Sucre - its architecture, it´s white stucco walls, its plaza - was absolutely beautiful. But if we had thought that that beauty masked a city with no real heart, the Mercado Central was the pulse that proved us wrong. It was right across the street from our hostel for our entire stay, but we didn´t venture inside until the last day. What we saw was a feast of colors for the eyes: Apples, pears, tomatoes, bananas, green beans, carots, squash, overflowing in every direction.
We wandered upstairs to the pre-cooked food section, where Nate and I had literally the best meal of our trip: fantastically seasoned beef in a stew of vegetables, over rice. All for 8 Bolivianos ($1.10). But it wasn´t just the food that made our lunch fantastic: it was the conversation. We ate at a shared table, first with a elderly man named Juan Valdez (no, not that Juan Valdez), a former house painter and Carpenter from
Potosi. He told us about his family and his job and asked us about our lives as he ate the successive bowls of soup brought to him (he was clearly a regular there, and the cooks knew exactly what he liked to eat given that he had no teeth.)
When Señor Valdez left to rejoin his family, we were joined by Sylvia, her 8 year old daughter Michaela, and Michaela´s stuffed dog Angelica (who we were informed was 2 years old.) During the rest of our meal/conversation the three of them went about proving young Michaela´s assertion that Bolivians are the friendliest people in South America. We finished off our meal with a combination of fruit and cool-whip (the aesthetic presenation of which would have impressed even my mother), and lamented that we hadn´t found this place even one meal earlier.
We wandered upstairs to the pre-cooked food section, where Nate and I had literally the best meal of our trip: fantastically seasoned beef in a stew of vegetables, over rice. All for 8 Bolivianos ($1.10). But it wasn´t just the food that made our lunch fantastic: it was the conversation. We ate at a shared table, first with a elderly man named Juan Valdez (no, not that Juan Valdez), a former house painter and Carpenter from Potosi. He told us about his family and his job and asked us about our lives as he ate the successive bowls of soup brought to him (he was clearly a regular there, and the cooks knew exactly what he liked to eat given that he had no teeth.) 
When Señor Valdez left to rejoin his family, we were joined by Sylvia, her 8 year old daughter Michaela, and Michaela´s stuffed dog Angelica (who we were informed was 2 years old.) During the rest of our meal/conversation the three of them went about proving young Michaela´s assertion that Bolivians are the friendliest people in South America. We finished off our meal with a combination of fruit and cool-whip (the aesthetic presenation of which would have impressed even my mother), and lamented that we hadn´t found this place even one meal earlier. 
1 comment:
As a photographer...I have to say, these food pictures are beautiful!!
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