Palenke

Today I had the fun of going with Aunty Melita and Daniel to the Palenke... a market type place under a big tin roof with tons of little shops selling all sorts of things. It was quite the experience! I did take pictures, but due to the fact that I am running out of time, I will probably have to post those tomorrow or another day. I will give you a brief description:

Sights:

Many trikes and people come to the market, and there are tons and tons and tons of little booths. Some of the stalls open right onto the street. Vendors have piles of veggetables, sometimes on a tarp on the ground, and sometimes on stands. Most of the shops are under a couple of giant tin roofs with dividers for all the little stalls and narrow hallways. Part of it is food, part of it is shops that sell clothes, school supplies, plastic things, you name it. The food part has some of the most interesting sights... and smells. The most interesting of course is the raw meet, hanging out there with flies buzzing around. I saw parts of pigs strung up, pig heads, skinned and unskinned, and intestines. There are all other manner of body parts of animals strung up, most of which I couldn't name, but many of them legs. There are little signs above the little shops that say "Sue and Nap Shop" if Sue and Nap run the shop. I saw one "Daisy Shop" because a lady named Daisy runs it.

There are also beggars around. There were little boys, and a mother and baby, and an old man. These were the ones that came up to us. Aunty Melita would offer them veggetables rather than money, and if they wanted them, she gave the some. It would be so hard to make decisions about who to give to and what! A little boy came and tapped my arm and put out his hand. I didn' t know what to do exactly, I just kind of shook my head and ignored him. I was standing by the veggetable stall near my Aunty Melita. She talked with him later, and I think he didn't want veggetables, or "Gulay", so she figured he wasn't in that much need.

Smells:

The most obvious smell was the raw meet. It isn't very pleasant I tell you. It's kind of fishy smelling in one area, and a different kind of gross smell in another area. When you are not by the raw meat there isn't any particularly strong smell. They sell a kind of rice here that has a very nice smell, and they call it "Sweet smelling rice" (Only in Tagalog) and sell it for a little more.

Sounds:

The main sounds are of people talking. Also horns beaping from the trikes on the street hoping to get the attention of shoppers who had full loads and needed a ride home.

Tastes:

Well, I didn't taste anything while I was there, but afterwards at home the food sure tastes good!

Feels:

Rain, when you're not under the tin roofed part. And very slippery, slimy, muddy floors that gets tracked from the raw meat section. Daniel said it was from the fish. I didn't get a chance to see the fish section yet, but another time I go I'm sure I will. In the parking lot there was gross mud and goo that was hard to avoid.

Anyway, it was an interesting experience! It is neat to see how friendly everyone is though. They don't just frown down and their work and pass on to the next customer. The people are very involved in your purchases, make suggestions, help you pick out veggetables. They ask questions. I was introduced to many of Aunty Melita's "Sukeys" (again, may be spelled wrong) or people she buys from regularly. They wanted to know how I was related to Aunty Melita, and how old I was, and where I was from, and sometimes what I was doing. I asked people if I could take pictures, and most people really quite like it when you take their pictures, especially the lady by the meat counter where I took a picture of a pig head :-)

All in all more personable shopping than I've ever done before.