Chapter 3: Market Day

Saturday brought to us a quiet, chilly morning -- we stay in apartments on the school campus and naturally on Saturdays, only those who live in the apartments take up all the space -- Doug Kreeger (waiting for his wife to join him post-furlough), ourselves, Jean Armstrong next door (retired teacher from NJ/OH, and a member of my church in Cedarville right now), two short-termers, Stephanie and Lizzy, and then the young high school teacher Kelly (who returns this year to the states after a 3-year venture).

Lizzy and Stephanie walked us through the winding neighborhood about 3/4 of a mile to a market that went on and on and on.  The first few blocks was "pulga"--flea market style (see bathtub in picture), the rest went on and on with fresh fruits, vegetables, some cheeses, eggs, and here and there bunches of dried intestines (I'm assuming pig or cow).

After warming up to the bustle of busy shoppers and calling venders and frequent stares (four gringas meandering about certainly sticks out), I felt very comfortable and even priced and purchased a few items myself. Dealing with money (pesos) here has been a smooth transition because the exchange is almost exactly what it was in Costa Rica, so my mental calculations are quicker than they might have been.

So after trying some new fruits and vegetables (venders are quick to offer samples) and purchasing more the traditional (watermelon, strawberry, lettuce, tomato, etc.), we made our way back home to rest and snack.  Then once again we headed back to the library, where we concentrated on working out the bugs of the system and planned out the style of spine labels and such like that. 

Then I started in on the encyclopedias for a few hours.

In the evening, we had a lovely time of supper and fellowship with Jean Armstrong, the retired NJ teacher and previous-to-that, ABWE missionary in South America. Baked macaroni and cheese with a variety of meats, apple sauce and avocado.  We really rested.