A trip to the market is an adventure. There is a super market near the apartment where we pick up essentials like cereal and milk, but the best shopping is done at El Mercado Principal. Enter on the ground floor to be astounded by a rainbow of colors in the form of fruits and vegetables. How do you want your bananas? Yellow, red, purple? The size of a finger , a hand or a forearm? Pineapples, citrus of every kind, watermelon, and then the unknown. You can ask for a taste, bargain for the best strawberries, or be so overcome you walk away with nothing. If you don’t want to shop hungry go upstairs for delicious pork and potatoes. Just choose the hog that catches the eye. Every part is available from the snout to the tail. We don’t know where they are cooked or what force gets that porcine hulk into the market, but there he is waiting to be sold. Two dollars will get you a plateful with potatoes on the side. Want pancakes, soup, empanadas? Just get in line. The bottom floor takes a little more courage. I was lured down there by the elaborate manger scene that was set up for the customers to enjoy. Children pose in front of Mary and Joseph and all the other Biblical characters along with some that I suspect have a pagan past, like my kiddos posed with Santa. Past this sweet spot there is a large array of animal parts. Pig heads, cow legs, tripe, tongue, liver and chickens with or without feet. Want a guinea pig for supper? It is available as well as the special oven you will need to cook it. A visit to the bakery is even more fun, however it seems tame in comparison to that whole hog on display.
