Outdoor Market

Today we went to our first outdoor market. It was made up of hundreds of 8x8x8 wooden shacks with tin roofs. There were rows and rows of them, extending about a block long. They were dusty and dark and walking through them, we had little room to move any way but forward. Each vendor approached us, “Hello sister”or “Karibu” (welcome in Swahili). There were earrings and scarves, beaded belts, soap stone sculptures, woven straw hats, leather sandals and products I couldn’t even name. The vendors were persuasive, yet not aggressive. They were all such amazing artists. Everything they were selling they had made by hand. It felt so different from the shops at home, because when you buy a pair of earrings at home, you haven’t met the people that have beaded them. You haven’t experienced the creativity and effort that each artist has put into there magnificent products. It was a beautiful place and yet it was so tempting to pass by so many artists and not buy every beautiful product they had made.
The woman I am living with has become dear friends with one of the woman (Sara) who sells her art there and she is such a wonderful, endearing person. She is very beautiful and only weighs around 90 pounds, causing me to believe she was in her early twenties. I found out later that she is 35 and has 3 children. After we had left the market, my host mom told me that she once had a beautiful, thriving store in Nairobi, which was run from her home. One night some robbers broke in and stole almost all her art. Because of that, she could not afford to run the store anymore and so now has to sell from the markets. Her husband was so frustrated by this and fearful of the idea of a life of poverty for his wife and their three young children that he left for the states and is now earning a bachelors degree in the United States, so that once he finishes his schooling, he will be able to give his wife and children the life that they deserve. Noxy and I hope to be able to help Sara take care of her children while she is working!
Sara lead us all around the market, making sure that no one tried to have us over pay for their goods (everyone knows I am a foreigner). She is so generous and if I see something I like and the vendor wants me to pay a certain amount for it she whispers "no baby, don't you worry, I'll get it for you". She has an amazing memory, and when we show her things we like she remembers what they are, and gets them for us later on, because no one overcharges her! I feel a bit strange about what she does, because I don't want to under pay these artists for their brilliant work, and to me the prices they offer me sound completely reasonable and often sound too cheap. But I have to remember what a different world it is here. A world where an intricate beaded necklace, which I would normally pay 20 or more dollars for at home, is sold for only 2 dollars (150 shillings) here.