Convenience Boutik

Babukar in his well stocked boutik

Across from the Marina International School sits the most efficiently packed convenience store (the African version of a “bodega”) I’ve ever seen. In the space of a good sized powder room you can buy all your grocery essentials, school supplies, local and imported junk food (Anisa likes the Kool-Aid Jammers and pink bubble gum she now calls “blow ups”), phone cards and too many other things to list here. Merchandise is packed wall-to-wall, all the way to the ceiling, several rows deep so only the shopkeeper can help customers.

The proprietor, Babukar, is known by all the kids at school. He even makes fresh sandwiches to order. Chocolate or sweetened condensed milk on a warm tapalapa bread (like a French baguette) costs 5D (about $0.15) for a 9-inch piece, and a “pirty” sandwich - corned chicken, lettuce, mayo, ketchup, and an egg if you want, costs about $0.90 for an 18 inch tapalapa. These local “boutiks” are on almost every block, in every neighborhood – though maybe not as elaborate as Babukar’s.

Women selling their prepared foods around the school pick-up line create lots of competition for Babukar’s boutique. Wan-Jo Ices (hibiscus flower juice popsicle in a baggie – Layla and Sophia’s favorite); the “mango thing” made with unripe mangos mixed with dried and ground local hot peppers and salt and sugar; ebbe – spicy crab and various fishes, cassava, and palm oil (a definite acquired taste, but a local favorite) – also served in a plastic baggie; and various cut-up fruits like mangos, lemons and local “caba” (sweet and sour, no English translation for this) made to order with sugar, Jumbo (flavor-enhancer like a bouillon cube – a staple in almost all cooking here) and/or hot pepper are all popular. It all makes a bag of potato chips seem quite boring.