The next decade....what's in store?

Grenada.....nice like Spice

I love Saturdays off. That's when the market in downtown St George's is most vibrant and I can pick, choose and refuse among fruits and vegetables.

So this morning, I headed to the bus stop and was in town in quick time.

A cruise ship was in town so there were some tourists out. After stopping at a couple of "Indian stores" (stores owned by Indians or Syrians) and not finding anything that grabbed my eyes (shopping in Grenada is not very good unfortunately....online shopping here I come!), I headed to Cablevision because I have two months of cable service to pay. Line too long so I waved to a former colleague and said I would put it in the post. In Grenada, they don't cut off your services just so. Terrible payment culture here. I guess in other countries too, but businesses are very soft hearted here, then people take advantage of them.

The first vendor I encountered on the outskirts of the market was a fella helping maybe his mother. Good salesman and he got me to buy some chive/thyme/shado benni (triple marriage!) and a papaya. Next I got some yam, sweet peppers, plantains, limes and tomatoes. I like to get something from several vendors to spread the wealth around. Most of the vendors grow their own stuff so I feel like I am directlly contributing to their lives. Some buy from others and bring them down. I had been trying to find sweet pepper in the supermarket for a long time but no luck. You could be guaranteed to get it in the market. Expensive as hell but anyway....

With the tourists walking through the market, you heard a variety of "tourist calls" to woo them to the stands. A lady and her two boys stopped by where I was buying some tomatoes. She pointed to a soursop and the vendor explained that the kids could suck it. One of the little boys asked Mummy if she could buy it. Not sure if she did because I had finished packing my now heavy knapsack...oh I forgot I had orange and grapefruit in there...very heavy. Walked off to see a tourist taking a photo of his two companions. I did the native thing and asked if he would like me to take a photo of all three and he said yes. I hope it comes out.

Next it was to buy apples at the man who sells pirated music...an illegal act, but...oh well. Then a bottle of water at The Bottle House.

The Esplanade Mall was built primarily for the new cruise ship pier that was constructed right smack in the middle of town. Several stores have been opened in there, thereby giving locals an opportunity to earn a living. There is a store called Native Foods which juices fresh fruits into delicous juices. A must have if you come to Grenada. The man behind the counter was sharing out some peas soup for a customer and it looked so inviting. I asked him if it had meat in it. Duh! I asked him what about people who don't eat meat???? He say is mostly locals buy the soup and locals eat meat. Silly locals. (ah joking!)

There is a Mario's pizza (Trinidad company) and a Subway (yankee company) in there. The mall is air conditioned and I noticed lots of tourists patronizing those. The Mall is good in a way, but bad in a way because the tourists might just come off the ship and stay in the air conditioned comfort of the building rather than going out into the town.

After I paid my Cable & Wireless bill at their kiosk in the Mitchell's Megastore (by Grenadian standards....it's smaller than Liguanea Lane pharmace), it was time to catch the bus back to Grand Anse. Surprisingly, there was none at the terminus! Didn't wait more than 10 minutes though. Soon we were off. The driver cussed people for blocking a road while delivering bread and cussed a lady who cussed him for cussing the bread van. "Shut yuh mudda ass mouth...interfering in what yuh don't know bout". My word!

Got off at the supermarket, bought a few more items and headed home with my heavy load. Had some Campbell's Vegetable soup and bread, then headed off to La-la land, spelling out the phrase "g-r-e-n-a-d-a-n-i-c-e-l-i-k-e-s-p-i-c-e" in between my Zzzzzzzzs. Such freedom, such clean air, such lovely people, such peace, such calm, such beauty.

Posted by yamfoot at February 10, 2007 07:24 PM