This became evermore clear to me after my Owino experience this week. My one and only pair of jeans that I brought with me have two giant holes right above the knees and are not appropriate here. So, considering that I LOVE wearing jeans, I needed to find a new pair. Being that new clothes are a rare find here, and when they are found are really rather expensive, I ventured to the giant open air market known as Owino with 3 of my friends. This is a place that is very difficult to describe to someone who has never been before. It is also well known that you don’t take your camera there, or else I would have a picture. Truth be told, it would be difficult to capture the chaos of this place through a lens. I just went searching for a picture on google images, but nothing does it justice. It’s massive and easy to get lost in. They sell everything there! It’s a dark maze struggling to find your way through stacks of shirts, pinned pants, hanging winter coats, chains of shoes, and steaming matoke. I was happy to be with friends especially this time as I looked for jeans. I found one pair that seemed to fit me from holding them up and I was thinking about moving on because they seemed a bit long. But then I looked at the name brand: United Colors of Bennonton. Wow. The only reason I knew that this was an expensive brand was because I saw their stores all over the place in Europe this summer. I bargained with the man to bring down the price to around $7 and walked away feeling alright. I showed my friends and they were amazing saying that in the US they would have cost $150!!!!!! I couldn’t believe it. I never paid more than $25 for a pair of jeans! African just don’t have that sense of name brands and think only of what it looks like. I do enjoy that most of the time, but I am also looking for quality- so sometimes it is important to know what you’re looking at. However, I wasn’t quite sure that they fit me. So walking along I looked up and saw another stand smothered in jeans. As usual, the owner reached out his hand and grabbed my arm. I gave in this time because the jeans hanging on his makeshift wall looked pretty nice. He asked quickly started pulling some off the wall for me to look at, asking me if I wanted skinny jeans or boot cut. He asked me how big of a flare I wanted on them. He did at one point go to a few stalls over and borrow a tape measure. A lot of the things in this market come from Europe and I didn’t know my size, only in American numbers (which don’t really make sense). I watched amusingly as he measured my waist…backwards!!!!!! It didn’t really matter however, because he seemed to know exactly what he was doing (kind of). He suggested over and over again that I try them on. I looked around and laughed. How in the world was I going to try on a pair of jeans at Owino? The man wanted to hold up a dirty sheet with a few holes in it to cover me from the masses of people. I declined, but he insisted. I don’t know how he convinced me, but I instead got my roommate, Teresa, to do the holding of the curtain. It was so awkward. I peeked around as I slipped my capris off making sure that there were no gaps between the thin boards that made up the walls. I didn’t see any eyes, so I figured I was somewhat safe. I did however pull down my shirt as far as it could stretch, just in case. As I attempted to put first pair on I couldn’t help but smile and laugh the entire time. These trousers were a disaster. I put back on the linen that I came in. Then he found another pair that he was CONVINCED would fit me. So, back I went into the changing room made of a block with cardboard (on which I had to remove my shoes) and a coffin sized box on the side. This pair failed to slip over my thighs. He handed me one more to try and BINGO. Perfect! I couldn’t believe how well they fit! I did however have to curb my enthusiasm. If you show too much interest in a product, it is much harder to bargain down to a good price. The process began. He started at 45,000/= (around $21). Wowzers. That is just crazy- they see a white face and instantly think money and stupidity. Luckily, I know better. I explained that I could get new jeans for cheaper than that in the US and that I had just gotten jeans of good quality for a third of that price. He thought I was saying his jeans were not good quality- I quickly explained to him that his were, but that different makers means how long they will last. Plus, I asked Agnes (the assistant teacher in my class) how much they should be. Luckily, without too much haggling, I got him down to the same price as the other pair. I was happy to pay that because of the fact that I had never had a pair of jeans fit me so well since my pair that gave out in grade 8. It may have been an incredibly awkward experience changing in the middle of that market, but I am SO happy I did J
I can’t even count the number of times that I was tagged, grabbed, or cat called. I can’t recall all of the countries that people called out to us (“Hey Russian” “Hey Scottish” “Hey Obama! How is he doing?”, etc.). But it was worth it this time around.
I went with the intention of buying jeans. I got 5 shirts of all types, 2 pairs of jeans (that both fit amazingly), 7 oranges, a pile or tomatoes, a pile or potatoes, 2 packets of seeds, 4 mandazi, and an interesting story all for under $25. Amazing.
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