The Mercado

Today Timothy and I headed back to the mercado, the "market" here in Piura.  We had dropped off some measurements for some curtains for my home office last week, and it was time to pick them up.  (Note:  most rental houses in Piura do not come with window coverings, which feels important when you kind of look out of place most of the time.)  It is an interesting place, always changing, always busy (except for mid afternoon, when everything pretty much shuts down for lunch).  Today the roadway through the center was blocked by transit police...not sure why, but then, I am not usually aware of why most things happen here.  Before going further, here is someone else's picture of what it usually looks like:

You can find pretty much anything at the market.  So far, here is a list of our purchases:

- wash tub large enough to give Capitan a bath now and when he is 40 kilos
- 2 sets of curtains
- misc. kitchen gadgets
- multiple purchases of avocados, bananas, and other fruits
- Toby's school uniform pants (custom made from suit material)
- Mikaela's must-be-a-certain-color-red hair bands for school
- a mosquito net for Mikaela's bed (they really like her it appears)
- the gas tank (with gas) for our kitchen stove
- an aluminum fry pan (almost all cooking pots here are aluminum, but this was a bad purchase)
- our guest bed frames
- a ride-on toy for Timothy
- copies of our house keys
- PVC pipe and string for a pan flute Toby made at school
- replacement plumbing parts for our shower (purchased by an annoying plumber, but that is another story)
- a leash and collar for Capitan
- probably some other items I just cannot remember.

Most of my trips have been with Timothy, since the kids have been in school.  It is easy to get lost, since there are actually several mercados spanning several city blocks.  Most items are grouped, with stores selling kitchen items together, etc.  The nice part is, though, that if you can make it to one of the several streets that weaves through the area, you can easily get a taxi to take you home.

Prices are negotiable, mostly.  I like the places with the prices listed/marked on the products, since it makes it a bit tougher to take advantage of this gringo.  Or maybe the prices listed are for the gringos? :-)  But with repeated trips, you begin to take in a bit more than just the sometimes pungent smells, the unknown wet substance on the ground, the trash, the noise, the confusion.  You get to know the people.

That is why we are here, right?  The people.  I am getting to know the pastor of a church nearby who sells kitchen gadgets off a table on the main road.  I am getting to know the guy at the curtain shop, and he offers me more price points than just the top of the line.  And I am getting to understand how it works, how the mercado flows.  It is not scary anymore (ok, there are a few places I do avoid).  There is a level of fun seeing how it all flows, how it all runs.  One could say like a well oiled machine, but that might be pushing it...

God is present in Peru.  My eyes are finally opening to see that.

Take care.

Lowell