Nicaraguan Food & Clothes Markets

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One interesting thing that I have not yet written about are the markets here in Nicaragua. I absolutsely LOVE them! They are full of so many sights, colors, tastes, noises and people...it´s quite overwhelming. But that´s precisely what I love so much about it: so many people busily shopping, selling, pushing, shoving, sleeping, peeing (honestly, you see EVERYTHING at these markets!). The past two trips I made to Managua (the last of which I travelled home from in the back of the truck, if you recall) we visited the largest market there, called "El Oriental". El Orinetal is resportedly the largest market in all of Central America. It spans an incredible 100HA, in a complicated web of formal shops and informal vendors and stalls that make the Toronto Eaton Centre (our largest mall) look like a tiny strip mall! It´s totally overwhelming. Raul´s girlfriend (my "sister"!) told me that she brought her Panamanian friend here last year, and that he was so overwhelmed and freaked out by the noise and people grabbing him to pull him into their stores, calling to him, and touching him, that he literally begged her to take him home! "He was practically in tears!", she laughed. That should give you some idea of how INSANE "El Oriental" can be!

Any notion of "private space" goes right out the window in El Oriental, as you squeeze your way through the allys and aisles between stores. It can be hard to tell if you are inside or outside, as some stores are actual buildings and some are just stalls covered by tarp roofs. It´s all connected in a dizzying maze that spans miles and miles, and which it would be very easy to get lost in. "Even we don´t go all the way to the centre", she told me, "or we would never come out!". It makes me wonder how the vendors in the middle make any money? I suppose there are SOME brave souls who shop there-- and no doubt they get greatly discounted prices for their efforts. But personally I would rather pay a few pesos more to come out in one piece!

Not only is the centre of the market hard to get to, but I have been warned that it is VERY dangerous as well, as pickpockets are a constant risk. When I told Juliana that we were taking a trip to El Orinetal, she called me THREE TIMES to remind me not to bring more money than was absolutely necessary. I took the hint, and made sure not to bring my purse, keeping my money in my pocket. No valuables of any kind, especially not a camera. So, as much as I would have loved to take pictures, El Oriental is precisely the kind of place where you do NOT want to make it known that you are a tourist! I made very sure to speak only Spanish while I was there (although I usually do anyway), so as not to let on that I´m a foreigner. And it seemed to work: my "sister" and I had no problems whatsoever.

El Oriental is so big that it has a "zone" for every type of merchandise: one for undergarmets, one for womens´clothing, baby´s clothing, shoes...you get the picture. In fact, there is an entire zone that sells ONLY two pairs of shoes (for those who prefer to buy in bulk). At first I couldn´t understand why whenever I asked to buy a pair of shoes they insisted that I take 2 ("why would anyone want 2 of the same pair of shoes?", I wondered), until my sister told me that we were in the 2-pair-of-shoes zone. We had to walk another few blocks to get to the one-pair-of-shoes zone!!! Imagine that!

El Oriental is not the only market in Managua. There is also another large food market, called "Mayoreo". This was equally exciting for me, to be able to actually SEE face-to-face the farmers who grow your food. It gives the food so much more MEANING, knowing that these hands lovingly planted and tended them, and are now handing them over to you to eat. Mayoreo is several outdoor blocks of vegetables and fruit, piled high in front of little wooden stalls. Bright, shiney red tomatoes fill giant woven baskets, next to a basket of gleaming green avocadoes, prickley yellow pineapples, and a cascade of mangoes that can barely be supported by the rickety table. It makes me want to paint: the colors are so invigorating, the textures so diverse! But, once again, pulling out a camera is definately NOT a good idea in Mayoreo, so you´ll just have to imagine it from my descripton...

While El Oriental has it´s shoe district, Mayoreo has it´s tomato district: an entire block that sells only tomatoes! (I found this very interesting, as I did a study in 2nd year about the process of importing tomatoes from the growers in Latin America, and their journey to Canadian markets). When I asked how vendors could possibly be competative, all lumped together like that, I was told that they have their ways of securing a regular client base: "I always go to this man, because he always gives me a few exta. But that man sells his cheaper than everyone else--less than the cost of growing them-- because he makes up for the lost $$ by the sheer quantity that he sells". Apparently vending your wares in Nicaragua is a highly competative art-form!

Well, that´s all for now. Maybe when Steve comes we will risk taking a camera to snap some pics of the things I´ve described... Although the image of Nicaragua´s various markets will certainly be imprinted in my mind´s eye for the rest of my life. The next time I go to Managua I will be going to El Oriental again, this time to try and buy a Flamenco guitar (I´m taking free lessons every Sunday at the University). It is much cheaper to buy them here, where they are made. Ahh, once again, the beauty of buying things at source, and meeting their producer face to face...That´s the way shopping SHOULD be. The lack of personal contact in our Western shopping malls allows us to distance ourselves, to forget the poor sweatshop workers who painstakingly sewed our clothes, or the impoverished farmers who grow our wheat. That´s much harder to do when you are talking to them directly, their very hands showing you their wares, the products of their own sweat and blood. Suddenly I feel much more solidarity with my food, my clothes, and the workers of the world. ("Workers of the World, Unite!" lol. I´m not far from it...). Until next time: Seeta

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Comments

[Sara]

Love reading about adventures
Hey Seeta, how are you?? I gotta say, the way you write and describe your adventures are the best think about this listserve. It soulds like what you are doing is really fueling your hatred towards capitalism!! I've been sitting here at work (yes, i too am "working") and i just read all your journal entries from begining to end. WOW!! I dont know what your talking about saying that you are feeling useless. You are contributing!! Its just that you have so many wonderful goals and aspirations that you feel that you aren't giving enough when you truely are. Im sure they couldnt ask for more. And you look really happy there, like you've finally hit the home phase. I know exactly what you were saying though when you said that you felt useless. Except my situation is a little different. The placement here is useless. Its supposed to be a hearing clinic (Middle East Hearing Association), for those who cant afford to go elsewhere. Also, its supposed to be free in order to create awareness about having newborns hearing tested - cause its not a routine checkup ppl do here. But for example, the Dr's wife (who is a speech pathologist and workes here as well) only comes in to do private cases then leaves. Its an atmosphere of capitalist accumulation when it shouldnt. And for a while, there wasnt anything I was doing (as in right now) because almost everything was in Arabic and i cant read or write. But we just finished the awareness campaign in a remote desert village where we screened ppl for 3 days (I acted as a translator of a British woman that workes at another NGO and is truely wonderful!). Then we distributed the hearing aids to those that needed it the most. Then after that, more useless activities. Now tho, we are planning an international conference that will have ppl coming in from Canada, England and the Middle East. Correspondence is all in English so I finally have something to do!! But, the Dr. needs to check every little thing any one of us does here before we can go on to the next step so progress is really sloooww. More useless activities. Like today, nobody I usually work with came (for some reason I dont know why - ppl keep their own executie schedules here) so Ive been on the comp all day. But Im gonna go home right after this cause its not like being here any longer will bring about something for me to do. So its not so much that I am useless (which I am) but the org itself is structurally flawed. Its function is not at all what I believed it was back in Toronto. We'll see what happens once this conference planning gets underway - one month to plan an conference (and ppl are coming in internationally and invitations still havent gone out!! - very slow progress) Well, i turned a comment about your journal entries into one about my experiences. Anyway, keep the stories coming cause yours are the most interesting...especially the way you write them! And dare to take a pic of the market in Managua. I wanna see it! And Im also looking to learn the oud (arabic guitar). Im not copying you, I had the idea to learn before I left Canada! Im just having a hard time finding a place that teaches it. And Im looking to take Arabic classes but thats hard to find as well. Ahh well, the search continues... Anyway, enjoy your remaining 2 months!!! Talk to you later.