Every Saturday morning I wake up about 6 am (it seems early, I know, for a Saturday, but it is an hour later than I normally wake up during the week). Some days, Meg and I walk "the hills" (which are actually more like small mountains than any hill I've ever seen)and then sometimes we also walk around the walking track that is next to the lot that the feria is in. After walking, I head to the feria. I have a smile on my face the moment I walk through those gates! I am amazed at the beautiful rainbow of colors that fill my eyes and the scents that fill my nose. There are booths and booths of fruits and vegetables- some very familiar like red and golden delicious, granny smith (Ethan's favorite- and what he takes in his lunch every day!) and even fugi apples (manzanas), blackberries (moras), strawberries (fresas), pineapple (pina), lettuce- several different varieties (lechuga), cabbage- red and green (repollo), cucumbers (pepinos), cilantro (culantro)and potatoes (papas). Then there are some things very unfamiar and very fun to try like marmachinos ("snot balls"- sounds yummy, huh?)- they look so cool- they are round and a brilliant red and have little spikey things all over them and you peel the outside and inside is something similar to the consistency of a peeled green grape and tastes somewhat similar as well, but different at the same time...some say they go down as smooth as snot...eeewwww...Ticos love 'em! A few weeks ago, I bought a papaya for about $0.60! It was pretty good- I'm not sure I'd buy one again - but worth trying for that price! There are so many interesting things I have yet to try...Probably the best thing we have tried is these amazingly tiny bananas- banana datilos. They are about as long as any one of my fingers and about as thick as a Pizza Hut breadstick. They look just like miniature bananas, but the taste is much sweeter. Audrey LOVES them!!!! She takes one in her lunch every day for school! I can buy about 12 for about $0.75!
It took me almost a month and a half to get the nerve up to actually go to the feria. After we learned numbers and practiced money in our conversation class (and actually practiced buying things from the feria thanks to the girls plastic food that I brought in as visual aids!!!) I felt fairly confident- so I headed out! I have been almost every weekend since!
After I get home, I take all my goodies into the laundry room sink and wash everything in bleach water to sanitize and kill any bugs or parisites. There are some pretty dangerous ones- so I don't take any risks...That whole praocess takes an hour or two depending on how much I've bought. I wash everything for at least 15 minutes- some things longer than that though. Then I dry everything out and store it in its appropriate place.
So, today, I took a picture of my haul and kept track of exactly what I spent and exactly how much I came back with. You all know how much I love a great deal - and one of the reasons I love going so much is because everything is so good and it is such a great deal! You decide:
Here's the pic of my haul- beautiful, huh???
Now, here's a list of my fares:
3 fugi apples, 6 granny smith apples, 3 golden delicious apples, 6 tangerines, 1 large head caesar lettuce, 1 head "American" lettuce, 9 potatoes, 1 cucmber, 4 ears of corn, 1 bag of guanabana pulp (the best juice in the world!!!!), 1 large pineapple, 1 head of cabbage, 1 bunch of radishes and one bunch of banano datils (those little bananas)...38 items for a for a grand totla of just under $10.00!!!!
Pretty cool, huh?
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