Tianguis or Farmer's Market

Even thought this is a fairly small city there are 2 tianguis markets. These are local markets where almost anything can be sold. The word tianguis is from the Nahuatl language and was originally used just for markets of indigenous farmers and craftspeople. In Los Reyes the Wednesday market is the food one and the Thursday one is mostly clothing, new and used, household supplies, cosmetics, jewellery, dvds, kids toys, in other words anything not food. One day there were even 3 spaniel puppies for sale!

I try to get to the Wednesday morning market by 8; even at that time many things are picked over or gone. I have only seen peas once and there were just a few remnants. The market is a great place to buy seasonal food from the area, but caveat emptor. Such things as apples and peaches are not always local. In fact in August and early September those were from California. Local Mexican apples are now ready and they taste great...just like those apples I used to eat from my relatives backyard tree. They are no special type, just a great somewhat small juicy eating apple. They are probably fine for cooking too as they are somewhat tart.

I spent 22 pesos at the market today which is about $1.75 Canadian. My bag was filled with a small broccilli, an enormous green pepper, 7 bananas, 8 Roma tomatoes, about 1/2 pound of tomatillos, a complimentary bunch of cilantro and 4 small pieces of ocean perch which is called mojarra. On my way back to the casa I also stopped by a local aborrates and picked up 2 freshly made large buns for 3 pesos. Buying groceries is incredibily cheap and fun in Mexico.

My local weathercast

The city of Los Reyes is set in a beautiful green valley, known as Valle Esmeralda, with small mountains encircling it on three sides. Only to the south is it less hilly. From our rooftop there are very different viewscapes depending in the time of day and the weather. Early in the morning as you face east it appears to be almost a middle eastern setting. Then in the mid to late afternoon you can actually see the rain clouds approaching. Sometimes before heading off to teach at 3:30 I run up the roof to check on the weather. In this very rainy season the best item of clothing that I brought with me has been those turquoise plastic shoes that I got at Payless!

Finding the IMSS

I did find the government run liquor store. It's called IMSS and was only about 3 blocks north of the main market. Also I now know why people never know the street name. When I went to look for the name which is often on the corner of a building there was nothing I could read. At least I will be able say that from the side of the market where the small fish vendor is you walk Calle Isabel Allende for 3 blocks and turn left and there it is about 4 stores down!

I took this photo at one of the many nights leading up to Independence Day. This was the 2nd night of performances by the Folklorico Company of Michoacan and it was really great. The previous night they appeared to have used, the back up male dancers,but this night there were different dancers. They both looked great and danced impressively especially as the nights here are hot and very humid. One number was danced by all, men and women, in fringed suede jackets! Then the men did a very fast number on their own and then the women re-joined then and then danced again. I was amazed that no one keeled over. The women mostly wear very full skirts and spend a lot of time twirling them, sashaying around the stage and giving come-hither looks to the men. In their place I would too!

Sept. 16 - A good time to start

It's been a month today that I finished working in the corporate world full time. Seems like an auspicious day to start this blog.

I arrived in Los Reyes after an all day journey that started from Sault Ste. Marie at about 5:30 am est & ended at 11 pm cst in Mexico. It was actually very straightford for me until arriving at my destination, however, it was very hard on The Kitten who went from riding with the captain on the first flight to being put down with the baggage under the bus on the last leg. He was crying loudly when the bus arrived and smelled like a sewer. It was surprising that it was OK for him to ride in the cabin on all 3 flights but he was not allowed on the bus!

By the time I calmed the Kitten and got my luggage from the bus the only taxi available was picking up his wife and daughter but agreed to take me to the house that the school rents for teachers. I had checked on the internet and discovered that the house was very close to the bus arrival point and the driver knew this, but he could not find the street. We drove around for about 15 min. and he couldn't find the street. Since the only pay phones available needed a phone card to use them I was having visions of spending the night at a local hotel. The taxi guy finally went a small official looking building and found out that we were on the correct street and only 1 block away. When we found the house the driver rang the bell and I yelled out to the man who came to the door, 'Do you speak English?' He replied he did and I then yelled out, 'Are you a teacher?'

Luckily it was the right house and the right English speaker. I found out later that in Los Reyes cabs work a certain part of town and that all the drivers for our area which is called Jardin had already left with fares. My driver just did not know that part of town......and the town is only about 50, 000 people tops! It turns out that our casa is on a street called Orquidea which is only called that name for 3 or 4 blocks, then it changes to another name.

Actually in Los Reyes no one seems to know street names other than where they live and some main ones. I asked someone where to find the government run liquor store and he told me to just go to the main plaza on the right side and keep on walking. When I inquired about a street name along the way he didn't know one. This is not an isolated event. One of the other teachers asked about a place to get her hair cut and was told there was a good one in the Zapata area (barrio). She asked about the street name and was told it was on the street that Oct. 12th school and a park are on.

I will keep everyone posted on my search for the wine store. I have learned how to ask in Spanish so how hard can it be?