El Mercado (the market)

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Saturday, July 11, 2010

There is nothing in the U.S. like the open air markets in Mexico. Everything is out on display. Buyers and sellers are in constant motion, a beehive of activity. We saw a man walk through the market with half of a slaughtered cow carried on his back. Meat is not refrigerated. They neatly stack it on the counter. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves. This is where most of the people shop for food, although they sell other things as well- shoes, clothes, purses, school supplies, flowers, etc.

They also have stores like we see in the U.S., except everything’s written in Spanish of course. And like every other country in the world, they also have Walmart, Office Depot, Starbucks, and all the other franchises we know. Even though globalization has made an impact, I can’t imagine the Mercado disappearing any time soon.

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Photos

Bugs to eat
At first I thought I was looking at some kind of bug trap, but they actually put these bugs ALIVE on tortillas or tacos and eat them. Some times the bugs come out of their mouths and they have to put them back in with their fingers. Let's put that on a school lunch menu.

?
Don't know the name but it's something like a turnip but more refreshing. I had one; it wasn't bad. They like to put salt and lemon on it.