HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
May 26, 2005 “Cinco de April” is the poor man’s “Cinco de Mayo”; especially in a land that doesn’t have beer. There is plenty of “near” beer to be found, and I’m sure some of the folks around here know where the local illegal distillery is by the way they weave their way into the lampposts and other highway immovable objects. I was told by our Kuwaiti sponsor that there is a ferry boat that will take people off shore to a special island out of sight of the mainland where you can have fun without worrying about offending the more fundamental members of society. Here it is against the law to walk down the street holding hands. I understand the woman is always arrested for such public displays of affection. The men can repent and pay a small fine. The past two days have brought up a lot of wind from seaward. The Bedouins have been returning from their camps back to the city and have been returning the several large flocks of sheep to the nearest unused grasslands. I have been seeing the camel herds closer in toward the city too. Last week I spied some men preparing an outdoor feast. I believed it was for a wedding but it may have been just the final celebration of the camping season. The men were actually butchering camels. I was fascinated. That was another “first” for me. The other evening I had my first taste of the Mombarakia (Moom-bar-ak-i-a) fish market. All fresh catch of the day; I recognized the flounder, salmon, squid, tuna and some of the largest crabs I’ve ever seen. There were a host of other fresh catches that you had to be able to read Arabic to know what you were looking at. Each vendor had his own booth to hawk his daily catch. I understand the idea is to get to the market about one and one half hours before closing. That is when all the prices are bargain able. If you go early you pay the market price. The market value drops later in the day and near the end of day you can almost set your own value. Not all the venders will haggle, but many will. The market is not so large that you cannot cover the whole floor in an hour or so. Alongside the fish market is a large produce market. You can purchase by the kilo or by the package. Many of the packaged items do not have a set value. You can bargain with the vendor and set your price. Several of the produce vendors were in dire need of fresh stock, but many more had some of the finest tomatoes (imagine Jersey’s in Kuwait) grapes, various citrus fruits, onions and potatoes I have seen. You could see the vendors who were proud of their offerings and much of what they had was in demand. They apparently had the better reputations in the market. They were also not afraid to hand out samplings of their produce. I received a very sweet banana and a very tasty handful of concord grapes. Anyway, I don’t know a whole bunch about buying fresh fish, but I did work two and one half years for “Kroger” Supermarkets as an evening produce manager. I do know how to pick a ripe melon and a sweet apple. I witnessed many people here quite capable of finding the best produce among the various booths. It comes from years of shopping in such places. Shopping is a large part of the social system in Kuwait. Groups of women gather to haggle over produce prices while the men gather in the corner smoke shops or barber shops or “Men’s Patios”. When the women complete their rounds, they track down their socializing husband and head home. The following evening begins the ritual all over again. I could not help thinking the entire marketplace was like any supermarket in the United States. In the States, if you just need a gallon of milk you have to walk to the furthest back corner of the store. This is certainly by design. Each store forces you to pass by hundreds of bargains on the way to find the milk. You will almost always purchase something else from a bargain display. Here, the fish and produce markets are completely surrounded by the clothing, shoe, house ware, linen, tobacco and ice cream vendors. It is almost a certainty you will come out of the market with a “bargain” you never intended to purchase. Isn’t that what “shopping” is all about? ------------ About the Author: Michael John McCrae has contributed over 300 articles to Useless-Knowledge.com. Email: macswordV@hotmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
