a trip to the market

I went to the local market this morning with my host mother and sister. It is outdoors, covered with tarps that hit my head because I'm a head taller than most people here, and about a five minute walk from my house. My host mom goes there every morning to buy the day's food. Here's some of what I saw:

--Live fish in shallow tanks of water. These fish are very alive--I saw one escapee flopping around on the path, perhaps mistaking itself for the Ariel the little mermaid
--Piles and baskets of fruit: green oranges (they're still called oranges, though it would be natural to call them "greens"), huge grapefruit (sometimes the size of my head), papaya, watermelon (dark green and oblong), apples, many different kinds of bananas, dragon fruit (pink with green spikes on the outside, white with black seeds on the inside--pictures to come!), and other fruits that I can't describe...
--Long stalks of sugar cane, waiting to be either peeled, cut up, and chewed, or put through a press to make sweet juice
--Women hacking at beef or pork meat, still on the bone, weighing exact amounts for customers. Pig's feet on the same counter.
--Baskets full of rice
--Piles of squid, tubs of swimming shrimp, other creatures which I could not identify and for which I cannot remember the Vietnamese word!
--Women wrapping up food in banana leaves. I never know what I'll find when I open a wrapped-up green package. Always a surprise...
--A basket full of little birds, ready for some dish (sorry Hope)
--Little shops with cloth and women working hard on their sewing machines inside
--Shops to buy oil and imported goods

And there is oh so much more. As much as I hate going to places like that with my camera, I'll give it a try sometime... But hopefully this has given you some idea of the wonders of a Vietnamese market.

When we came back, I made applesauce from some macs that we bought at the market. mm... the smell of cooking apples brings me right back to the applesauce production at home every fall!