Today was market day. I went to the main market in Xela with my host family, same as last week, only this time I brought my camera! It is a fast-paced spectacle happening only twice a week. There are blocks filled with produce, meats, household goods, and all sorts of bizarre things. Incredibly, the whole thing packs up and leaves, with just a few pieces of trash leftover in the early afternoon.
Most of the vendors are indigenous women, whose beautiful dresses further enrich the colorful experience. Many women were walking around with a baby tied to their back, and a huge basket balanced on their heads. I'd have a hard enough time managing one of those tasks, and they did them both, still coordinated enough to walk around and sell. I wanted to photograph one, but never had a good chance to do so politely. You can see in one of the photos that the produce sold by weight is measured with a balance, where two bowls are hung off a stick, and weights are put into one, and the goods into the other. Just to show you how varied the market was, I bought various things, such as tea, soap, yogurt, fruit, a blanket, and some art materials (rafia and beautiful lace).
The indoor market was also pretty cool, with bins full of all sorts of great things!
This woman is buying eggs while balancing a basket on her head.
The butcher shops here are pretty frightening. I'm not sure if it the smell, or the thought of all that meat, or the weirdness of it being in warm-ish temperatures, but I prefer to keep my distance.
Even the supermarket was overwhelming!
After walking around the main market, I ventured out to the festival in front of the cathedral, adjacent to another (underground) market. Xela's cathedral sits in the central park, surrounded by vendors, colonial-style architecture, and a McDonalds.
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