Shopping in the market /isoko
Rwandan markets are the smelliest little rabbit warrens but they are the place to go if you want to really get going with your Kinyarwanda and also get some bargains. The smells come from the piles of tiny dried fish and the cassava root and flour which smells like dried sick! Giterama is supposed to be reknowned for the quality of its cassava and theres a back handed compliment if ever I heard one.
My favourite section is where the African materials are. When I first went I got followed by a huge group of women but they are more used to me know and we have a laugh at my limited knowledge of Kinyarwanda and I jokingly berate them for trying to sell me cloth at Muzungu price not Rwandan price. I tell them in my best Kinyarwanda that I know the real price for two panes ie the Rwandan price and they know now how much I am prepared to pay. Its taken a few visits to arrive at this point and I have had to walk away several times because they refused to bargain. But now when I go they call me by my name – this is because I told them my name was not Muzungu it was Tina!
There is just such a variety and riot of colour that the main problem is choosing. I want to buy them all!!!! Rwandan women and men for that matter take great pride in their appearance. Rwandan women often wear traditional materials, draped and sewn into an infinite number of designs and styles. And any colour and design goes – they always manage to make it look good. They are especially fond of longer skirts to the floor and then often wear matching material as a turban – in all shades of brightness colour and pattern you can imagine. I wish I could take photos but they do not like you to take pictures and are likely to ask you for money if you do.
The tailors here are very skilled in spite of the fact that their only tool is the basic black Singer treadle sewing machine. There are people working the machines in every market , though here in Giterama there is a more up market section at the other end of town which offers wedding and more complicated tailoring. Cerys took in a top and some material and they duplicated it and put in extra detail to boot and it looked super. She also had a dress made up from a picture she had drawn and it turned out perfectly a week later.
So I have bought a few panes of material. Some will be good made up and some will just make fabulous stunning curtains but I just love those stalls and I am sure that won’t be the last material I buy I am sure. I will also get some made up into a style I have seen around because they look extremely elegant as well as comfortable.