Most Sunday mornings we hit the flea market (altho' here I hear it called the "open air market") for vegetables and fruit. Bananas, green apples and oranges are our primary fruits- and usually the green apples came from the states. It's a huge market place, and it's packed all weekend. We went this morning primarily because Everardo had a hankerin' for pizza. By the time we get there it's usually closer to noon than not, and there's a couple of good taco stands and a couple of pizza places as well. They have these metal boxes that are pizza ovens; I saw inside one today as we ate our slice of pepperoni, and it had flames at the bottom and she had one of those wide wooden paddles to slide it in and out on the shelves. It seemed to me that her dad was showing her the ropes; every move she made he had a comment, and sometimes it became a small discussion. Anyway the pizza is great! Then we found this stand to bring something to our friend Tim; it food from Oxaca, and they use "blue corn" tortillas and fold them into triangles with beans (like a paste) and cheese or other things for 10-15 pesos.
This place has 3 or 4 long rows of booths- booths with everything...Everardo got a haircut today for about $3! There's 2 or 3 haircut tents and they're always busy. Of course it's mostly all the same haircut: short. Almost shaved head short. He gets a haircut I like better, but this looks ok, too. They sell clothes, shoes, toys, baby clothes and accessories, furniture, everything you can think of. They sell cars, bicycles, scooters.
They have these markets everywhere. There's one in Ensenada on Thursdays and Fridays but we haven't been to it yet. The price for veggies and fruit is usually better than the store, and sometimes we just walk thru to look...today we bought some caramel popcorn to snack on, and what I like is anything you buy there, somebody just made it (food I mean). On Saturdays there's a mini flea market at the end of our gravel raod, up where it meets the main road. Not usually cooked food, but veggies and fruit. The thing about this one, is they are targeting Americans; in fact maybe half of the vendors are Americans. So the veggies and fruit is more expensive- this woman actually sets up 2 afternoons during the week out there- we went once- she was sooo expensive- much more than the store even. This market has clothes, tools, camping equip, and surfing stuff- wet suits, surf boards boogie boards. We stop there when we need batteries, and sometimes just to look.
Today there was some kind of volkswagon event going on. We must have seen over 100 VWs, bugs and buses, some at the gas station, some on the road. When we were trying to speed home to measure our fridge space, we got caught in a VW parade! Then, apparently they didn't know where they were going because they all started pulling over, in an area where the road isn't all that wide ha ha. But they musta figured it out cause on the way back they were gone. There's always something going on...car races, biking, hikes, seems like you can be as involved or uninvolved as you want. Right now, we're just watching.
Ok so when we got to the flea market we went around the side to get in. Right there was a guy selling furniture that looked new (might have been) and he had a tall fridge. I just stopped to take a look and sigh (see the trick is in the sigh)...because we have a little apartment fridge that we have stuffed full with almost nothing. This one was plugged in and running, so we zipped home to measure and got ourselves a new fridge for 1500 pesos (about $120) The guy next door upstairs is very happy cause Everardo offered him our little fridge, which is twice the size of the little box he has (and no freezer). We still got our pizza and walked a little, so it was a nice afternoon. In Mexico there is always something for sale on the side of the road. This is the 3rd fridge we bought since getting to Mexico. We bought a brand new huge one in Playa Ventura because I naively thought we would be there forever (ouch ha ha). But we did sell that one. Then in Penasco we bought a used one on the side of the road. It was a little cheaper than this one, but we had to get it fixed almost right after we got it home so the price became the same as this one. We gave that fridge to the lady who lived across from us- she didn't have a pot to pee in. We gave her that, a couple of lounge chairs, a bunch of food, our big sectional couch, and our dresser. She was soooo happy, it was worth it. I would not have wanted that couch here, what we have now is much better, much nicer. And like I said, you can buy anything in Mexico, new, slightly used, used, beat up, trash. For me the only problem remains the 2 prices- gringo and Mexican. Ah well, lucky for me I got me a Mexican who is happy to let me choose and then he negotiates. (I love this man) Things are just cheaper here, people are much more poor here and so prices reflect what they can pay. With no income except from rent, this is a good thing for us. I just read Mexico is in the top 5 of the best health care countries in the world! Yeah- Viva!
Now this is kinda pathetic- I am so happy because we have handles on all the kitchen drawers! At first we had none, then we painted, oh and still had none. Then they brought them and for some reason Everardo put all the knobs on the cabinets but not the drawer handles. He put them somewhere...anyway today after getting our wonderful new grownup fridge in, he put all the handles. I keep knocking stuff off the list, but it has a ways to go. He has this way of working on something up to about 95 or even 98%...and then changes to something else. It always gets done so I'm trying to not say anything,,,,but why no drawer handles, and the tile behins the stove...almost done and nothing for about 2 weeks. Oh! Glad I said that! I just realized we are on week 3 of being here, so maybe it's good I haven't said anything about the speed things are being completed. But I am happy. It feels like home.
This week goal: get the key to the gym! Viva!
This place has 3 or 4 long rows of booths- booths with everything...Everardo got a haircut today for about $3! There's 2 or 3 haircut tents and they're always busy. Of course it's mostly all the same haircut: short. Almost shaved head short. He gets a haircut I like better, but this looks ok, too. They sell clothes, shoes, toys, baby clothes and accessories, furniture, everything you can think of. They sell cars, bicycles, scooters.
They have these markets everywhere. There's one in Ensenada on Thursdays and Fridays but we haven't been to it yet. The price for veggies and fruit is usually better than the store, and sometimes we just walk thru to look...today we bought some caramel popcorn to snack on, and what I like is anything you buy there, somebody just made it (food I mean). On Saturdays there's a mini flea market at the end of our gravel raod, up where it meets the main road. Not usually cooked food, but veggies and fruit. The thing about this one, is they are targeting Americans; in fact maybe half of the vendors are Americans. So the veggies and fruit is more expensive- this woman actually sets up 2 afternoons during the week out there- we went once- she was sooo expensive- much more than the store even. This market has clothes, tools, camping equip, and surfing stuff- wet suits, surf boards boogie boards. We stop there when we need batteries, and sometimes just to look.
Today there was some kind of volkswagon event going on. We must have seen over 100 VWs, bugs and buses, some at the gas station, some on the road. When we were trying to speed home to measure our fridge space, we got caught in a VW parade! Then, apparently they didn't know where they were going because they all started pulling over, in an area where the road isn't all that wide ha ha. But they musta figured it out cause on the way back they were gone. There's always something going on...car races, biking, hikes, seems like you can be as involved or uninvolved as you want. Right now, we're just watching.
Ok so when we got to the flea market we went around the side to get in. Right there was a guy selling furniture that looked new (might have been) and he had a tall fridge. I just stopped to take a look and sigh (see the trick is in the sigh)...because we have a little apartment fridge that we have stuffed full with almost nothing. This one was plugged in and running, so we zipped home to measure and got ourselves a new fridge for 1500 pesos (about $120) The guy next door upstairs is very happy cause Everardo offered him our little fridge, which is twice the size of the little box he has (and no freezer). We still got our pizza and walked a little, so it was a nice afternoon. In Mexico there is always something for sale on the side of the road. This is the 3rd fridge we bought since getting to Mexico. We bought a brand new huge one in Playa Ventura because I naively thought we would be there forever (ouch ha ha). But we did sell that one. Then in Penasco we bought a used one on the side of the road. It was a little cheaper than this one, but we had to get it fixed almost right after we got it home so the price became the same as this one. We gave that fridge to the lady who lived across from us- she didn't have a pot to pee in. We gave her that, a couple of lounge chairs, a bunch of food, our big sectional couch, and our dresser. She was soooo happy, it was worth it. I would not have wanted that couch here, what we have now is much better, much nicer. And like I said, you can buy anything in Mexico, new, slightly used, used, beat up, trash. For me the only problem remains the 2 prices- gringo and Mexican. Ah well, lucky for me I got me a Mexican who is happy to let me choose and then he negotiates. (I love this man) Things are just cheaper here, people are much more poor here and so prices reflect what they can pay. With no income except from rent, this is a good thing for us. I just read Mexico is in the top 5 of the best health care countries in the world! Yeah- Viva!
Now this is kinda pathetic- I am so happy because we have handles on all the kitchen drawers! At first we had none, then we painted, oh and still had none. Then they brought them and for some reason Everardo put all the knobs on the cabinets but not the drawer handles. He put them somewhere...anyway today after getting our wonderful new grownup fridge in, he put all the handles. I keep knocking stuff off the list, but it has a ways to go. He has this way of working on something up to about 95 or even 98%...and then changes to something else. It always gets done so I'm trying to not say anything,,,,but why no drawer handles, and the tile behins the stove...almost done and nothing for about 2 weeks. Oh! Glad I said that! I just realized we are on week 3 of being here, so maybe it's good I haven't said anything about the speed things are being completed. But I am happy. It feels like home.
This week goal: get the key to the gym! Viva!
No comments:
Post a Comment