As Gramma has described and sometimes
complained, shopping in Samoa especially for groceries is something of an art. You have go to
at least 3 or more often 5 stores, to get everything you need. There is no guarantee
that what you found one week will be there the next. The open markets are where
many Samoan people get a lot of what they eat. Below is a picture of people
selling mostly taro along the street in front of a new market that was supposed
to have been completed over a year ago. The Government ministers here have a
few corruption issues and the market project has been a cash cow for them and
some of their friends. It is supposed to be done in the fall.
Because there is no market place they create one
along the street and in a vacant lot.
It is so congested that we go to a market on
another street that is not so crowded.
They like to haggle a little on the prices and
we are not very good at it so we usually pay the top price for things in the
markets. This stand below is our most popular place to buy produce, in this picture
they are just setting up along the road down from the Pesega college.
If you start missing home you can always go to
this place.
The special on the sign is the McAiga (Family)
it has 2 big macs, 2 nuggets, 2 cheese burgers, 4 fries, and 4 drinks for 60
Tala (about 26 US dollars). They taste just like home, but you only get one
napkin and 2 ketchup packets with your order. The other special today is 3
Wings with rice; you can’t get that in Blackfoot. Here is where we go to get
money out of the bank machines. Samoa is a cash society so this place is always
packed, I can’t believe it is so quiet today, the machines are probably broke
down, that happens a lot.
Here is the prettiest street in Apia, it is
about 3 blocks long. Gramma loves to shop here.
Here is the bus station. It is so busy in the
morning and afternoon that you can’t drive through it. They load these buses
(they are really trucks) two deep in the seats and cram them completely full.
Here are a couple of pictures of the market next
to the bus station.
This picture is of Farmer Joe’s downtown (we
like the one in Viatele three miles away better).
This is Lucky’s, it is Gramma’s favourite
grocery store, but there prices are quite high compared to other stores. Their meat is better and so we buy most of it here.
This is another of Gramma's favorites, SAAB, its a stationary store that has about everything. We buy greeting cards here and it has a internet cafe and a gift shop (that's what attracts Gramma).
This is Samoa’s Home Depot.
This is Samoa’s Costco. It is a warehouse store,
we buy paper towels and that stuff here. They don’t have much of a selection
and the quantity is still very small.
This is Frankie’s, they sell furniture
groceries, clothing, and their meat department smells terrible. They cater to
the Samoan items, but they have a lot of stuff we use and their prices are one
of the best. None these places are bigger than Keslers.
This is my favorite store. It is very clean, it
has a warehouse store next to it, a Burger Bills (it won’t be mistaken for
McDonalds, in fact their burgers won't be mistaken for burgers), and a gas station. I buy most of the Petol (gas) we use there. We
use a lot of gas driving around shopping and going up to Sauniatu. It costs
over 3 Tala a Litre (litre not a gallon).
This store is a little market next to the
school. McKenzies and it caters to Americans they have a lot of Kirkland
products for some reason (they must have a Costco card). They also have a lot
of cats running around in it.
The last store in King Arthur's it is the
smallest and is their version of 7-11.
That’s where we shop here in Samoa to stay alive and sometimes
it takes all the stores to get what you need for a meal. The last pictures are
of the breakfast that Dasiy and her husband took Gramma and I, along with Mosy
and her husband too. Dasiy and Mosy are the choir ladies that are good friends of Gramma’s.
The restaurant is run by an Australian cooking school and is first class.
Daisy’s husband teaches welding in another part of the school and he
was able to get us reservations. They had everything you would want for
breakfast (including smoked salmon) and it was very good. It was a very nice gesture
by this family to invite us.
This was kind of a boring blog, but I
hope it gave you an idea of the hassle of shopping. Gramma's email will focus on all the other special things that
has happened this week. We really are missionaries and most of our time is spent on
the Lords errand here at Pesega and at Sauniatu. We have Stake conference Sunday
(tomorrow) and we are singing in the Stake choir at conference and Gramma is
accompanying with Dasiy. Then we have to sing in a program that night. Gramma has to accompany and direct numbers for another ward at that program. We love
you all, hope you’re having a great summer. Thanks for the emails, pictures,
and the Father’s day wishes. We love you and want you to know the Gospels true.
Tofa Soifua, Elder and Sister Hammond
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