Ariane and I are sharing cooking, and consider the road-side barbecued meat too much of a bargain to bother finding the raw stuff and doing it ourself. I got beef the other day (tender spicy thinly sliced pieces) from the road up from the mission - $AU 1.50 for enough to add to vegies to make a stir-fry for the both of us.
Last night we went down to the other road to the mutton sellers we had seen earlier in the week. They had the chopped bits, but also this leg of lamb I'll use Sunday. We asked for yam fries straight from the oil (this lot cost 50c), and since it took a while had hot sweet potatoes (same quantity, same price) while sitting on an offered bench in the dark. I had bought the culturally-correct enamelled casserole dish to carry it home in, that comes in sets so you can have sauce and rice in the others. The little shop on the way home had the fruity drink in sachets that they also sell frozen which is quite refreshing (also 50c).
More exploring today with Ariane - we managed to get ourself to the Artisans' Village by taxi from the main road to check out for the future what is typically made by craftsmen here. There was some beautiful woven materials, and all kinds of metal statues, and modern and traditional leather work. There was not much wood (it predominated the Artisanal Center in Benin). On the way back the taxi we managed to find didn't go all the way into our sector, so we had a hot walk up from the main road in the sun, with a short break to pick up some ice cream for desserts. As a treat we also picked up frozen sachets (mine was chocolate icecream for 40c) to cool our throats on the rest of the walk up the dusty roads home to the guesthouse.
