Research has officially started

July 20, 2017

I went into town today to activate my cell phone and look for a family I know in the Plaza de Ponchos (harder than it sounds because the market is freaking HUGE). I found the family and spent the day with them, which means MY RESEARCH HAS OFFICIALLY STARTED!!

Side note: If you have a smart phone and have whatsapp (it's free. Download it), leave me a comment or send me a smoke signal or something, and I'll give you my number.

On my way to the market, I passed a bunch of stores, which all seemed to sell Fidget Spinners. If you're a teacher, parent, or human living near children, you're familiar with these. Turns out, there's no escape.

Some of you are familiar with the Plaza from my previous trips; most of this post maybe isn't for you. For my newbies, you're in luck because I'm going to write about it. The market is amazing! I love hanging out there! Seriously, my research in 2014 allowed me to spend a month there (and a ton of money on the best textiles), which was a bit like heaven. In the Plaza, there are amazing textiles everywhere you look! There were some new things since my last visit, which was cool. They have a new style of blanket that is bigger than the style I've previously purchased. It's not as soft though, since it has a higher acrylic content and a much lower alpaca content to keep it affordable. This style seems to heavily feature llama designs (so keep a lookout for one in my future home, because LLAMAS!!).

Another new item are these aprons. I literally didn't know the Spanish word for apron before today (delantal or mandil, in case you were wondering). I think it's such a fun new item because it's practical but also different from what you typically find in the market. The white apron is embroidered by hand and is intended more as a statement piece. The colored apron (they have them in every color) is embroidered with a machine; they seem to mostly feature recipes. I'm thinking these would make excellent gifts, y'all!

The last new item is discovered is this multi-functional piece of clothing. You can wear it as a hat, shawl/poncho, scarf, or neck warmer, depending on how you fold/roll/unfold the fabric. Apparently, really skinny ladies also wear it as a skirt, too (I have no idea how). These were originally imported from China, but since they sold well, they are now being produced locally.

The market also has beautiful jewelry, sculptures, art, bags, etc. Sales are hit and miss because they depend on tourists. Most tourists visit from the US and Europe (though quite a few people come from elsewhere in Latin America), so the summer sales (and some Christmas sales) support the vendors. They have to have a large selection of items to meet demands, but that means they have money tied up in goods without the guarantee of making sales. A good vendor can make a good living, but I would definitely say it's more precarious economically than most of us would be comfortable with. You'll hear more about the market throughout my research.

After leaving the market, I successfully made it back to the house without getting lost. Major win! I'm not gonna lie: my biggest success today was not buying anything in the market today. So, so hard! Don't worry; I'm scoping it out for later ;)