Bananas and Apricots

I REALLY DON'T want to perseverate about FRI (fruit-related issues). So I'm going to try to keep it to this single post. But I've been sans bananas for a couple days now, which is rare for me. I like bananas, as you know from the earlier post.

So you're probably wondering why I didn't just pick some up at Peloustore. Well, they don't have them there. I looked. Twice. (Yes, I know; Peloustore does have plaintains; that's wonderful, truly; hooray for Peloustore and hooray for plaintains; but plantains are merely bananalike and don't really count as bananas per se.)

What they do have at Peloustore is lots of other fruit, including apricots. Apricots were selling today for 12,000 Cf (Congolese francs) per kg. At an exchange rate of 550 Cf per dollar, that's $21.81 per kg, or $9.92 per pound.

So right now I'm basically just happy that I like bananas a lot more than apricots. I mean, I can do without apricots. But not really without bananas. Which is why I'm really hoping the banana-seller-woman returns soon. Ou etes-vous, madame qui vend bananes (MQVB, in case she likes abbreviations as much as I do)? Oh, and bananas, as far as I could tell, were going for 220 Cf/kg at her stand across from Peloustore. I'll keep the blog updated in case she returns and you want to catch her while she's still there.

Another thing about Peloustore, while I'm at it. While produce prices are marked on the bins where each item is stored, that's not the case for most nonperishables. Those are marked with a number between 1 and 100. You then have to look on a xeroxed sheet that tells you the price in Cf that corresponds to each number. Likely that's because inflation is running at an annualized rate of 64 percent, according to a report from the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa, which would mean they'd have to change the price tags on individual items often. So I understand that. But it would be nice if all items actually had number tags attached to them. Many don't, leaving one to wonder, when apricots are so pricey, how much items will actually cost at check-out.

(Quick note: That Embassy report lists bananas as "1000." Either I'm wrong about the listed price or I've found a frargain [i.e., a fruit bargain] chez MQVB. I'll let you know after I've bought myself a decent supply, so that her stand is not overrun before I get there.)

Prices of other items: A loaf of bread set me back about $1.50. A 1.5 L bottle of water (swissta brand) was just under a buck.

Alright, this was a long post. I can't guarantee I won't revisit this or other FRIs, however. You'll have to check back to see.