The Things They Carried

I thought it would be appropriate to explain and illustrate to you the process by which our fridge and bellies are filled every week. Every week two JVs head to El Mercado Huembes to buy food for the week. I just got back from the market. The sights, smells, sounds, and tastes are fresh and they linger on my palate. Michael is my market partner. We grabbed two large market bags woven with a multi-colored plastic material. We first set out for dry goods. We bought four pounds of red beans, one pound of sugar, one half-pound of salt, one pound of peanuts, one pound of raisins, three packages of spaghetti, tomato paste, crackers, cookies, garbage bags, and toilet paper. After we collected most of these things from a small stand in the market called, Sonia y Sonia, we moved through the densely packed market toward the fruit and vegetable stands. Walking through the market is like maneuvering in a crowned labyrinth. Children run around barefoot. It’s hot. Music is blaring from two or three directions simultaneously, and vendors are constantly asking ¿Qué busca? (What are you looking for?). The floor of the market is coated in trash, dirt, and sometimes a liquid mixture of cleaning fluid and water. The smells range from the putrid scents of fish and poultry to the tantalizing smells of freshly baked bread, soups, tortillas, and tamales. Everything tastes better at the market too because we’re hot, sweaty, and hungry. A woman let us test a mandarin which exploded with citrus sweetness in my mouth. We bought one and a half dozen. Along with that we bought three pounds of onions, three cloves of garlic, three large carrots, two pounds of potatoes, one ayote (a delicious squash), three cucumbers, six limes, four packages of green beans, three sticks of celery, and one enormous watermelon. After that we only needed eighteen eggs, and a half gallon of milk. We were on our way. Oh, and I forgot to mention that earlier today Michael bought one and a half dozen bananas, a couple pounds of tomatoes, green peppers, and a pineapple. We bought all that food, enough for six people for one week for around forty US dollars. There are certain things we don’t need to buy every week of course, but that tends to be the necessary budget week to week, with small purchases at local ventas (small businesses run out of peoples homes in the neighborhood) as needed. By the time we got home we were each carrying around 20+ pounds per person. But it felt so glorious to have fresh fruit, vegetables, and eggs in the house. I just whipped up some scrambled eggs with garlic, onions, and green peppers and fresh tomato on top. I have really found it a joy to cook here. So far I have cooked a rica BBQ chicken pizza with a biscuit crust and a Pakistani dish with potatoes and soy meat. I forgot to mention that we eat very little meat products but have found carne de soya­ or soy meat to be a great substitute. If anyone has good and simple recipes please feel free to pass them on. I’m always looking for new recipes. I have found the cookbook More with Less to be a great resource. I highly recommend it. I should also mention that not every Nicaraguan shops at the market like we do. There are also a couple supermarkets that would rival any Kroger or Safeway of the US. Actually, one of them is owned by Wal-Mart (Ironically it is called La Union). We tend to buy very few things from La Colonia, the nearest supermarket to our house, but usually only butter, margarine, or meat, because it is less likely to carry any nasty bacteria or parasites. So, no worries, we eat well, actually better than at home, and we stay as healthy as one could expect. Ha. ¡Buen Provecho!