I’ll admit it, I am a recovering market-a-holic. You set me free in a market somewhere in the developing world and a shopaholic previously unknown takes over my body and I’m like the hulk. I’m instantly feeling like a millionaire as I look through baskets of earrings, bangles and scarves for friends and family at home. And then I’m confronted with something else, something not made in China, something not mass produced and the traveler in me instantly thinks a-ha! This is it, this is the souvenir I want to take home. This will be an item I will always cherish and will always remind me of my trip to ____________.
Two stalls down I purchased 10 pairs of earrings for $.20 each. I gave them away to my friends and they turned their earlobes green.
Years later, even as it becomes harder and harder to remember where that item was purchased I look at it and I am transported back to the market or vendor’s stall. I look at the drum we purchased in Cairo at the Khan el-Khalili market and I’m reminded of sitting in a stall full of onyx down the street, debating for what seemed like ever on which items to choose, only to have many of them broken in transfer back home. “I package it well, I swear will not break madam,” I can still hear the vendor say. The drum is covered in abalone laid out in a geometric pattern. “Genuine mother of pearl,” the vendor said. I can still taste his sweet tea on my tongue, still remember the German couple that came in and proceeded to negotiate hard for small trinkets as we stood steadfast in our price for the drum. I remember how we walked out when we didn’t get our price and how upon a moment of reflection, the salesman came after us. I look at the drum and I remember.
The drum in question. Yes, that is “genuine” mother of pearl.
Are souvenirs the best memories from a trip? Perhaps, if only because they bring us back to a time, a place and a moment which we would otherwise forget. The object itself might be junk (what did you expect for $1 genuine mother of pearl earrings?), but the memories it holds are priceless.
About Jillian
I identify with this so strongly – I, too, am a market-induced Hulk! I’m weirdly obsessed with them and agonize over every decision. It’s rare that I actually purchase something, but when I do, it’s inevitably weird – like a $20 cowboy hat in Mongolia that I will never wear again.
But I do think that these little purchases make the best souvenirs – if we had a house, I think I’d buy a lot more with the intent of decorating. As it stands, I can barely carry what I pack, let alone extras!
that’s what the mail is for! When we found a good market, we went to town and sent a big box home to our parents. Now our home (which we didn’t have then) is filled with great stuff and many more items still waiting to be unveiled!
Amazing drum! i collect ethnic instruments, and especially purchase them during my travels. it’s def. important to choose the right souvenirs that will induce memories of your trip. Skip the tourist shops, but hit the local markets
Very cool! What kind of instruments do you have?
ceremonial drum from West Africa and Israel, didgeridoo, wooden flute from denmark (not sure if ethnically danish though, got it at a flea market), drum from the lapland (more of a replica, souvenir shop type though). still regret having the opportunity the have a custom made bamboo nose flute from Tonga for $75, but deciding against it.
Woah! Sounds like an incredible collection of instruments and memories. We have drums from Uganda, Egypt, Morocco and Cuba. A clay flute from Mexico and one from Argentina and…. that might be it. The bamboo nose flute sounds like it would have been unique, but I’d hardly imagine playing it regularly.