real ice cream?!

I saw this real ice cream at a supermarket here in Bamako!  Most of our food shopping is done in small neighborhood shops and at the outdoor market.  The outdoor market sells everything fresh - vegetables and fruit and fish, though you can find things like packaged spaghetti, tomato paste, and salt at stands within the market.  I stock up on "dry goods" once a month at a shop that has especially good prices.  I know, I said "dry goods" and sounds like this store is from the 1800's or something, but really it is just an African version of one of those old stores you'd see in a movie or TV show set back then.  There is a long counter with a guy working and shelves of goods behind him.  They scoop flour and sugar out of huge sacks to measure it out to sell.  It has charm.
There are a couple of modern supermarkets here in the capital city, and they have imported things that the average Malian could never afford to buy as well as things that the average Malian would not recognize.  I don't buy much in the supermarkets because we can't really afford to buy most of it, but I find a few things there that are special treats.  They sell expensive imported cheese!  It is so good to have a pizza night once or twice a month with the mozzarella cheese that can be found at the supermarket.  I'm getting pretty good at making it all from scratch - the sauce and the crust.  Other special things I get at the supermarket from time to time include: a jar of pickles, a bag of dried lentils or chickpeas, a can of tuna, hair conditioner.  Once I bought a can of black olives for pizza night, but I have a hard time paying 3-4 times the price of what it would be in America, so we really mostly use local foods.
I noticed the ice cream last time I was there and decided to take a closer look.  The apple sorbet that you see in the top picture, 1 liter size, costs at the current exchange rate a whopping $19.  Yes really, $19!  The Haagen Dazs is half the size but costs $17.  Who is buying this stuff?  Certainly not me!  I guess its people who work for different embassies or do international business or something. 



 

On the bottom you can see the Yoplait that is sold in any local corner store that has refrigeration.  These yogurt pouches cost 30 cents each.  It is not actually "yogurt" but "lait caille".  I don't know if we have a word for that in English but basically it is thin drinkable yogurt stuff.  It comes in plain, vanilla, and strawberry flavors.  We often put these in the freezer and then eat them frozen.  Its not quite ice cream, but it is a good cold treat.