Tales from Oaxaca – Dia de los Muertos- Mercados

We visited several
bustling, amazing markets during our stay, the
closest one to us was the Benito Juarez market. It’s a covered market, crowded
with people and really anything you would want to buy, including these fabulous sugar and chocolate skulls.

Spice stalls,
bakery stalls, hardware stalls, meat and seafood, vegetables, healing aids and
spices, bags and purses, local arts and crafts – it was sensory overload in the
best way. 

The food area was really amazing, lots of family vendors selling all
kinds of food at their stalls with counters and tables to sit and enjoy a meal. 

One interesting thing I noted was the “Escritorio Publico”, a booth where you
could have a person write a letter for you – on a typewriter. 

We also had a
chance to go to a really big Sunday market in the village of Tlacolula. 

They
had everything there as well, including live turkeys, 

a hall of bread (this one selling pan de meurto for Day of the Dead), 

carts
full of amazing local vegetables and fruit, even a guy on a bike who was rigged
up to sharpen scissors or knives. It was so amazing I just couldn’t see it all
in the short time we were there. We even tried a local specialty that are quite
popular and on many menus – GASSHOPPERS. They are deep fried to a crisp with a
smokey red chile powder coating. You just buy them by the handful. They had a
nice spicy, salty taste and crunch, but I just didn’t like the texture or
feeling of the scratchy legs as I chewed and swallowed. I think it’s a cultural
thing. Like gefilte fish. If you grow up with it, you love it.  If you asked all 20 of us what we saw,
we’d all answer differently, there was just so much to take in. 

Next time…the wonderful weaving town of Teotitlan del Valle.