Shopping!

This cutie was at culture day.  He lived where one of the other group's trained.  

Written on Wednesday, December 22, 2010

I love to visit grocery stores when I visit foreign countries.  It gives an insight into the daily lives of the locals.  So I was especially interested in seeing where I’d be shopping for my own groceries here.  There are a few options.

First, the maketi (farmer’s market), which is in Salelologa.  It’s a new market, open air, but covered, with a cement floor.  It’s large, clean, not too crowded and has two stories.  The first floor is primarily food items, mostly vegetables, along with some crafts and household items.  There’s also an area where men drink ava while waiting for the bus, along with some prepared food for sale.  Currently, the vegetables du jour are:  carrots, cucumber, cabbage, onions, avocado, papaya, small tomatoes and long beans.  Koko Samoa is also available as well as tables of loose local tobacco, used for those who prefer to roll their own cigarettes. 

Each morning, fishermen sell their catch at the market.  I’m looking forward to checking that out.  When I was in Apia at the fish market they had an amazing selection with excellent prices, by US standards.  A whole lobster for $5 tala.  A giant clam (about 8 inches across) for another $5.  A whole yellow fin tuna for about $30 tala.

On the second floor of the market is mostly crafts, along with some fast food items, like pork buns and ice cream.

Next are supermarkets in Salelologa.  I’m not sure of what stores are there, but hope to find out today.  I’ve heard there’s a smaller version of Farmer Joe, which is one of the stores with the largest selection of products in Apia.  Please note when I say supermarket, we’re not talking about Publix or Kroger.  More like a really old, small A&P.

One of the best stores on the island (according to a current PCV) is within walking distance of my current home.  It’s known as the Tuisivi store, since it’s the only store in Tuisivi, the village next to Faga.  I shopped there the other day and was impressed with some things, disappointed in others, since I figure this will be my “go to” store.  It’s only a couple of miles from my permanent house, so I can walk there and take the bus back with my stuff.

First, I was impressed with the amount of non-food items.  Dishes, towels, sheets and other home goods. Not inexpensive and not high quality, but nice to know I can get basics without a trip to Apia.

They have all the food staples, but prices were significantly higher than what I was paying in Apia.  Cheese, for example, was twice as much, about $15 tala for a pound, which will be a real luxury item for me.  Ramen was also much more expensive.  I could get the bowls of ramen for about $2 tala in Apia.  Closer to $4, here.  That’s a lot of money for unhealthy (but fast) food.  Canned tuna was also pricey.  And no chili beans, so I’ll be stocking up on those this weekend in Apia.  I didn’t check the price of toilet paper, which is expensive in Apia.

The biggest disappointment was the lack of fresh meat.  They do have some in a refrigerator case, but that is mostly sausages and I’m not a fan of the New Zealand sausage.  They have a soft texture and virtually no spices.  Nothing at all like Bob Evans or a nice spicy Italian sausage. Frozen meat would work, but the bags of meat are over 10 pounds each.  That doesn't work when you're cooking for one and don't have a fridge.

I just asked LG, my 18 year old source of information, and found out that I can buy fresh Palagi chicken (aka imported) chicken from the faleoloa I visited last night.  I can also buy “mutton flap” there.  Not sure how mutton flap translates to a cut we know in the States.  It’s fatty, but tasty. I’m hopeful that I can buy one piece at a time, which is possible in some of the larger fale’oloas in Apia.  When they bag frozen meat here, it’s in Samoan family sizes – ten pounds or more.

The fale’oloas are the neighborhood stores.  Most are very small.  You walk up to and the person inside the closet sized store hands you what you want.  One nearby is larger and the place I’ll hopefully find meat.  There, you can walk in and look around at the stocked shelves.  It seems to have quite a variety of items. There is a counter between you and the items for sale.  You ask the owner for what you want and they bring it.

There are also occasional roadside stands.  People sell vegetables from their plantations, mostly taro and yams (which bear no resemblance to our yams).  There are also people in the village who sell other items, such as fish, limu (the green seaweed berries) and Koko Samoa.  I still haven’t quite figured that system out.  In the training village, the fish lady knew that Fa would sometimes buy fish, so if she had any, she came by. 

When I was in Savaii the last time, a guy was selling limu on the street, but sometimes he comes to the house.  Not sure how he knows you’re in the mood, but assume it’s the wireless coconut thing of asking someone if they’re seen any limu around and they mention it to their cousin, who mentions it to their uncle, who tells their son to bring you some limu.  Also during the last visit, K wanted to get some Koko Samoa for me.  It has to be roasted, then crushed into a paste.  We strolled over to an outdoor kitchen where women were doing the roasting and crushing and bought a Styrofoam glass full of the paste.

Faga is a much larger village than where I lived for training.  It’s also much closer to a large city, with the vegetable and fish market.  While I won’t have the selection of things that I did at home, I’ll have everything I need and most things I want.  There appears to be no Mexican food of any kind.  Friends have promised to send cans of enchilada sauce (red or green) and canned green chiles.  Some dried red chiles would be nice too.  I can get back in practice making flour tortillas from scratch, salsa is easy to make and there’s the expensive cheese available here, so I should survive the two years.