A Trip into town

January 15 2011
A trip into town
I went into Lilongwe this morning with Regina and had her leave me there so I could walk around, explore, and learn my way around. I started at ShopRite which is the big grocery store in the middle of town and I just walked the aisles and then I walked to the Metro across the street, the 7-11 on the hill, and the Crossroads at the top of the hill and did the same thing. It is always interesting to see what is available in the shops. The one constant in all the food shops was a complete aisle of rice – most grown in Malawi and of several varieties. On the other side of that aisle there were usually dried beans, dried maize, cream of maize (which is ground maize) and occasionally very small lentils. The baked goods aisles were usually well stocked with cookies (called biscuits here), crackers, and rusks (dried bread cut into pieces bigger than croutons these are eaten for breakfast with milk like cereal). Most of the baked goods come from Malawi and South Africa although some are from Britain. There is imported irradiated milk and milk in plastic bags from Malawi, yogurt that is very runny, margarine, marmite (yuck), something called blue band that may be margarine but I don’t think so and butter. Most stores have some cuts of meat but most are very low quality and have a lot of fat – the ground beef looked to be ½ fat. They did have frozen haddock and the local fish, Chambo. The beer and wine sections in two of the stores were quite large but most of the beer is Carlsburg – brewed in Malawi and Amstel also brewed here. The wines are South African. The liquor is mostly South African or European except the Malawi gin, whiskey, and vodka which is very cheap and looks vile. The stores also had a lot of small packages of chips (called crisps here) and Malawi peanuts (which are very good). No cheese, no cereal except cream of maize, corn flakes and a few packages of oatmeal. One store had some lovely looking granola from South Africa that I will try some time. Eggs and store made bakery goods are plentiful. The store baked goods tend to be white bread – I found one store that had whole grain bread – and donuts, scones and cream filled pastries. One can also buy samosas – pastries with meat filling – that often sit unrefrigerated for days. There is also custard powder that you mix with water to make custard. I will have to try it some time I suspect it’s not very good but one never knows. The real find for the day was ONE store that had Pepsi Light!! I am so happy! I am in withdrawal from my Diet Dr. Pepper and I can only afford one soda a day here but I certainly look forward to it. I have also found a sour lemon soda that has sugar but comes in a very small can and is a good variation.
In addition to exploring the food store I also went to Game which is a South African store that has been compared to Target, but has a lot less merchandise. I wanted a medium sized sealed plastic container to put my lunch in but I couldn’t find anything the right size – containers were really large, really small or kids plastic lunchboxes. I was also looking for a folder to put my students’ homework in but I didn’t find anything I could use. I need something in my bathroom to put my stuff on but the only thing they had cost a lot and was metal which will rapidly corrode. I went into a number of the small boutique shops and they do have some lovely clothes – many hand made – in all sizes.
While walking up the long hill to Crossroads I saw a sign for McDoud’s that used an M similar the Mc Donald’s “M”. I stopped to take a picture of the sign and very carefully composed it to avoid any people. No sooner had I finished than two young men who had been walking down the hill said “give me $50 kwacha. You took my picture”. I said I didn’t, showed them the photo, and said "no 50 Kwacha. They went off disappointed. From the top of the hill you can see the City center with the large mosque as a landmark. I tried to get a picture from there but there were too many trees.
Coming down the hill I saw the sight of the day. There was a small white truck with no markings on the side of the road. In the back of the truck was a guy in a uniform. I have no idea whether he was police, military or private security since all wear uniforms and look official. He was holding a very large automatic rifle (I thought it was a machine gun but that’s probably not right). The truck was stuck and had to be pushed by the bystanders until it could be jump started. How ironic! I would have loved to photograph that but I didn't dare.
Saturday is shopping day so there were a lot of people walking up and down the roads. Music was blaring from some of the shops, minibuses were honking to attract customers, drivers were honking because people weren’t moving fast enough and a few street corner preachers were shouting in Chichewa. There were also many people walking around selling things – used clothing, new and used shoes, bananas, pineapples, avocados, and mangos, CDs, phone cards, newspapers, flipflops, and occasionally chamba (marijuana). These vendors seemed to target drivers first and then walkers – drivers are likely to have more money. Money changers accosted me around the Niko center where the Game store is located and I encountered a few beggars who were disabled as well as a few people who just asked for money. I wish I could take pictures but I don’t think I can afford it so you will have to settle for my word pictures.
By the time I got back to Shop Rite I had walked for 4 hours straight, I was tired and I noticed earlier in the day that the new ice cream shop looked like it was open. I came down the hill intent on an ice cream and as they say here a “sit down”. The doors were open but much to my disappointment the store wasn’t really open. They were training their new employees who were making ice cream cones, sundaes, waffles, etc that were melting all over the place! I walked across the street and settled for pita with guess what? CHICKEN! I met an Australian woman who has lived here 8 years. She lives in a village on the Lake and runs some pre-schools and much to my surprise does not speak a word of Chichewa or the local language on that part of the lake – Tumbiko. We had a nice visit but I expect I will not see her again.
Hope you enjoyed this excursion. Look for the minibus ride home in the next installment. Pictures on Tuesday. I can't upload them on my dongle. Hope you are enjoying these and if you have suggestions you'll send them along.