North African Entrepreneurs - The Bread Guy

It has been a while since we posted about some of our favourite street vendors.  Probably our most favourite of all is the bread guy.  Bread is heavily government subsidized and you can buy a bag of 10 freshly baked pieces of flat bread for less than $0.50.  Most people will eat 5-10 pieces a day.  Throughout the day you can witness people transporting freshly baked bread on great long racks so they cool down without getting soggy.  The guys on the bikes are especially impressive, weaving in and out of traffic with 100-200 pieces of bread on their head.  

Because of our little celiac we try to keep our house bread/wheat free so we don't often buy bread.  Our friends are always amazed that we don't eat bread and Iz CAN'T eat bread.  "Then what do you eat???"  Rice, potatoes and gluten free pasta just don't cut it in their minds.  Every now and then it's a nice treat to buy some fresh bread to munch on on our way to work or school.  

Kids bringing fresh bread home

Carrying bread from the bakery to be sold

Local bakery with bread cooling down

North African Entrepreneurs - Mattress Restuffer

Although you can buy north american style spring/foam mattresses here they tend to be very expensive and difficult to find.  The far more common variety of mattress is the traditional futon stuffed cotton style.  For our first 5 years of marriage we slept on a futon so I'm quite fond of the futon style but if you've ever had a futon you know that after a few years your mattress becomes quite deformed and lumpy.  My parents have a futon in their guest room that has a giant ridge down the centre that ensures everyone stays on their side of the bed.

I've tried to take our mattresses off the bed and jump on them and pound them flat with varying degrees of success.  The better option is to call the mattress restuffer.  For less than $50 he comes to your house, takes your mattress outside and rips the mattress apart.  He has a machine that shreds the cotton filling and then he sews a new outer cover, restuffs it and returns it back to your house.  Because he does his work right in the street in front of your house he also has great advertising for his next client.  Who wouldn't want a freshly stuffed mattress to sleep on?

In the picture above the vendor is in the final stages of stuffing a body pillow.  Our last apartment had several of these.  They weigh about 20 lbs each and the girls found great entertainment in dragging each other around the house on them.  

North African Entrepreneurs - Luffa Guy

If you're a fan of luffa sponges we have a guy for you!  Apparently luffa's are hugely popular as you can find a luffa vendor on almost every street anytime during the year.  Often the vendors are liberally spraying their luffa sponges with water to keep them nice and fresh for their next customer.

After a little research we discovered that luffa's are actually vegetables (gourds) that when harvested young are apparently quite healthy and tasty.  When grown to full maturity they become quite fibrous and when you remove the skin and flesh you're left with a nice skin scrubber.  

North African Entrepreneurs - The Beverage Guy

Well, Autumn has come and we are now experiencing "cool" temps in the low 30s.   It is a welcome change to the heat of the summer.  It is the hot weather of the summer that makes us especially thankful for the juice guys roaming up and down our streets with their ice cold sugary syrup sweetness.  For about $0.16 you can get a nice little baggy of juicy goodness (straw included) guaranteed to refresh you.  Unfortunately it may also leave you with a slight stomach bug .....  how thirsty are you?

Another version of  The Juice Guy is The Tea Guy.  He walks around with a steel canister of tea on his back, drumming up business with the continual rat-a-tat pats of the tin tea cups rubbing against the shiny steel.  The canister is connected to a colourful hose from which he pours his sugary black tea, a local favourite.  Care for a cuppa?

North African Entrepreneurs - The Natural Gas Guy

Our next entrepreneur is another one unique to North Africa.

New buildings here have natural gas lines plumbed right to their kitchens and hot water tanks while older buildings, like ours, rely on refillable natural gas tanks that need to be exchanged every so often.  The tanks are just like the propane tanks we use in Canada for our bbq's but double the size and a fraction of the price.  In our kitchen one of our cupboards holds the tank we use for our stove and every three or months or so we need to get a refill.

Along with the fruit guys and big item pick up guys, the natural gas guys go up and down our street with freshly filled natural gas tanks.  Instead of yelling 'PEACHES' or 'BIKIA,' the NG guys bang their wrenches on the stacks of tanks in the back of their motor trucks or donkey carts.  It makes for a true cacophony of sounds!

I've often questioned the wisdom of repeatedly banging a metal wrench on a metal canister full of a highly combustable gas but I've yet to see any large explosions so I imagine it's mostly harmless.  Of course there is always the first time ...

Due to subsidies,  a refilled tank is only around $3.  We wish our hot water tank was gas as well as our electricity bills are significantly higher than our friends who have gas hot water tanks.

The first time we needed a tank exchanged our doorman exchanged it for us and then proceeded to also change out the old tank for us.  I argued with him that I was very capable to doing it but apparently that is all part of the service.  The final part of the service, after attaching the new tank, was to take a lit match and wave it around the nozzle checking for any leaks.  I'll admit it made me quite nervous to see him wave a lit match around the tank but once again he assured it me it's all part of the service.

Thank you natural gas guys for keeping our stove lit!  

North African Entrepreneurs - Large Item Pickup

Again, not a profession unique to North Africa, but the style is.

With wooden shutters, black out curtains and a constantly running fan our bedroom is cave like, so much so, it's hard to tell when morning has arrived.  Except for the fact that every morning without fail we hear the familiar cries of the large item pickup man.  He rides around on his cart yelling at the top of his lungs, 'BIKIA BIKIA BIKIA BIIIIIKKKKKIIIIIAAAAAA!'

For the first several months I thought he was yelling, 'RIKOLA,' as though he was selling Swiss throat lozenges.  Apparently what he is actually saying is, 'OLD STUFF!'

There are three varieties of big item pickup.  There is the traditional version; the donkey cart,  the newer version; motortruck (picture a motorcycle with a small truck box on the back) and finally, the economical version; the bicycle cart (picture a three wheeled bicycle with a small box on the front).

All three versions do the same thing.  Leave your junk outside the front door of your building and he will pick it up.  If it is valuable junk, like an old computer or broken hot water tank, he will take it for free or even give you a few cents.  If it is junk junk, like discarded branches from a tree or concrete from some home renovations, then you need to pay him a small fee to take it away.  Rest assured whatever they pick up will be reused, recycled or reclaimed in some way, shape or form.

North African Entrepreneurs - The Fruit Guy (this job may include women too!)

One of the perks of living here is fresh produce.  Locally grown fruit and vegetables are picked one day and in the market and on our table the next.  There is no such thing as cold storage so anything that is picked needs to be sold within a day or two.  Unfortunately the quality may not be as high as food you find in Canadian grocery stores, the carrots are usually odd shaped, the peaches are often bruised,  and we frequently discover new pets hanging out in the peppers, but at least its fresh.

Some of the freshest fruit and veggies are found on the back of the fruit guy's donkey cart.  After farmers pick their latest crops and drive them into the city they distribute them to donkey cart drivers who then sell the produce up and down local streets.  In the morning we hear the familiar call, 'PEACHES!  CARROTS!  TOMATOES!' (we've translated that for you).

We've discovered that the cheapest fruit is always from the back of a donkey cart.  They only sell what is local and in season so its usually less than a dollar a kilo.  We always celebrate when we see watermelon, mangos or grapes on the donkey carts and we buy as much as possible because we know that within a few weeks the season will pass and they will be gone until next year.  We are already looking forward to October's pomegranates!