DON'T GO TO THE MARKET WHEN YOU ARE PREGNANT

June 25, 2011
Pat E Lyon

I cannot imagine how my daughter would manage to go to the market here. First, you must dodge buses, cars, moto bikes and dogs. You step under a kind of tarp and suddenly, it is dark. As your eyes adjust to the light, your senses are absoluely assaulted. There is a wave of odor that is like nothing else. I remembered it as soon as I entered. The smell of hot humans, babies who needed to go to the bathroom (but could not), fish, fish paste, something being grilled, fruits and vegetables. After you accustom yourself to the smells, be prepared for the sights! Chickens with splayed legs and exposed entrails reach toward me as if to clutch at my arm in desperation. Fish stare blankly into space with flies crawling over thei shiny bodies. Wilted long beans and herbs tied tightly into bundles lay in a basket. Red meat lays exposed on a board with dried pieces hanging above. Stacks of cane sugar wrapped in leaves tempt me. There are large bouquets of flowers. A post is pierced with small sticks holding bracelets made from fragrant white jasmine. To move about, you must turn sideways and try to be small so that others may pass. At your feet there are women squatting, working with what they have brought to sell. And just to your right, a young woman is working at a sewing machine, turning fine silk into a ballgown for a wedding. Ahead is a narrow shop where you can get your hair cut or your nails done. There is very little movement of air.

I am tempted to faint, but avoid it. It is wet under my sandals with all the things I have already mentioned and more.

I move ahead, trying to memorize where to find the material shop and the button shop, and a good place to buy shampoo.

This is the old market. It is one of my favorite places. And I like it a thousand times more than Wal Mart. By the way, at the air conditioned Angkor Market, you can buy frozen strawberries for $13.50 US a kilo. I think maybe the small pineapple and watermelon at the old market is better.