So we found out why Bert hasn't been around and our Changana tutor didn't show up last night. Bert had another episode lately and the family needed to take care of things. So this guy is certifiably dangerous, and Blake and I are in a tough situation. All we can do is hope he doesn't show up, and if he does, that we can make a legit excuse that doesn't set him off, to not allow him inside the house.
I wanted to try and explain one of the markets here "Senta-baixo". First of all, the name of the market means "Sit down" because it sells ridiculously strong alcohol that, after drinking it, all you want to do is sit.
But this market is more than just a booze warehouse. You can find anything you'd ever want in this market, and everything you'd never want to see or smell.
It's located along the main road through town, stretching about 2-3 city blocks long, and about 1 block deep. If you "shop" on the edge, you find storefronts selling basic needs (soap, flour, TP, etc.), shoestores, used clothing, backpacks, assorted hardware and finally the mother lode of open-air bicycle shops. Each storefront, which is a loose term, is bordered by capulanas suspended with sticks and barbed wire, and good are laid out on stacked and otherwise mutilated boxes. Each stand is about 10-15 feet wide and you can pass without harassment. If you want to buy something, you will.
The bicycle maintenance area is full of people with every conceivable part laid out on the ground, grease in loosely sealed containers, and the day's selection of bikes sitting out in front. For the entire market, at any given moment, there's usually about 5 bikes for sale. Some aren't lemons.
Beyond the bike area is a swath of capulana stores where you can get any pattern of capulana you desire for 40-50 Met. In this area is one of the main entrances to the innards of "Senta-baixo". You pass by more small goods shops as you enter the heart of the market, and people start to be more vocal about peddling their goods. You pass used and "new" clothing stores, and if you look closely, there are small alleys everywhere. Where it seems like there is nobody, because it's surrounded by buying and selling, is anything but. Here, there are various small restaurants and bars, many seeming like small huts. I don't actually know if people live there, but I wouldn't be surprised.
If you keep walking to the inner limit, you pass by the meat market and chicken area. I've been in the meat market once. I've heard that people have been permanently turned off from eating meat by visiting this area, and I can see why.
The chickens are kept in wicker or wire cages, attended by one woman per cage. It, quite literally, smells like shit.
Staying around the perimeter of the market, on the opposite side as the roadside, you visit the entrance to the vegetable and fruit market. Seven foot long sticks hold up patched together rice sacks which provide necessary shade for the hundred or so women (and a few men) who are trying to sell their goods. Paths are, at best, muddy, and combined with having to duck under the sagging makeshift roof and avoiding kids with wheelbarrows and no speed limit, it's quite the physical achievement navigating through this section. Adding to the physical challenge is the mental challenge of telling vendors that you don't need their tomatoes, lemons, okra, onions, masava, couve....and when you arrive at a vendor you'd like to make a purchase from, it gets no easier. Prices are quoted in money per unit, where the unit is a pile or bundle. And you purchase by saying how much money you want to spend, not how many items you'd like. Mental gymnastics on both ends.
After you're done with that, you can leave in the other direction, passing by the fish market, freshly cooked meat section, and finally the hair-care and tobacco department. I like to clean my palette by visiting this section last, as the smell of hairspray is ambrosia to the nose.
Peace
John
