Where He leads...: Clean up on aisle three!

Clean up on aisle three!

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Gone are the days (mostly) of shopping in well-stocked, wide-aisle, wish-I-would-have-worn-a-jacket-for-the-frozen-food-section grocery stores.

Leogane does not have a grocery store. Well, certainly not anything close to what I described above. They do have a store called Original Market, which does sell groceries, albeit, overpriced groceries and you have to play a game of Twister to squeeze past someone in the crowded aisles, of which there are three. There are also gas station/mini marts that sell various items like Corn Flakes, spaghetti noodles, powdered milk, Pringles, and chocolate bars. And then you have the outdoor market where you can try out your haggling skills for a dozen eggs, a bag of rice, or even a new (or more likely used) pair of shoes. There are also street vendors scattered throughout town selling everything from packaged cookies to matches, phone chargers to TV antennas, and soccer balls to Haitian-made or pirated DVDs. Some vendors even walk around town, shouting out their product in hopes that someone within hearing distance will be prompted to make a purchase.

Our cook Yvette does the majority of her shopping in the outdoor market. Each morning she heads out to purchase whatever she needs for the menu that day. The busyness of the marketplace doesn't even phase her. She comes back with bags filled with the freshest goods and properly cleans and prepares them for our guests.

Leogane's outdoor market. This is just a small corner. Start walking towards the middle of it and you'll find rows and rows of vendors who have arrived early to set up their stalls.

It's typical to return to the same vendors who you get to know over time and who are fair with their pricing. It's also normal to split your shopping list between multiple vendors. Even if they sell similar products, it allows you to help as many as you can make a profit that day.

The price for produce depends on what's in season. When avocados are in abundance you can buy one for less than 50 cents. A five pound papaya sells right now for around $2.30.

I have to psyche myself up for an outdoor market trip. It's crowded, hot, steamy, and if it has rained recently, it's a muddy mess!

To navigate through the busy marketplace, you have to dodge people and motos, duck under low awnings, hop over the products often lying on a tarp on the ground, and all the while trying to avoid stepping into who-knows-what that has gathered in the mud and mucky puddles.

So what about other shopping options in Haiti? The closest grocery store for me is DeliMart in the city of Carrefour. It's about 18 miles away and takes about 45 minutes to get there depending on traffic. They carry a good selection including quality wheat bread, lots of pasta and sauces, some decent cheese and produce, even pepperoni and frozen blueberries! When I'm able to get there, I'll buy some items for Yvette that are cheaper than purchasing them in Leogane, such as cheese, pasta, and sauce for lasagna, jelly, peanut butter, and salad dressings.

Earlier this year I was so motivated to get the groceries I wanted that I went with a friend to DeliMart via public transportation and we carried back all that we could in our hands and in one backpack. Surprisingly I've yet to get that motivated again!

If I'm really in the mood for a trip, I take a special outing to Petionville. Petionville is a town south of Port au Prince that is like stepping into another dimension. Amidst the typical poverty, street vendors, and other sights and sounds that are always in Haiti, you'll also find elegant stores, delicious restaurants, luxury hotels, and yes, big, well-stocked, wide-aisle, wish-I-would-have-worn-a-jacket-for-the-frozen-food-section grocery stores! The key, however, to shopping in these incredible supermakets is to not stray from your shopping list unless you are prepared for the shock that will come as you see the total bill at the register! Some items sell for a decent price, similar to what you'd find in the States. Others are twice (or more!) what you'd pay back home. You won't see me buying $10 boxes of cereal or $15 packs of bacon! (Ok, once I accidentally bought a $15 pack of bacon! Never again!) You just have to decide what something is worth to you. Maybe the day will come when you will splurge on a $12 carton of strawberries, $15 tub of Ben and Jerry's, or $20 frozen pizza. But most the time I'm satisfied just having a wider selection of fresh (and fly-less produce), cake mixes and icing, freshboneless chicken breasts, and any cheese I want!

Caribbean Supermaket, rebuilt after it collapsed in the 2010 earthquake where many lost their lives and others were trapped for days.

Enjoy the well-organized aisles and make sure to stop at the French bakery on the way out for delicious desserts and yummy pesto and mozerrella sandwiches on fresh baguettes!

But don't forget that traveling back to Leogane from Petionville could easily take two hours. Bring a cooler and buy ice on your way out. (My friend's cooler was stolen out of the back of the truck on our way up!) Strap down and cover your priceless goodies if you can! And hit the road before your yogurt and chicken spoils... which unfortunately happened to mine last time! :(