Shopping with an Expert at the Mercado---Linda

Greetings All,

Linda here - I know this is my first time to write for the blog this trip. Don had a lot to say and also has the inside track so to speak. We have been busy getting to know the operation of Transitions, its people and its mission. I promised myself to take two weeks to get used to living at the same altitude as Denver so I have been laying low and not letting Don push me to hard to 'see this or hear that'. I don't know if I have a problem with the altitude or if the altitude triggers a migrane and all that goes with that but I did not enjoy the event the last time we were here. Of course we do not have a car here so my day always includes a great deal of walking. So far my feet and legs are coping with the walking.

Just as a side bit of info - it is a 30 minute walk from our living space (it is sadly lacking and cannot be called an apartment <grin>) to the house where Transitions has its office. It is also 30 or 40 minutes to the market and much longer on the return trip if we buy anything to haul back.

Okay it is time to explain the subject line -- Shopping with an Expert ---

As part of Don's mission and volunteering he gets a living stipend and lunch 5 days a week which includes me. We share our living space with Chris, the Communications Director from Cincinnatti, who is also fed lunch here with the young men who work in the wheelchair shop adjacent to our living quarters so it made sense to include me in that meal.

Yesterday I went shopping with Santos who does all of the shopping for food for the 20 to 25 people they feed everyday. There is a large group of the young people in wheelchairs who live upstairs at the Transitions office and they are also fed breakfast. I asked to be allowed to follow Santos through the market to see where and how they buy the food we eat. We spent a little over 2 hours in the Mercado. Santos speaks very little English and I speak very little Spanish so it was an interesting afternoon. To begin my shopping spree/education I first had to walk 30 minutes to Transitions, have lunch and wait till the kitchen staff were all done serving and cleaning.

As with any trip to a market/mercado one must start with a grocery list. Santos and Dona Vicky put their heads together to check the pantry and write up a list.

Santos and I were driven to the mercado by Edwin in the pickup. He dropped us off on what Don and I refer to as the backside of the market where there are more vendors of all things grown. Santos went to a location with a young Guatemalan woman who stood behind a large area surrounded by vegetables of all kinds. Santos ordered what looked like 10 or 15 pounds of roma tomatoes which the young lady gathered up into the 'bowl' of a scale which she then weighed and gave him the cost.

Santos wrote the cost next to tomatoes on his list and continued on with other items. When he had all of the items he needed that she had to sell he pulled out his cell phone and added up the cost of everything and paid her (we later picked up huge produce bag full).

We left in search of other items on the list from another vendor on the outskirts of the mercado. The Guatemalan woman at the second stand has a great head for numbers. Santos bought another huge sack of items from her and she just calculated everything in her head and it corresponded with his calculator.

 Next we picked up a big box of fruit. Santos is holding two large bags of oranges. The next picture shows the wide selection of fruit at this vendor.

When he had all of the food items purchased on his list there were a few items he needed for the kitchen. They wanted a knife, another plastic pitcher for juice, and a couple of spatulas which were available elsewhere inside the mercado. We exchanged a few words here and there as we went, for instance, Santos wanted to know what 'mercado' was in English. He gave me a few hints on pronunciation of the few words I spoke.

As we were headed back out to collect the sacks purchased he actually started teasing me about being 'perdido'or Lost in the mercado. I came back with 'we had better not be perdido' or lost because we did not have a map. He was laughing and I lead him to the first location for pick up. Don and I have been in and out of the mercado many times. We still can't find the same place twice in a row but we can get out. My rule is that if I find something I need we buy it because I will never find it again!! The only things I bought were a pound of rice and a vegetable steamer basket.

Time to head back to the truck so Santos picked up the first bag and put it on his shoulders and started walking. While we shopped he walked slowly as is the nature of the Guatemalans but with this hugh sack on his back he was moving at a good clip. I wanted to take his picture and some of the ladies there at the cross section wanted me to pay him Q10 ($1.29 US)for the privilege. We met up with Edwin at the first vendors location and they called for a gentleman to help take the produce to the truck.

They proceeded to load EVERYTHING purchased onto this mans back and he toted it all to the truck. He put a rope around the first sack (juicing the tomatoes) and settled a headband on his forehead and then they stacked the rest on top of that and he took off for the truck! They hurried with him and took the box off quickly and set it down then unloaded the rest.

We returned to Transitions and they left the produce in the kitchen. We did not buy any meat. I am not sure I want to see that happen. So far the food we have eaten has not been a bother tummy-wise. I have seen the meats in the mercado and to tell you the truth they scare me. We have bought some beef from the Dispensa (which is a small store that sells Wal-Mart products). We are still standing.

 I grabbed 3 glasses of water after our return then went to find Don.  Shortly we were packing up to walk home as they had lost their Internet connection and Don was dead in the water. We had soup for dinner and I was glad it was there waiting for us because I was very tired.