Mexican Junk

 

Just another day dawning in paradise.

 

Today it is time for the obligatory trip to the little village of Bucerias where we check out the street markets.

 

Leather goods, and pretty good quality too. Nothing made in China here.

 

 

It is always very colourful.

 

It was early and not all the stands were open.

 

They see a camera and they call out "Hey, paparazzi".

 

They give the impression that they do not like their photo taken. I learned a trick from reading a National Geographic photographer's blog. You hang the camera from your neck with a wide angle lens, set your camera to 'auto' mode, extend to full wide angle, hit the timer for a 5 second delay, press the shutter and then just stand there with your hands in your pockets and five seconds later the shutter will deploy. You can be looking out toward the beach and nobody suspects they just had their photo taken.

 

Poor unsuspecting 'hat lady'.

 

The quaint cobblestone town square was being torn up, being readied  for a face lift.

 

busylizzy shops, I look.

 

The vendors beckon and cajole. "For you, almost free" "If you buy something from me you get free Mexican luggage" ( a plastic shopping bag) "Everything half price today" "We have all kinds of stuff you don't need" and the list goes on.

 

If you don't bargain, you will be ripped off. One should never walk away with a purchase for more than half of the asking price. Best thing is to act disinterested after looking at something you would like to purchase. Hem, haw, and start to walk away. Then the prices start plummeting.

 

They take $US, $CD and Pesos so you have to be careful in the translation. They will gladly convert the price for you but they round up to an advantage for themselves every time. They do this all day long and are good at it.

 

We walk back home along the beach and are glad we have a safe and clean refuge to go home to.