Sokoni Pictures

The view from our front yard. Moss and I are leaving our house to head to the soko so we can make a yummy dinner of wali na nazi (coconut rice), matemble (our favorite greens), and jodari (tuna).

Along the way we see some of the neighborhood watoto playing behind their house.


Our Sokoni. Since it is only a two minute walk from our house we come here most days of the week to get fresh food for dinner.

Azizi, our samaki man! He's great and can't get over how much fish we eat...he doesn't know we feed Kali his fresh jodari too. Each piece of fish costs 500 shilingi or about 33 cents.

Shikamooni...it's our matembele ladies. They are always so happy to see us. Each bunch of matembele cost 100 shilingi or around 6 cents.

Watoto at the soko

The Big Sokoni. This soko is located in town, which is a 10 minute bike ride away from our house. We only come here once a week to buy any items that we need for our house or to stock up on certain things that we can't get at our local soko, like pasta or bread.

Dried fish...ugh! When Moss and I were living in Mkayageni our mama used to cook dried fish for us and I have to say that it's disgusting... chewy and super salty! Now Moss and I stick to the fresh fish.

This picture and all of the following are at the big soko in town.

Wanawake buying mhogo (cassava).

Pineapple season just started and the pineapples here are amazing! They are as sweet as candy so of course I love them!

Moss buying a pineapple for 2000 shilingi or $1.33.

More matunda (fruit)

The fruit at this stand is called fensi or jack fruit. We actually have a fensi tree in our front yard. The fruit is so interesting in texture and flavor. It is chewy and has a foam-like consistency, and the flavor reminds me of an Airhead. For those of you that don't know about Airheads, they are a chewy taffy-like candy that you can buy in just about any convenience store in the states. For those of you that know about Airheads and have tried them before, fensi taste just like the mystery flavor Airhead.

Peanuts, get your peanuts! Peanuts here are dirt cheap, but we tend to buy more cashews which are pretty pricey... well I say pricey but I guess that's a relative term. Cashews cost 5000 shiligi or a little over 3 dollars, but to spend 5000 shiligi on any one item in the market now seems expensive. I get embarrassed and apologize to the store owner when I pull out a 10,000 shiligi bill or the equivalent of $6.66. It's funny how quickly ones perception of things change.

A clothing store in Mtwara. When you walk inside there are hundreds of different types of fabric of various colors and designs lining the walls. You can buy the fabric and get a dress made for 12000 shilingi or $8.00.

Obviously not the soko. It's Kali with her new favorite toy (thanks mom). I just wanted to give you all an update and let you know that she is back to her crazy, rambunctious self. Because she healed so quickly, we don't think she broke her arm or dislocated her shoulder after all.