Some of my Favorite Things

The amount of fresh fruit and vegetables that was available and cheap at the indigenous mercados was absolutely amazing. The produce was truly vine-ripe straight from the farms. It wasn't produce that had been picked before its time so that it could be shipped to grocery stores before it rotted. The mercados were similar to the farmer's markets that can be found here if you are lucky enough to live close to one. The difference is they were prolific. You didn't have to walk more than a few blocks to find one anywhere in the city. There were several really large ones scattered around the city as well. In the outlying towns, they would fill the entire town square on Wednesdays and Sundays.

On Wednesday, they fly in fresh fish from the coast. If you are there when it arrives, you can get several types of fish, shrimp, and tuna almost as fresh as if you had caught it yourself.  Otherwise, I am told, it is wise to forget it.