Fish Juice and Undressing

Lafye ( I don't think that's the right spelling but that's really not important)- a piece of material about the size of a double sheet. It comes in a myriad of colors and patterns. This is what all the women wear over their clothes and it covers their head as well. Following are the instructions on how to put it on. First, take a corner of the material and tie it in a knot and hold it in your left hand. Gather the rest of it behind your back, with the top of it at your waistline. Bring the knot around to your right side in the front. Bring the rest of he fabric that should be on the right, over to the left. Cinch the two ends over each other very tightly. (Trust me, the tighter the better). You will have a lot of extra fabric hanging down on your left side. Make a small dog ear with your fabric at the top by your waist and tuck it at your left hip. (Don't make too much of a dog ear because it will hurt you later). Tuck the knot that should be out at your right side in the fabric that is there. Now, take both hands along the extra fabric and sling it up behind your back and over your head. And yes, there will still be extra fabric. Tuck a little of the fabric by your neck on the left side. Then throw the rest of the fabric across your front and over your left shoulder. Now as you can probably tell, this takes quite a bit of time to accomplish every time you leave the house. And if you have the wrong length, or make too big of a dog ear, or even if you don't have your legs far enough apart, the process doesn't work out. And you will either not be able to walk, or it's going to fall down. Believe me, it falls down alot!! And that gives the locals a big laugh. Then you need the help of several people to re-clothe yourself in the middle of a crowd! As you can probably conclude, I rip my lafye off as soon as I make it back to the house. One lady here says she forgets she has it on most of the time. I think it's going to be a long time before I get to that point. Here's hoping it comes soon!
MEAT ROW: We went to the market today. There are tons of carts and spaces where people are selling everything from basic fruits and vegetables, to shoes, to blow-up animals. (Seriously!) Probably, the most interesting part of the market is what I like to call "meat row." It's a covered area with a very narrow aisle and tables on both sides. First, picture a lot of people pushing their way through from all directions. There's a different meat on each table -- fillets of everything, fish, liver, something in a very odd shape, etc. Now, when you're looking at a particular piece of meat, the seller literally slams the table really hard to get all the flies off! Then, they hold the meat high in the air so the buyer can see it from all angles. Now, while you're looking at the meat, other people are transporting meat up and down the aisle. There were numerous times when I looked up to see someone carrying the thigh of a huge animal over my head! I'm sure you can only imagine the smell. The only thing that really got me was when I was looking at the fish table, and something started to drip on my foot. Not a very good feeling!
Once your meat is purchased, the seller puts it in a small, black, plastic bag. You carry it in the bag with all your other food. Needless to say, the FDA or PETA would have "strokes" at the sight of "meat row." But, let's face it - you've got to eat!