Going to Market

Well, this was a difficult post for us to do cuz we both hate doing things that make us stand out any more than we already do in our little town and - oddly enough - walking around snapping pictures of everything makes you even more conspicuous. But we swallowed it so we could give you a glimpse of our market.

While there is a grocery store in town, we do a lot of our shopping at the local market. You can get nearly anything you want there at a good price (if you are willing to bargain for it) and it is excellent language practice. The market is only about 1 1/2 miles away, so we often just walk there (traffic is usually pretty conjested) or sometimes take a trike (motorcycle with sidecar).

Walking however has its own perils. As you can see, there are no sidewalks so you often end up walking through the middle of the traffic. Then there is open sewer flowing next to the road so you have to really watch your step (I will spare you the story of how Zach learned this lesson). Below you can see of a pic of Steve, Mikayla, and Ben all focussed on stepping OVER the sewer. Thankfully, this particular part has a grate over part of it.

You can get just about anything in this very confusing place. I am only just now getting to the place where I can find my way around the maze of tunnels.

Shoes of every shape (but not size - big-footed Americans have a tough time finding their size) are available here. They are dirt cheap, but don't count on them lasting all that long.

Dry goods... Clothes...
And knives... The boys stand in awe of all that chopping power.
The Filipinos love our kids with their white skin and blonde hair. Everyone greets them and just has to touch them. The kids don't seem to notice anymore. It is funny to watch them be poked and prodded as they walk along, but they don't even acknowledge they have been touched. In this pic, the ladies asked them if they wanted to help so they all sat down to watch them embroider lace. Have a "suki" here is very important. Your fruit suki is the one you buy all your fruit from. This is our fruit suki. The advantage is that she will give you the best of her fruit for the very lowest price - you don't have to bargain with her or worry that she is gauging you cuz you are white. But the disadvantage is that - even if her fruit doesn't look the best - you had better not get caught buying from someone else!!!
And this is our vegie suki. Mikayla is standing with our house helper and one of my language coaches.
You can even get meat in the open-air meat market. Check out the pig's head hanging above Zach. But just because you can get meat from this non-refrigerated-in-the-tropical-heat, buzzing-with-flies, disease-ridden, blood-all-over-the-ground, horribly-smelling-place, that doesn't mean it is a good idea (I guess my personal feelings about the meat market came through a little...looks from Zach's expression that he may agree with Mom on this one...)

And then there is the fish market. It is not quite so bad as the meat market - as long as you can get your fish first thing in the morning before they have been exposed to the flies and heat all day. But it is not a very nice place to wander through cuz of the fish juices all over the ground. When I go to market, I normally steer clear of both the meat and the fish and just stick with the fruits, vegies, and dry goods.

The public market is a great cultural experience though, and we will look forward to bringing you there for a visit when you come visit us here in the Philippines!

Now, if you are still reading, please post a comment (just click on "comments" at the bottom of this post) or send us an email to tell us what you think. We love to hear from you - it makes our day! And it will let us know that our going through the ordeal of taking all these photos and looking like a tourist was worth it!