I Heart Publix!

For those of you who know me well, you know that I could be in an advertisement for Publix supermarkets.  To say that I enjoy shopping at my local Publix is probably a bit of an understatement...I've been known to be in the store 5 times during one week alone!  The people who work in my store know me by name.  I kinda feel like humming the "Cheers" theme song as I do my shopping.

As I'm sure goes without saying, there are no Publix supermarkets in Guatemala...sigh.  Instead, when groceries are needed, a trip to the local market is required.  Please don't get me wrong!  The produce is amazingly fresh, and there are amazing fruits and vegetables that I've never laid eyes on before  (As an added bonus, none of us have gotten sick from aforementioned produce).  BUT, there is no one named Peter who helps me to my car with the groceries.  As a matter of fact, I don't have a car AT ALL!!  A trip to the market requires a decent walk down the busy streets of Antigua, and the return trip home is usually a bit of a balancing act as Cata and I cart our goodies down the streets. 

Inside the market, please envision tiny narrow hallways where more people than I've ever seen in Publix push their way through, many times carrying baskets on their heads or gigantic bags of wares on their backs.  As a matter of fact, yesterday I looked up to see a basket of cow heads walking by me!  These are things you just don't see while walking the aisles in Publix (while mentioning things you don't see in Publix, you can also find the most recent Harry Potter movie complete with the back of people's heads and people coughing in it)!  Unfortunately, depending on your point of view, I don't have a picture of the cow heads.  It's a shame since they had horns on them and all!  The very first trip Cata and I made to the market, we somehow both ended up holding ourselves up by grasping a wall above the ladies who were selling their vegetables in the hallway as people shoved their way past us.  It's an adventure to say the least!

Below are some pictures I took today as Cata and I bought fresh fruits and vegetables for the weekend.  Fridays are slightly more tranquil in the market than some of the other days, so I was able to take a few shots of our market experienece.  These don't really do it justice as you can't hear the sounds or smell the pungent odors of fish and raw meat, but hopefully you can get a tiny feel for what the market is like.

Feliz fin de semana!

This lady was so cute!  I took 3 pictures of her before she was satisified with the way she looked.

Fish anyone??

How 'bout a whole side of cow??

Pollo...and something else

Yum!  I like this part of the market better than the meat section.



It's awfully hard to see, but this is a pile of chicken feet.  Want some "sole" food for dinner tonight?