Friday, February 18, 2011

Yesterday we went to the market. It's the second time we've gone and both times have come back reeling from sensory overload. The vendors (mostly Mayans, with a small mixtures of other Mexicans and hippie-types) sell mostly local foods, but there is everything available from clothing, to CDs to jewelry to huge bags of pine needles and medicinal herbs. It's loud with music and trucks trying to make their way through the crowds, and the the voices are a mix of Spanish and Mayan dialects, mostly Tzotzil and Tzeltal. The clothes too vary, from fashionable business attire to cowboy hats and boots to the colorful furs, wools and woven clothing of the different indigenous groups. Pictures tell the story best.

2 comments:

Bill said...

Kind of reminds me of old Maxwell Street in Chicago....before the gentry moved in and ruined it.

PrincessMom4 said...

More than Belize or Cuba or even Jamaica, the street markets remind me of Kenya. The colors are more vivid in Mexico, but the displays (on the ground or wherever they find space) are very much Kenyan culture. The streets and walkways are different than any of those countries though. Mostly dirt walkways where I've visted. I love the colors and the dress and the variety. Cuba, Jamaica and Belize do not have the variety and I've never seen an outdoor market in Cuba or Belize.