market day in Todos Santos, sustainable living?

Again, my apologies for the sideways pictures, but thought you'd still enjoy seeing them. To the right are a couple of pictures showing the beautiful array of foods. Probably only due to economics, the food is grown within a couple hundred miles, with much of it being grown within a bus ride away. Since the Guatemalan highlands rise immediately out of the low lying tropical lands, both cool weather and tropical crops grow not very many miles apart from each other. Food that travelled the furthest would be tropical, lowland, hot weather produce which exists less than 50 miles away as the crow flies. I don't have a picture of the meat market. All the meat sold there that is locally grown. The meat does not even get frozen before it is sold and consumed. The butcher shop is about 4 blocks from the plaza. That is truly local eating. Eating relatively locally grown foods certainly is part of a sustainable living picture.

Saturday is market day in Todos Santos, and being the biggest (yet still small) town for over an hour bus ride in any direction, Market Day is a big deal here. The market area quickly fills with local inhabitants, people coming in by bus either to buy or sell, etc. From about 530 am until mid morning, just about every incoming bus parks until 11 or 12 am since no one leaves until then. The picture to the right shows the plaza in front of the church with vendors.

There are two rather large buildings near the plaza that are devoted totally to market. Multistoried, tall and airy, just about anything sold (not just food) in Guatemala that is portable can be bought there. The next picture is an inside shot of one of these markets.

Despite the huge square footage devoted to the market, vendors spill over into the streets and every available nook and cranny in just about every direction from the plaza. Despite having been here for two other market days, we discovered all kinds more vendors tucked away in other corners since we live in a different part of town this time. This next sideways picture shows a street scene from one of the market buildings three stories above.

While I have focused mosty on food, the offerings the textiles which the Mayan women are so noted for making incricate weavings by backstrap looms. This is the same type of weaving previously reported during our first visit to Todos. The men are responsible for weaving bolts of cloth on big, wooden, hand operated floor looms. They progress at amazing speed with their flying shuttle machines that need no electricity.