Grocery Shopping

Foodstuffs can generally be divided into three categories here: available daily, available on market day, or things one can only find in Ngaoundéré.

As far as things you can get every day, there are a few small, cramped boutiques in the market, which sell everything from eggs (75 francs apiece) and bread (100 francs for a small baguette) to flip flops and hair relaxer. There’s also usually a line of women in front of these boutiques selling things like tomatoes, grilled corn, bananas, or peanuts, though it seems like their wares change every day.

Saturday is our market day, when vendors come in from the smaller surrounding villages, so there’s much more variety in available produce, not to mention clothes and shoes. I usually pick up some peanut butter (200 francs for about a cup) and tomatoes (100 francs a kilo), and bananas (100 francs for a small bunch), since I can be more selective.

Practically everything else is available in Ngaoundere at what volunteers affectionately call “white man stores.” For reasons that I still haven’t discerned, there was an influx of Norwegian missionaries and medical professionals into Cameroon in the 1980s, and to this day there’s a Norwegian hospital in Ngaoundere, so a number of grocery stores in the area stock European items. The last time I was in the regional capital, I splurged on a jar of Nutella, which set me back about 3000 francs, or six dollars. 

Ngaoundere also has the largest market in the region, where you can find peppers (50 francs apiece) and carrots (200 francs for five), which are unheard of here. Avocado season isn’t yet in full swing here in Nyambaka, so I take advantage whenever I’m in the capital to pick up a few, especially since my favorite breakfast as of late is avocado and egg sandwiches. I also make a point of consuming as much dairy as possible when I’m there, since without dependable refrigeration, the only dairy we get in village is powdered milk. Which is a shame, since the Grand North is known for khossam (Fulfulde for “milk”), delicious drinkable sweetened yogurt.

All in all, I think I’ve been mostly successful so far in my attempt to maintain a balanced diet when I cook for myself. When I eat at the neighbors’, the food is usually full of carbohydrates and salt—not that I’m complaining. We’ll see how I fare when I stop going to Ngaoundere so often and don’t have access to as much variety.