Happy fish marketers

Happy fish marketeers
Originally uploaded by ancho and lefty.

I am not sure why these fellows were in such a good mood when I snapped their photo, but they definitely wanted my attention when they noticed that I had my camera out. They are part of a colorful crowd that makes up the outdoor market in Hatillo, San Jose, Costa Rica. While most vendors are selling fruits and vegetables, a few, like these folks, sell fish or meat. You can also find value-added food products and clothing, lots of opportunities to participate in black market lotteries and frequent calls to buy ice cream too. I went yesterday with my friend Roxanna, whose husband sells at two markets every weekend- one in Guadalupe and the other here in Hatillo. We rode back home in his big produce truck, stopped by his mom and dad's for an early afternoon dinner of chicharrones and yucca, and then I eventually collapsed in my house, happy to be home in the quiet after a day at the hectic, lively, and loud marketplace.

One thing that was really great about the market is that I actually had connections to vendors there- my friend Roxanna would take me to a stall and say, this is Dania's Dad, or this is Eduardo's brother- he lives in Guapiles now. So it was neat that I distantly knew many of the vendors participating in the market. Spending time in a marketplace in Costa Rica also helps highlight the connections that these vendors have woven throughout the country. By working at a market you can meet people from all over the country (small as it is) and also forge potentially beneficial business relationships- for example, learning where someone has produce they want to unload from their land, but that they don't want to harvest themselves or even just hearing about land for sale or equipment, or anything else that might help an agriculturalist make ends meet, and perhaps if lucky, prosper.

Unlike the subdued yuppie farmers' markets to which I am accustomed, this market's vendors are aggressive- they yell out their prices, trying to entice you to at least just come and look at their stall. It leads to personal consumer confusion where you find yourself buying a huge bunch of bananas, even though you live alone and in a zone that produces enough bananas to keep you banana happy.