Tlacolula Market

I was the chauffeur for three campers from El Rancho who wanted to visit the well known market at Tlacolula.

9:30 in the morning was rather early I thought to be tasting mezcal especially as young Lisa from Austria professed not to enjoy the stuff. “But you should try the passion fruit flavor…” my wife the evil temptress suggested. Sure enough they got a bottle each while Sylvia the German in red stayed true to her earlier statement she doesn’t like the stuff.

This was our third visit to the Sunday market a half hour south of the campground. As usual we took GANNET2 which when parked close by the market served as a cool man cave for Rusty and myself and a clean pit stop for any keen shoppers who might need the loo. 

In winter the market is a raucous affair with the numbers of people packing the streets like sardines. This time we discovered it can actually be pleasant to stroll the covered city streets which become a pedestrian mall devoted to sales for the Sunday. 

It is the wildest street mall you’ve seen.  Lisa was skeptical when Layne encouraged her to come see but she too was captivated, while this was Sylvia’s third visit over the years. After Rusty and I gave up and retreated to some air conditioned nap time the three women kept at it till almost noon. 

It’s not, as you can see, just a food market because they sell everything a natty Maya peasant from the surrounding countryside could desire and locals pour into town for agricultural tools, clothing, dry goods and a also a treat - a meal out. 

Or to have a chat with friends and catch up.

I wished we had bought a ton of garlic from this stolid character and we made a promise to splash out next time and buy stuff we may not need.  Over buying in these communities helps people out and they can always use our unobtrusive help.

Or nuts…

…hats…
…and you can’t go wrong with grilled chicken! 

This cinnamon saleswoman was working the crowd:

And if you needed a scale replica of a crucifixion the market can accommodate you. 

If you need a break you can buy meals right plumb in the middle of the hubbub!

And the help’s lunch room isn’t hidden away either.

In the winter you’ll see a few foreigners mostly brought by tour guides as this market is famous around Oaxaca. But Layne who walked the entire thing didn’t think she saw a dozen foreign tourists this time. 

Lisa worked in a bank in Austria and quit her job to come to South America, her boyfriend Sandro is an electro-mechanical engineer (I think) and they are traveling in a very small 1998 pop top Volkswagen Eurovan which now needs some brake parts as the calipers have rusted out. 

They have no fear at all of Latin America and are planning on shipping home from Uruguay in April as Sandro is on a strict one year sabbatical and must get home. His mother is living in his rented apartment while he is gone paying his rent for him. I wonder why American youngsters in vans aren’t crowding our campsite but it’s just another of life’s puzzles. They laugh remembering concerned Americans telling them Mexico is dangerous. 

Miniature pizza rolling pin demonstrated by Sylvia…Layne asked of course and it’s sold as a toy. The salesman preferred Sylvia’s demonstration of the mini pizza maker. Much laughter:

Tlacolula de Matamoros is also known for its church: 

Had we no toilet aboard GANNET2 there were local toilets “baños” - literally bathrooms, and surprisingly “regaderas” literally sprinklers, which is Mexican Spanish for showers. Look closely and the signs are bilingual! 

Pig cheese and pig skins and Oaxacan sausage at the creamery. Virginia ham and mole sauces…as well as creamy white salted Oaxacan cheese much prized across Mexico. 

If you ever wonder why houses have rebar sticking out the top it’s to show the house isn’t finished. In Mexico property taxes are only levied on completed buildings … and sometimes they take years to complete! They all have water tanks though, even if not finished! 

I confess I was surprised to see a currency exchange in town. 

I was looking forward to broccoli but Layne said it looked iffy up close and dinner yesterday was chicken and rice with air fried green beans. 

Rusty did really well with the crowds and with the local dogs. I was proud of him and I was happy to get him back to GANNET2 when he showed signs of flagging. 

It was supposedly 86 degrees but it felt hotter. 

I think our plan to drive to the coast later this week, stopping to swim on a lovely beach we know on our way to Guatemala, may be cut short by the heat. It’s cool up here at night but it’s still very hot by day. Not unbearably warm but we are at 5,000 feet. 

I wonder if we’ll be back in a couple of years to check the market again…great fun and I got some pastries and a measuring spoon I needed as well as some water jugs. A good day.