Shopping in Mexico's Markets
Tuesday September 23, 2008
Fruit, vegetables, cheese, bread, meat, flowers, handicrafts... the list of products for sale in Mexico's marketplaces goes on and on, but if you're like me you may enjoy looking at the people in the market even more than the things they're selling. Traditional markets are a place to do more than your shopping. For the people who frequent them, markets are a place to socialize. Spend enough time in them and you'll notice that every purchase is a social interaction in itself.
Enjoy these photos of Mexican markets.
Photo © Suzanne Barbezat
You are so right about every purchase in the market being a social experience. I would never buy anything in a “big store” that I could buy from the ladies in the market. Where else will your produce person tell you to wait until fresh mangos come tomorrow? – my ladies think it is wildly funny to slip a gringo banana in my bag. I can’t stand them! but its fun to open the bag and find one when I get home. Yes – the U.S. missed the boat on this one and now is having difficulty in promoting its “farmers’ markets” – such a shame.
I sometimes buy chicken, though I’m a vegetarian I occasionally will buy some for my family, and every once in a while they’ll slip in a chicken foot as a “special treat” – not exactly a treat for me! (Though I do appreciate the gesture).