The markets

Well shopping is certainly vastly different here to what it is in New Zealand, or any other parts of the western world that we have visited. Supermarkets here are rare, small and not necessarily the cheapest option. Economies of scale seem to have by-passed Bolivia! Also, you will not find a fruit and vegetable section, nor a butchery in supermarkets here, and the deli is tiny. This is because people do the bulk of their shopping at the open air markets like the main one here in Tarija, called Campesino market. The produce may not be primped up to look enticing like in western supermarkets, but it is always fresh and the biggest advantage is flavour. Because it is picked to go straight to market, it doesn't have to be picked before it is ripe, or treated with chemicals to keep it fresh.
   In the west you can buy almost anything you need at the supermarket, here the same applies to the open air market. You can even buy donkeys here! Plus because there are so many vendors, healthy competition is alive and well which makes prices very reasonable. If you develop a rapport with some of the vendors, they get quite friendly and even give you little free add-ons for being a regular customer.
   We thought we were pretty up the play with our Spanish numbers, but here they often deal in unusual weights, not necessarily just Kgs. Also we didn't really study up on fractions which can cause a few dramas, for example we managed to purchase quarter of a Kg of cumin the other day because of not knowing fractions! Oh well it only cost us about $2 NZ, and surprisingly we seem to be ploughing through it quite rapidly.
   The scariest part of the market is the meat section. There are about an acre of small stalls all selling meat hanging in the open air at 35 degrees Celsius! Apart from the smell and fly blown meat, there are buckets of offal, heads of animals, you name it! There are a large number of butcheries up town however, that refrigerate their meat.
   Just behind the meat market is an eating establishment, there appears to be several throughout the market, obviously not designed for tourists, the food isn't too bad though if you can develop the courage to create a scene as the only gringo in sight! You probably need to be prepared to risk the odd stomach upset too I suppose, but so far I haven't succumbed!
   There are of course other smaller markets here and there. By our residence one market runs throughout the week, but on Saturday it is huge, and some from Campesino come down to set up here for the day.
   I will attach a few photos of the market, and a short video giving a small insight into one outdoor section of the market.
Follow this link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nSRyVYksm4&feature=youtu.be

You don't really think I would photograph a market without a shot of potatoes do you?

or two?

   The other interesting thing about shopping here is the fact that literally every hundred meters or so, even way out in the country, there is a small shop attached to a house. These shops are called tiendas and can carry quite a random range of stock. Within 100 meters of our house we have 4! We were buying from them sparingly thinking like in NZ they would be expensive compared to supermarkets. We finally compared the prices though and found them to be in most cases cheaper! Now we patronize them regularly. I have included a photo of a tienda as well.

   OK so that is shopping 101 in Tarija, I may in the future do another post about the shops though because they are amazingly random, and are worth another look. Next post - the weather, particularly the amazing electrical storms.
   Hasta luego