Saturday Market

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On Saturdays, there is a market in Cruz Chicta. We usually make the hour-long walk to the beach around 7am and catch a water-taxi downriver about 15 minutes.

Our community members were excited to point out how much bigger Cruz Chicta was - they have a church and a colegio (high-school).

We usually buy fresh fruits and vegetables as well as other foods (ketchup, salt, sugar, etc.) and sip on a warm Pepsi. In the market, you can also buy clothes, electronics and batteries, home and kitchen supplies and other misc. items.

Later, we can stop off in one of the two bars for a cold beer while all of the locals drink ¨vente shinco.¨ - a very strong but suprisingly smooth sugar cane liquor, so named because you can buy a small cup for 25 (vente cinco) cents. The ¨shinco¨ is the added slur caused by drinking it.

As we arrive between 8:30 and 9:00 am, it is always a little strange to see all of the men really drunk from drinking vente shinco all morning. If you have a motor-boat, you can buy gasoline from the 50 gallon tank right next to the 50 gallon tank of vente shinco.

It is possible to eat lunch in one of the two restaurants - the food is definately home-style - you eat whatever happens to be the menu for the day. We need to provide a little extra time to let them prepare for a vegetarian, and the resulting meals have generally been just fine.

The market breaks down around 1:00 pm and we take the trip back upriver for about 30 minutes (slower because we´re going against the current). We divide the food (it is hard to get the community members to let us carry anything heavy) and make the hike back to Watchimak.

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Photos

Dugout Canoe Motor
It is a little strange to see a modern motor attached to a traditional dugout canoe.

Ice Cream Truck
You can also get a cold Ice Cream