STL DPB On The Road - People in The Market

The power was out here last night for about four hours during the time I usually edit photos. We were lucky to find a small restaurant that had a propane stove where we could get carry out dinner. These pictures were difficult to work with because  the vendors all had green translucent awnings over their tables, creating a color cast that was beyond my Photoshop skills.

Some people were cheerful, others not. It was hot and the market wasn't very busy. The boy in the second picture is wearing a variation on a St. Louis cardinals cap.

Home late tonight. Long layover in Miami. May get more editing done. There is more to see.   

STL DPB On The Road - Farmers Market

We took a tour yesterday of Liberia, a city of 57,000 and the capital of the province, Guanacaste. It has a Walmart now. (Sigh.)

One of the highlights was a walk through the farmers market, bursting with color and unusual flavors. We don't know what the things in the top picture are. I think the second has plantains, not bananas. More to come.       

Pura Vida

You could say that pura vida is the national motto of Costa Rica. It has a simple literal translation - pure life - but the levels of meaning are much deeper than that. It expresses an attitude toward living in a complete, happy and content way. The words describe how we should treat one another.

This young man was a member of a crew setting up at the farmers market. (He didn't just fall off the plantain truck.)  Our guide asked him for me if I could take some pictures. He thought the idea was terribly funny. Pura vida.                        

Fruit & Veg

There is an outdoor farmers market in Liberia. It seems to get going about mid-afternoon and run into the evening. There was every kind of edible tropical plant, plus eggs, queso fresco, breads and I don't know what.

It's all very inexpensive - to us. The pineapples above were about US$ 2 each. Limes had strange skins that would put off American shoppers, although we never saw one like these in a cocktail. I'm less certain about the next two. Maybe casava root, followed by red potatoes and a kind of squash, or maybe something else altogether. The lush fruit at the bottom is mango.