To Market, to Market

Shopping in Bolivia is so much more exciting that shopping in Alberta – and some of you know how much I like shopping – not! There are a number different types of shops that we have encountered so far. The first is the traditional North American supermarket called Ic Norte. Here you take your buggy and shop up and down the aisles, finding the items you want and being astonished at the number of items that come from North America. The advantage is that you can take your time and the prices are all on the shelves so you know what you are paying without asking. You can also find some things that you cannot find anywhere else.
The second store is the small, exclusive type shops. Pharmacies only sell ‘pharmacy’ stuff so that is where you go. In the center of the city you find the shops that sell new clothes, furniture, appliances, etc. We have not shopped in these except for the bakery for fresh bread and to pick up some cold medicine for Jake.
The third type of store is the small market and street side stands. These markets contain booths in which each person sells their own stuff, whether it be vegetables, paper products, kitchen products, or meat. One of these markets is located about 5 blocks from the house and another is located across from the school. About every other day Jake goes to the market and purchases the fruits and vegetables we need. He has learned what price he should pay and does a good job. We realize how fortunate we are to be able to just pick up what we want. Some people have only 25 b’s for groceries for a week while we can spend that on fruits and veggies for a couple of days. The boliviano is equal to about 15 cents. In addition to the market there are a number of fruit and veggies stand along the street. It seems like these vendors purchase there product from the farmer and then sell it. The product is extremely fresh and there is a great variety. Being in Cochabamba means that we have ready access to all the agricultural products since they are grown in the valley close to here. This valley is called the Chapare. Sometimes, however, the road will be closed due to rain and the farmers are not able to bring the produce into the city. These farmers also ship their product to La Paz, Santa Cruz and export some to Argentina.
The fourth store is called La Cancha, which is described in some of the tour books as Bolivia’s Walmart. You can buy anything we want there, from food to local medicines. It is the same as the markets near here but on a much larger scale. It originally covered two blocks but has overflowed into other areas. Although it is very interesting it is also very easy to get lost. Each commodity has its own area and after you have been there a number of times you learn where things are. All the fresh veggies and fruits are in one area, and this area is again split into sections such as the pepper section or the potato section. Then there is the meat section where you can purchase freshly butchered animals or you can buy a live chicken from one of the ladies. They are all lined up in one line, holding large feed bags in which they have a number of birds. Then there is the section in which you can buy anything made of wood – doors, cabinets, tables, etc. And the plastic section, the pot and pan section, the glass section and so on and so on. Things at La Cancha are a bit cheaper. It appears that the vendors from the other shops and markets purchase product here and then sell it for a boliviano or two more in the neighbourhood shop. Often we feel it is easier just to buy from the local shop since it takes a fair amount of time to shop at La Cancha.
Then there is the weekly outdoor market that takes place about 8 blocks away. This happens on Saturday and is very reminiscent of the Farmer’s Markets that we are used to. We went there last Saturday and quite enjoyed it. It was smaller and more manageable than La Cancha.
But shopping is only part of the task. It is recommended that all the fruits and veggies be washed well before you use them. Although we find that the veggies are quite clean here we are never sure of how they were handled or how many people have handled them. Cochabamba has notoriously bad water so we put a couple of drops of bleach in a wash basin of water and soak the fruits and veggies for about ten minutes. Then we let them dry and put them in the fridge. If you buy a lot, it takes longer to clean them all than to buy them!
The house keeper buys the meat so that is one thing we have not experienced. We will wait for Yapacani for that adventure.