Veintiuno de Julio

185 Hippie Market
Originally uploaded by pastry_child

This morning we all woke up around 945 to get ready for a visit Adrianna’s friend Carla. I felt absolutely fine, though my tequila buddies weren’t so fortunate. Nothing a little Mexican food can’t fix though! We went to a place that makes tortas – meat sandwiches similar to chopped pork in the states. The good part is the bread, a sort of rye, which can only be made properly in Guadalajara due to the elevation. Adrianna says she has tried it in other places, and it’s just not as good. Once you get your sandwich, you go to the salsa station. There is a variety of sauces you can put on your sandwich, from beans to something similar to tomato soup, to some spicier options. Most people make a sort of soup with their sandwich, adding tons of sauce! Delicious, regardless of the preparation!

After lunch, we all went to the cultural market. This is a market that is only open on Saturdays, so today was the only opportunity for us to go on this trip. This is the market that I mentioned a few days back, and it really was fantastic. There were drum circles and tons of great jewelry! Apparently it used to be strictly hippies that would frequent the market, but now it has become a mixture of hippies and punk-types.

At the market, I learned the amazing benefit of the process that Adrianna and I use to get a good price. I was looking at a pair of pretty fantastic earrings, and the vendor was telling me that they are made right here in Mexico. He said that he would give me a great deal of 50 pesos for them. They were pretty nice, but it seemed like a high price, considering some of the other deals I have gotten. So, I thanked him and moved on. I really wanted those earrings though! So, later I gave Adrianna some cash, and asked her to go back and see if she could get a good price. She came back with them, only having paid 30 pesos! Amazing. I did tell Wyatt later that it is very hard to get into the mindset that 5 dollars American is too expensive for a pair of earrings!

I also found a really great necklace for a certain mother of a certain boyfriend! They only had the pendant portion, but they offered to attach a chain to it for me. I expected a pre-made chain, but they sat there and made the chain, link by link, until I was happy with the length!
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I’m lying in bed, watching a lightening storm – a regular, almost nightly, thing here during the summer. It’s strangely peaceful. Aside from the smell of the impending rain, nothing is familiar. The lightening comes in large flashes that fill the night sky and light up the silhouettes of the clouds, but only occasionally do I actually see a lightening rod. There’s no thunder – just the sound of the crickets and the occasional bark from Luca.