Mérida has a huge market that attracts people from cities all around. By huge, I mean HUGE! You can get literally anything there. I went once for my conversation class but I was a little overwhelmed by everything…so I went back yesterday with Laurel, one of my neighbors. Walking through the Mercado, it really hit me that I’m DEFINITELY not in the US anymore. The market is cool and I’ve learned a ton both times I’ve gone, but it is DIRTY! I wore flip flops when I went yesterday and by the time I left, my feet were waaaay sick…There were lines of black on either side of my skin covered by the flip flops and when I washed them at home, the water was dark gray. Also, the part that sells meat is a little bit…unsanitary. Normally, I try to say that it’s not bad, just different. But it was just plain unhealthy. The meat just hangs there in the heat for who-knows-how-long until someone buys it. I wish I could get a few swabs of the surfaces there and see what grows haha.
The pictures don’t quite give the market justice because it’s just so big and I felt awkward taking pictures, but here are a few I took:
A Mayan lady walked in front of me right before Laurel snapped the shot, but it's okay because now I can post a picture of a Mayan without feeling like a creepy tourist.
There's an animal section filled with cages of all sorts of animals from farm animals, to pets, to exotic birds...
There are multiple mini-casinos in the mercado and I thought they were interesting...
Also, I tried a lychee. They’re sold by the kilo and you can ask to “probar” one. (sample) They’re super cool-looking!
After the Mercado, we walked to the plaza grande in El Centro and took a bus home. As we were walking, Laurel tripped and stumbled in front of a group of 6-10 men. They were just loitering around and were very….concerned when she stumbled. All of them watched and made sounds of regret and sorrow when she tripped. Yup, they were worried haha. I’ve realized that all of the awkward attention is just the normal culture here. And it’s normal for the women to just ignore it. Not bad…just different. :)
0 comments:
Post a Comment