One monday, two worlds

On Monday we decided that we wanted to do a little shopping and take advantage of the exchange rate, which is now 15.5 pesos to the dollar.  First however, I took Linda to the marketplace to get some fresh fruit and of course to experience the Mexican marketplace.

We only ventured a little way into the marketplace because the fruit section is towards the entrance.  But even walking into the marketplace is like walking into a whole new world.  There is table after table of fresh fruits, spices and vegetables.  As you venture onward (the marketplace encompasses a whole city block) you encounter booth after booth of different or sometimes the same things.  There are several booths devoted to religious statues and

 many devoted to making tortillas and serving food.  As you walk around the market most of the outside booths are for non-edible items such as the traditional panama hats, books or shoes.  Then you head onwards towards the grain section, which is in very close proximity to the live pets section.  If you keep heading onwards you get to the back of the market, which is the meat section.  You can smell the meat section way before you actually see it.  The smell is revolting and unlike anything I have smelled before.  There you can get fresh - and I mean very fresh - chickens, pigs and other types of meat.  At one market there were people walking around 

with 7 or so whole, feathered but dead chickens dangling off each arm.  I've also seen people walking pigs on leashes that I imagine can only end up in one place later.  It is my personal belief that every person should experience the meat section of a Mexican marketplace because it either makes you appreciate what you eat or turns you vegetarian.  However, I decided to spare Linda from the meat section and we headed back out while we still had enough appetite to eat our food!

After having lunch at my house with the family we headed further North of the city to  my favorite shopping plaza: 

Altabrisa. Throughout the years the growing trend in the North is becoming more and more Americanized.  There have been several malls that have popped up, Altabrisa being the newest of them all.  This mall is extremely nice with high-end stores, some of which are too classy for even the Cincinnati area.  We shopped around for awhile but many of the stores were still too expensive - even when taking the exchange rate into consideration.

On our taxi ride home from the mall I joked around with Linda that in one day she was able to the two extremes of the Mexican culture.  We went from spending the morning in the crowded downtown marketplace to spending the evening in the high-end shopping mall.  You don't get much more different than that!

My Lesson of the Day: Distance doesn't really matter when separating two completely different worlds and as much as I hate this fact, its a sobering experience to see both in one day.