To market, to market...

Contrary to my usual Saturday morning habits in Ohio, I wake up around 5:30am here. Saturday is THE day to get the best fruits and vegetables! Yes, there are produce stands, produce available in the grocery stores, and even people selling bags of mangos, peppers, what have you in the middle of the street as you are driving by. However, nothing compares to the farmer's market, called "feria" here.

We leave the house no later than 6am. The feria which lines an entire street for at least half a mile is filled with stands of farmers offering their harvest. If you go much later than 7am, it is hard to move through the crowd of buyers. Some people rent a grocery cart while there. Most have a cart on wheels. We have a cart and also carry several cloth bags.

There is no bartering at the feria. The prices are clearly marked and you can choose where to purchase your carrots, cucumbers, papaya, etc. I think the only thing I haven't seen is blueberries.

On a normal week, we spend about $20 at the market. And then we spend an additional $3 for a large bouquet of flowers for the house. The bouquets we purchase would easily go for fifteen dollars and up in the states.

Here is a picture from our purchase from last week... $20 worth. It's amazing!!! There are two large bunches of bananas, two pineapples, three packages of strawberries, seven bags of different greens, a bag each of tomatoes, carrots, mangos, and tofu, three really large beets, cabbage, oranges, and sprouts. In other words, ... I'm eating really healthy!