San Rafael Market

               Today I went to the San Rafael Market in San Rafael.  A market in Nicaragua is not what you would expect in a market in America;  nice, clean,  easy to get through.  No.  This market was what a typical market would be like in Nicaragua.  There were stray dogs roaming around, little back ways to get to some of the shops, it was crowded, and people would bargain with you to get you to buy something.  To us, these markets feel dark, dirty, and dangerous.  But to the Nicaraguans, this is normal.  This is a place where you would find all of your necessities in one place.  You can find clothes, notebooks, vegetables, fruit, meat, kitchen utensils, even backpacks! 

               Most people go to markets because it is more convenient, and less expensive than a supermarket, or a mall.  When I was in the market, there were piles of fruit, giant potato sacks full of beans, and meat hanging from the ceiling.  All sorts of people are walking through the market.  While we were buying produce, other people came up to buy things, and the vendors worked with them at the same time.  They would work with their friends across the walkway if they didn't have it to give their friends business.

               My family went to this market to get vegetables, and almost came home with another hammock.   A man followed us around asking us to buy a blue jean hammock and would not take "no gracias" for an answer from my dad.  While we were getting vegetables, an elderly woman asked me to help her out to the exit because she was nervous to walk through the crowd alone.  She was very sweet.  She started to talk to me in rapid Spanish, but I didn't know what she was saying.  I still helped her through the crowd anyways

              Outside of the market, there were people waiting for buses and taxis.  A taxi can be a car or a bicycle with a carriage on the front.  There is also a motorized vehicle that acts as a taxi called a tuk-tuk.  On the streets of San Rafael, there were people walking on the sidewalks, on bikes, in trucks and cars, and "taxis" all competing for the narrow road.  They drive very fast, and people stopped wherever they needed to, causing traffic jams, or just chaos. It was very different compared to New Hampshire roads.  It made me cautious and alert to what was happening on the road.

              In the end of our market adventure, we got: 12 tomates, 6 zanahorias grandes, 1 piña, 1 sandía, 6 naranjas, 6 aguacates, 6 cebollas, it was very inexpensive and it was all locally grown.  After, we got little ice cream bars from a vendor pushing a cart up the road.  The two ice creams together barely cost more than $1. 

                                 Adiós y hasta pronto,
                                                            Addie!    :)