I want eggs!!! A trip to my local grocery store.

EGGS! I woke up this morning really wanting some scrambled eggs. I usually just have fruit and yogurt for breakfast, but somehow EGGS got stuck in my mind. So I decided to get dressed and head out to do a little grocery shopping.

It is 6:30am....and the street is in full "roar" by this time.


I toddle along the side of the road hoping no cars or motorcycles hit me. I had that experience and don't want a replay. The "grocery store" is really the morning market located fairly close to the university. It takes me about 5-10 minutes to walk there. I have to go early because the place closes up by 9am. I think the people start gathering here around 5am...but I haven't been here that early to really know.

The market space really is just an open courtyard area. I don't know why it is here, but I do know it is not supposed to be here. I guess you need a certificate for a market and this place doesn't have one. Periodically it gets "raided" by the police and clears out. Usually it is back in "full swing" in a few days.



The right side of the courtyard is where you can buy all types of fish. Shrimp, catfish, eel, squid, and lots of things I don't recognize. I also find frogs here lots of times and the poor little fellows below are all tied up so they don't hop away.







Next to the fish is the meat. Pork and chicken seem to be the dominant meat. I don't recall seeing beef.....and really don't know why. Most of the chickens are live...but you can buy them killed and ready for the pot. The lady below is one of my neighbors and offered to show me how to kill, pluck and gut this chicken, but I decided it was a skill I really didn't need.






I want eggs...but have learned the hard way that it may look and feel like a chicken egg....but it isn't. One time I bought eggs and think I ended up with immature duck eggs. Another time the yoke was a baby chicken....not nice! And clucking like a chicken or saying "ga" which is chicken in Veitnamese doesn't work. They look at you like you are crazy. So now my major tactic is to find live chickens and look for eggs next to them. This is what I did this morning! And, it worked...pictures to follow.



You also can buy clothes here...jackets, underware, hats. Just like Super Target or Walmart---food and clothes!




Most of the market area is devoted to fruit and vegetables. I wander around and buy a pomello. I think these are now available in the US. It is similar to a grapefruit...but much, much tastier. You peel away the outer skin (but save it for washing your hair--Says my friend Duc. I toss it in the garbage!). Inside you split the pomello into individual sections and then slit open the "skin" covering the section. Inside is a dry version of grapefruit....it is sweeter than grapefruit and really good. MMMMMMMmmmmmmmm.







I also buy some small bananas, a papaya and several mangos. I also bought a fresh french roll for my lunch. I think I spent about $3 for everything.


I walk back home and using my microwave cook up an egg for breakfast. I make it into an egg sandwich.... cut up some papaya and squeeze some fresh lime over it.





I guess the moral of this story is that shopping for food in Vietnam is a bit different from the US. No plastic....no peeled and wrapped veggies.....no boxed goods. Everything is right off the farm....very, very fresh. I am going to miss this type of shopping. You always haggle with the sellers. It is a social experience as neighbors and friends see each other and always are chatting.

A friend here told me that I should not worry about shopping because the shops come to you. She is right....I could stand outside the compound where I live and in most cases everything I need will walk by sooner or later. Little old Vietnamese women with their conical hats and two baskets supported by a stick always are trolling the neighborhood looking for people to buy their goods. But, I like the market experience and those "little old ladies" are very tough hagglers. Basically they take one look at me (Westerner) and jack their price up about 500%. The people in the market do this too, but I watch and see what others are paying and then just agree to pay about 10% more....which means pennies.

Phil says I am going to be depressed when I come home because there isn't as much excitement in Columbia. I think he is right. Somehow a trip to the grocery store is going to be a great deal less interesting than here...sigh.