To your left are some foods available for purchase in our market area. I am not supposed to cook or buy foods because I eat with my family and they do the cooking. However, I miss being independent and I sometimes buy foods for fun. Whenever I do, Aida (my host mother) will take note of what I buy and the following day come home with 2 bunches of whatever I bought of much higher quality. Then she will point out that I don't need to buy foods.
I will explain some of our fruits and vegetables available in hopes that it will prove that I know how to shop. I do not buy fish or meat. I am scared of the meat section. The sights and sounds are too overwhelming for me. I leave that to my host father.
Next (clockwise) - Kalabasa (squash). sweet squash. cost - 15 pesos ($0.30) per kilo.
Kamatis (tomatoes) cost - 10 pesos per 1/4 kilo
Mangga (mangoes) best mangoes ever. If you are in the US, you cannot enjoy Filipino mangoes because of some weird trade restriction. cost - 50 pesos ($0.95) per kilo
Calamansi (limes) cost - 20 pesos for 100 pieces
Sibuyas (onions) cost - 10 pesos per 1/4 kilo
Garlic cost - 10 pesos per 1/4 kilo
Pinya (pineapple) cost - 25 pesos for 3 pineapples!
Kapayas (papaya) cost - I don't know. My host mother buys them and I just added them to the picture.
Buying all these things is usually an adventure. My conversations with the vegetable women usually goes like this:
VW (vegetable woman): Ano toy (what do you want young Filipino boy (that means me))
Me: Tagpira ini (how much is this?)
VW: Sinko pesos (5 pesos or $0.10!)
Me: Sige (ok, I will buy it)
I think a real shopper would bargain. The other women buying usually do. I don't bother because it is better if I keep my identity hidden and the more I say, the greater the chance they have to uncover me.
The other picture is of me on the sea wall where I exercise.
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