I think pineapples are the most beautiful fruits. Inside and out. Even though they are spiky and maybe formidable on the outside, once you get inside they are juicy and sweet and especially good in combination with their friends – the mango and the banana. They are photogenic and colorful and also nourish and hydrate the body with all the vitamins. I have fallen for the pineapple – hard and fast.
I spend and will spend a decent amount of time in one of the bigger markets in Managua – Mercado Mayoreo. I think my obsession with fruits in Nicaragua began in the market. There are many things happening in the market – vendors selling their produce, motor taxi’s whizzing by, unfamiliar and unpleasant smells, busses honking, smells of fried street foods, and always keeping constant awareness of your surroundings and where you place your feet – but the fruits… the fruits have stuck out to me as a thing of beauty.
They are for me, a thing of peace in an otherwise chaotic place. When I think about fruits, I think of tropical places, beaches and nice breezes. It’s almost as if when I see piles on piles of fruit my imagination takes me to a calm place for just a split second. And for me, that’s just what I need to focus on the tasks ahead – just a moment of peace.
I will be spending two days a week in the market collecting food with other volunteers from Comamos Juntos. Our tasks include just that – going around to vendors that have an established relationship with Comamos Juntos and collecting the produce they have set aside that they will not sell. Many times, we must sort through the crates they give to make sure we are only collecting produce that is not rotten or diseased. Since it is so hot, produce can go bad much faster, so it is important to go through the whole bin so the communities are getting the freshest produce possible.
Once the food is sorted, it is weighed and recorded. At the end of the collection the food is divided into three groups for each community and loaded onto a truck for distribution. The three communities that receive the produce from CJ are Ananda Marga (a primary school), Villa Guadalupe (a community built on the edge of a dump), and a community of ex sugarcane workers that are suffering from kidney disease.
After the work is done, the volunteers share a fresco together – the sweetest old lady sells them right next to our home base in the market.
The market is a fascinating place for me. It is so so different than how everyone I know makes a living. People are incredibly creative and resourceful with what they sell. I’ve seen things from kitchen utensils, to fried plantains, to socks, to bags of water. People sometimes carry their goods around with them and call out – “Agua, agua!” This also happens on the buses, in the streets and at most bus stops. On longer bus rides, people hop on the bus with their homemade goods – things like corn bread, fried chicken, sweet tamales, cut pieces of fruit – you name it. Going back to my word – fresh – many times these homemade food items are so hot they must have just come from the kitchen.
I am staying hydrated with all the fruit smoothies and seeking refuge from the heat in the mountains or in an air conditioned cafe of bliss – things are becoming a new normal here. I am continually thankful for my host family and the Comamos Juntos family who have welcomed me so easily into their lives. Next post on life in the ‘hood – Barrio Paraisito – where I am living.
