cfa is not worth the gas. Lastly, there is Mahima. It is India based and run by a large and extensive Indian family. In the parking lot there are attendants to tell you where to park and watch your car. There are also many children and handicapped people begging for money. In the parking lot you can also get gifts wrapped, buy shoes, sunglasses, or peanuts. The peanuts are sold in used liquor bottles and go for about 1,000 cfa (a little over $2 as the value of the US dollar continues to go farther and farther down), which the women sit and fill all day by shelling them by hand. Customers only go in the first floor, but signs indicate that there are tailors, barbers, and cobblers up above. I have never gotten anything wrapped as I would have no idea how much it should cost. We have bought the peanuts though, tasty.