Mango Freak

I really am a mango freak, ever since Virginia introduced me to those yellow mangoes when we were in Hong Kong .......... of course that was just a treat, I never expected to be surrounded by yellow mangoes, peaches, lychees, grapes, and some black things I actually don't like ...... unusual for me ........ I like just about everything.

With these yellow mangoes you have to know how to get the most out of them, Virginia showed me how to cut closely along the pit on the long side, so you get three pieces, you chew around the pit, and use cut sides as cups ........ there is nothing like a good mango, it is rightly called the King of Fruits.

Usually I buy them from vendors along the side of the road, but today we went to the fruit and vegetable market ......... one word ...... chaos. Donkey carts, horse carts, bicycles, people everywhere, then on top of that cars and trucks trying to move around. As we walked into the market area, I got all sorts of squelchy things on my shoes ....... everywhere you look there is organic waste on the road, and all over the market, so that where there is a slight change in grade, like stepping off a curb, there is sticky black stuff, does not smell bad, but I get the impression it has been there for ever ........ so did I tell you I was with the driver of the office car, that's how I got to the market, perhaps you wondered ....... ?

Where were we ....... yes, in the middle of all the black stuff on the road, in the market. Now the places next to the roads are piled high with wooden boxes, full of mangoes, large to medium. We met the driver's friend, and looked at the boxes, they are about one foot long, by nine inches or so wide, and nine inches deep. I don't yet know how many it contains, I'll let you know when I find out, let's say for now there are 36, so at 3 per day .......... looks like I will be sharing with the guys at the office. I took a box of peaches for the office, those were marvelous as well.

So what did I get out of today, apart from eats ......... well, as soon as I go to places like this, I always think about the donkeys and horses, doing their work in the high heat and humidity, and getting a thwack across the backside for their trouble, I was told they are accustomed to the heat ........ children as young as ten are out driving these carts doing business in the market.

Now, as we left the market, I saw a town of mud houses, along the banks of the river and in the flood plain, I was told these people here are Afghans, a source of cheap labour. I am not talking about a few, there were hundreds of mud houses, a whole community, with alley ways for vehicles etc. Now, there has to be a problem, I have no idea what sanitary facilities are provided, if any, I did see a couple of water pumps by the side of the road, one can only imagine what it must be like. At least, living close to the market, they do get food, not the freshest or the best ......... I was watching small children, three or four years old begging the vendors for their over ripe and cast offs ........ they learn early, those children, they need mangoes to survive, they don't have the luxury of becoming a mango freak ........ so many children, how will they ever get out of there ......... ?