Day 2 - El Mercado

So today we went to the very large market and were able to walk around and smell, taste and purchase all kinds of interesting things. We tried, Guaya, Guanabana, Mango, etc. Some of the students tried an interesting fruit today known as "Pitaya". It looked good to them so they pointed it out. We bought quite a few of them for around $1.50 and gave them a try. The described their flavor as kiwi-like, but with less flavor.



The market is extremely busy and beautiful. At first glance it appears very chaotic but the more you walk around it you realize that it's actually quite organized. There's a section for flowers and another for meat and another for technology, etc.

Some of the kids stumbled upon the sea food section and were quite surprised.



A few of the kids said that the fish was so fresh that a few times they saw them flipping and flopping around.

We had the chance to buy hammocks and many kids took advantage of that opportunity.

Jade bought a "Makech". The makech is a beatle that wanders around these parts. The people, noticing the long and clingy legs of this insect, decided to decorate it with jewels and wear it on their shirts as a strange sort of live broach.



Unfortunately her makech wasn't as clingy as she hoped and when someone accidentally bumped her, the beatle fell and was gone forever. It was pretty brave of her to try it on and buy it, though. The look a little creepy.



After an AMAZING dinner we marched down to the parque central and spent time hanging out there and enjoying the culture late into the night.


I'm sorry that I'm not updating this more frequently but the service here is atrocious and the wifi is quite bad also. It's 2:12 AM not and I'm going to give it a try.