Bienvenido a Mercado de San Alejo

Welcome to the San Alejo street market!

The first Saturday of every month in Parque de Bolivar, a park in the city center of Medellin, there is the Mercado de San Alejo. A large arts and crafts fair with venders selling everything from garden plants to imitation Nike hats and shirts. It would be easy to become overwhelmed with the site of taxis jamming the streets, the park so full of vendors and people it is impossible to move without jostling someone else, and the imposing figure of Simon Bolivar on horse back peering over the colorful chaos all shaded by the largest cathedral in South America. After the initial awe, quickly we pressed on. We arrived with strict instructions to watch out for pickpockets and be prepared to haggle for a good deal. Our mission was simple: a hammock for the backyard and a basket for our dirty laundry. (The floor of our Spanish tiled room was looking a little bit too dorm roomish.)

While ducking between venders following us chanting; “Agua, Agua, Agua” and others selling fresh frozen juice pops we set our sites on one of many basket venders. Here was the chance to test our limited Spanish.

Cuanto Cuesta? (How much?) We asked pointing to one of the first baskets that peeked an interest.

Veinticinco mil (20,000 pesos or about $9.00 US). We looked at each other shook our heads and started to walk on quickly followed by the vender and shouts of dieciocho mil, diecidocho mil (18,000). The basket wasn’t that interesting so we kept on walking, both smiling at each other with the newly discovered power of bargain shopping!

Within an hour we had purchased a bright green hammock and the perfect laundry basket. Both purchased with a successful drop in the initial price. Even more successfully we avoided any other high pressure sales as well as the notorious pick pockets. We also gave an interview with two University Students in English. As well as meeting two young 20ish entrepreneurs making and selling discrete shoulder bags perfect to hide bottles of rum for the weekend street parties. After a fun and somewhat confusing conversation in broken English and Spanish we turned down their wares as well as a gift of rum and coke on the sly for another time.

Another day done, another new adventure. Bring on the biggest festival of the year: Desfile de Silleteros, the flower bearers parade. Until manana…