Those who live in small villages know that they are not always completely self-sufficient. Don't get me wrong, I like the small town life. It's a stark difference from the city, where I actually live. Here, in my fatherland, life goes on a little more slowly. Sure, we may go to one of the village's many shops to buy basic things like bananas or avocados, but sometimes we have to go to the next town over for things like good tortillas or gasoline. However, for more specialty items, we go to the city.
Zamora, City of Light, has it all. Good pharmacies, cathedrals, custom coffee, currency exchange, and even McDonald's are found here. All at the cost of being roughly 45 minutes away.
The central plaza is a good meeting place. You can sit and eat some ice cream while you wait for the rest of your party to return, watching the dancers and traveling vendors go by. By midday a bench in the shade is highly coveted prime real estate.
A little ways down is the market.
It's like a giant sprawling flea market. You find a great many things here like leatherworks, toys, natural medicines, clothes, and shoes to make a few.
Here is a stand selling tejanas and tortilla making "machines".
A great deal of quality produce can be found as well. You find things normally unavailable in the local shops like berries, turmeric, spinach, and other specialty produce.
And of course there's candy!
This stand was extremely well stocked. It had tamarindo, mazapán, nuts, lots of things that I couldn't identify and even a bottle of liquor with a big, fat edible scorpion in it.
What we bought was candied pumpkin, sweet potato, bisnaga (a cactus fruit), and something else which I don't know what. The pumpkin is especially delicious. Apparently the process is first it's cooked, then candied with sugar, then placed in a cal (lime) bath to harden the outside to form a sort of skin.
After our to-dos, we went back to the parking garage to pick up the car and finally make the journey home, not to return for about a week. In about two weeks, I'll finally be returning to my real home!
Thanks for reading.