Trip through the market

BIG NEWS OF THE DAY: We went to a fresh market by ourselves for the first time today. We went on a "tour" our first week here with a national friend, but today was the day to "run to the market to pick up a few things." Yes, our veggies/fruits looked like this AFTER we washed them, but there was a process in getting them to the point of drying on our counter (btw, the weird looking fruit below is one of Elizabeth and Noah's new favorite foods ... can't pronounce the name of it).

The front entrance....

One of the busiest, yet most peaceful places we've been (and the vendors LOVE letting us practice our language). The locals stop in after a day of work to pick up the things they'll need for the night.

No captions needed ... FRESH everywhere you look!!

It's divided into 'dry' and 'wet' ... the dry market is where you'll find the fruits/veggies (above), the prepared foods (meat on a stick below ... DELICIOUS), as well as some other merchandise.

Fresh cut flowers .... one of our favorites!

Fresh eggs....

And really, really fresh fish ... although as you can see just below the 'fresh' picture of the fish, the fish can also be prepared ... head, tail, and all!! We'll probably stick to the headless kind. This guy was so much fun. He was making the 'cut-off-its-head' sign with his hands. :) He wanted us to buy one. We did not.

A few shots of the very cooked fish....

If you've seen Finding Nemo, think of the scene towards the end of the movie where Nemo gets caught up in the net full of fish. These were the brothers to those fish.

It was definitely open grill day down at the local market....

And then there's the wet market ... beef, pork, chicken, seafood.

There are some really nice, upscale grocery stores here, which is where we've bought groceries twice now ... but there's no comparison on the freshness (yes, some of it's even a little too fresh for us) as well as the money saved by shopping where the locals shop. For example, we've been spending close to $4 per lb. for ground beef but decided today to try the minced beef below (as they call it). We haven't cooked it yet, but it is definitely more in line with what we paid in the states. NOTE: there was also quite a process to go from seeing it on display on the banana leaf to receiving our bag of beef.

This chicken contains everything we've always thrown away. For the record, we didn't buy this.

"I'll take the green one on the right!" And no, we didn't buy this either.

We WILL be trying these at some point ... we've had prawns at several Thai restaurants and LOVE them!! It was a fun day "getting into" the lives of the people we came here to meet ... a reminder that, just like the Father met us where we were, we are to meet the people where they are. So thankful He's letting us meet them!!